Chris M Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 Hey all, Long time racer, first time poster. Could use some feedback from the pros. One of our drivers exited oak tree, passed a 240 and moved left. After passing pit out on the back straight, the #6 E46 of Matt Connelly driven by Matthew Anderson is seen in our mirrors, apparently trying to pass on the L grass, subsequently hitting our L rear and initiating a spin. Car was in excess of 100 mph when it went tail first into the flag stand. We confirmed the reckless behavior with the 240 driver but both Matt Connelly and Matthew Anderson state it was a racing incident and we were at fault for moving into them. YouTube link below. I am wondering as there was lots of traffic behind if anyone else has video of the incident or advice on how to proceed when a clearly reckless or intentional behavior led to the loss of our vehicle. Chris McKinless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nosniv Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 (edited) Where the hell did he even come from? Seems like you were all the way left meaning he had little to no pavement to run on. AND you were in the same proximity to the left edge for a couple seconds. You did not make a sudden move to the left I was in the race and no way would I expect someone to be on my left flank at that point. Never mind thinking they could pass! Poor judgement on the other guy. Low percentage move with little potential to make a pass. Not your fault in my book and dangerous on theirs. Let's see the Anderson video guys if you think you are "just racing"... Glad to see you are all right after that significant hit! #478 Well Lubricated Racing Ford Focus Edited August 13, 2019 by Nosniv Additional thought Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euronate Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 It's tough to see because we were pretty far behind, but here is the footage from the Hugh Jass Miata: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snorman Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 So you're on the back straight, far left on the racing surface, and the Connolly car hits you and they claim it's a "racing incident" and it's not their fault? That's some sh*t-*ssed racing. And this is not the first time the Matt Connolly Motorsports cars have been noted to be aggressive and reckless. As a rule of thumb, we stay away from that silver BMW. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Moone Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 Where the hell was he looking to make that pass? On your left on the grass? WTH? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.cheat Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 IMO E30 looks to be slowly moving left after passing the 240 in a way that says "I am staying over here so faster cars can get by into Rollercoaster". In the HJ video (I am driving it at that time) a dark car is visible on the right side, maybe MCM didn't want to lift and lose momentum to drop behind dark car but forcing the issue on the left when E30 is communicating what they were with their car placement is not the smart endurance racing call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 That is grounds for a series timeout and a good ass kicking. Matt Connelly has some really bad renters it looks like. Didn't they have a bunch of incidents at Indy as well? 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
67Mustang Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 Holy hand grenades Batman! That looks pretty messed. That hit sure put you and the flag stand in danger, not to mention cost you some $$$ to fix the car... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 What about the 611 BMW who clearly sees the incident happening to driver left. The Yellow flag is clearly displayed and he passes 5 more cars without seeing a green flag. Brutal... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snorman Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 1 minute ago, Snake said: That is grounds for a series timeout and a good ass kicking. Matt Connelly has some really bad renters it looks like. Didn't they have a bunch of incidents at Indy as well? Yes, there were videos of the Matt Connolly car driving recklessly at Indy as well. There was ZERO steering input when the car went into a spin. Clearly the driver of the Matt Connolly car had laser focus: Gotta' love an EC car out there constantly crashing class cars... Just send it... Matt Connolly Motorsports needs a sit down in the series before they crash another car and actually hurt somebody. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racer7x Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 Would love to see the previous lap video to determine if there was any shenanigans going on between the two... He was looking in his rear view pretty hard coming out of oak tree and moving to the left out of the racing line on the back straight could of been a blocking move and that's how the race ended for them? There might of been some road rage going on between the two and more video might help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginerd Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 (edited) I think majority fault lies with the passing car, but with excellent side mirrors, the camera car may have avoided contact. Therefore, a PSA about Longacre brand convex side mirrors: They are amazing and every team should install them ASAP. You can't not see cars approaching with these attached. https://90racing.com/products/longacre-spot-mirror-replacement?_pos=1&_sid=f6dd412b8&_ss=r Edited August 13, 2019 by enginerd 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snorman Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 38 minutes ago, enginerd said: I think majority fault lies with the passing car, but with excellent side mirrors, the camera car may have avoided contact. Therefore, a PSA about Longacre brand convex side mirrors: They are amazing and every team should install them ASAP. You can't not see cars approaching with these attached. https://90racing.com/products/longacre-spot-mirror-replacement?_pos=1&_sid=f6dd412b8&_ss=r Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris M Posted August 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 The onboard footage posted was from the Champ Car camera placed in our car. We may be able to request additional footage from them for those interested to see what may have led to this, but I believe the E46 had greater acceleration and pace and most likely did not interact with us prior to the incident. Our driver states he stayed on the race line (which is indeed left at that point of the track) and let faster traffic overtake him on the right. Matthew Anderson stated he expected our car to move right but we did not, so he thought we were “having a drag race”. I don’t know what he meant by that, but Matthew did report a desire to avoid the faster traffic on the right and admitted that lifting and going right would have avoided an accident. Perhaps our driver should have moved right but I imagine there was indeed traffic to the right that he was trying to avoid. An interesting aside is Matthew Anderson reported to the stewards that there was in-car video from the #6 car, but when he went to look for it, it was gone. It is the responsibility of the overtaking driver to complete a safe pass. The Champ Car staff chastised and reiterated this point to Matthew Anderson after the incident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.cheat Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 1 hour ago, Richard said: What about the 611 BMW who clearly sees the incident happening to driver left. The Yellow flag is clearly displayed and he passes 5 more cars without seeing a green flag. Brutal... When he passes me (Miata with camera) that is before the incident but as we are all noticing and checking up for it, they have to wave green at the next stand for the local caution to be over? My understanding was next flag stand clearly visible & not yellow + past the incident=go 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 You can make the case that the BMW was past you before the Yellow but at best he was along side you. The rules still clearly state that you must slow down for a Yellow flag and the BMW had no intention of doing so despite passing two cars that were just involved in the incident. He knew something wasn't right and simply kept going flat out. Poor driving in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racer7x Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 5 hours ago, Chris M said: It is the responsibility of the overtaking driver to complete a safe pass. The Champ Car staff chastised and reiterated this point to Matthew Anderson after the incident. 100% E46's fault, I just wanted to see the previous lap footage to make sure there was no red mist going on between the two... Sounds more like the Connolly driver also moved far left to draft your guy and misjudged when he pulled out of your cars draft to overtake... I feel for you, having a car wadded up because of someone else's actions is a tough pill to swallow... I agree, Matt should be put on notice for his now two car team recent transgressions 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
67Mustang Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 Looking at fast laps it looks like the Connolly car was maybe 7-8 sec a lap faster than the camera car. Assuming I gathered the correct car numbers etc. surely with that big gaggle of cars around and behind there would be some closer footage of the action. Am I correct in understanding that CC puts a camera in a few select cars for their footage? But most teams probably use their own camera in addition? I’d be very tempted to also instal a rear facing camera as well. This may be double edged sword type of question, but how does CC determine a max # of cars allowed to run on a given track? Clearly bigger tracks can handle more cars but...certainly there is some thought to it with Indy having over 100 and Gingerman limited to 60. I’m sure track rental cost comes into play there as well. That said after sitting on the side and observing a bit seems like some some teams can’t seem to stay clean while others are never in contact. That tells you its very possible to stay clean and some need to work on it. Stuff happens but still we have input to determine how much and how often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chip Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 6 hours ago, Chris M said: The onboard footage posted was from the Champ Car camera placed in our car. We may be able to request additional footage from them for those interested to see what may have led to this, but I believe the E46 had greater acceleration and pace and most likely did not interact with us prior to the incident. Our driver states he stayed on the race line (which is indeed left at that point of the track) and let faster traffic overtake him on the right. Matthew Anderson stated he expected our car to move right but we did not, so he thought we were “having a drag race”. I don’t know what he meant by that, but Matthew did report a desire to avoid the faster traffic on the right and admitted that lifting and going right would have avoided an accident. Perhaps our driver should have moved right but I imagine there was indeed traffic to the right that he was trying to avoid. An interesting aside is Matthew Anderson reported to the stewards that there was in-car video from the #6 car, but when he went to look for it, it was gone. It is the responsibility of the overtaking driver to complete a safe pass. The Champ Car staff chastised and reiterated this point to Matthew Anderson after the incident. The actual line at that point is track right- or maybe right of center as you are transitioning from track left coming out of oak tree to track right just past south course pit out. Your driver exits oak tree nicely, makes the pass of the 240, and then instead of continuing to move to the right (actual line) he moves left prior to pit out. The right side of the track is very clear and safe at that point (but really can't see what's behind your car from the mirrors). But even with him moving left at this point gave plenty of time for the #6 car to adjust. It is interesting that your driver is checking his driver side mirror- maybe he was frozen in seeing the car there and didn't react- maybe he could have moved right some- Looking at the HJ vid around the 22 to 23 second interval it seems that the #6 car makes an abrupt move to the left to get around your car- there is a car behind you some on the right side and maybe that's why #6 moved left (could have/should have just waited a few seconds) to make the pass. But your driver does hold his line the whole time. Can't see the yellow that you are talking about, but it wouldn't be the first time someone has missed a yellow and continues racing- probably had laser focus. Still the #6 car is responsible for the incident- I was out there during this stint and saw the aftermath- really sad to see this happened- always like the 300 car. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racer7x Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 26 minutes ago, 67Mustang said: This may be double edged sword type of question, but how does CC determine a max # of cars allowed to run on a given track? Clearly bigger tracks can handle more cars but...certainly there is some thought to it with Indy having over 100 and Gingerman limited to 60. 30 cars per mile. I think VIR is around 3.75 miles. There had been 110 cars registered the last two years and 80 this year... Daytona has had 120+ cars the last 4-5 years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
67Mustang Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 16 minutes ago, Racer7x said: 30 cars per mile. I think VIR is around 3.75 miles. There had been 110 cars registered the last two years and 80 this year... Daytona has had 120+ cars the last 4-5 years That makes sense, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bremsen Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 My personal opinion is that, outside of evasive maneuvers, if you attempt to pass someone off the paved racing surface then any/all damage that occurs as a result is 100% your fault. 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Originalsterm Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 10 hours ago, Snorman said: So you're on the back straight, far left on the racing surface, and the Connolly car hits you and they claim it's a "racing incident" and it's not their fault? That's some sh*t-*ssed racing. And this is not the first time the Matt Connolly Motorsports cars have been noted to be aggressive and reckless. As a rule of thumb, we stay away from that silver BMW. The easiest way to avoid future crashes with them is to suspend them for a while. Otherwise this will continue to happen as they don't seem to care who's day they ruin. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gkuhn41 Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 9 hours ago, Racer7x said: Would love to see the previous lap video to determine if there was any shenanigans going on between the two... He was looking in his rear view pretty hard coming out of oak tree and moving to the left out of the racing line on the back straight could of been a blocking move and that's how the race ended for them? There might of been some road rage going on between the two and more video might help While i see your point totally, Punting someone on a straight for any reason is 100% not acceptable. I can not stand wrecking stuff while going in a straight line, i get it happens, and it will probably happen to me at some point but its a pet peeve i guess lol. What i see through is him looking @ what he expects is a faster car, moving over off line to allow them to pass. Passing car made the move off line to initiate the pass at the same time, passing car wasnt left room and didnt lift. Made contact and sent him for a ride. I say this because i USED to do this myself and nearly had similar things happen. Also, you guys got really lucky this didnt happen 50' earlier, that would have been a bad deal hitting the face of that flag stand at that speed YIKES! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bendawson3 Posted August 13, 2019 Report Share Posted August 13, 2019 kinda heading in the opposite direction than most traffic would expect there but it's not a violation or anything. If I were in the passing car, realizing you were easing that way, I'd have regrouped and waited. Not worth risking anybody's safety. Lot of door slamming during this race. I pulled a lot of punches because it's a long race, stuff is expensive and nobody needs to get hurt just because I can't safely get by a car without proper prior planning and reflexes. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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