Suggestions based on Daytona experience

[Blue Cobra]

Hello chumps!

I have a couple of suggestions for everyone as a result of the crash Flying Tigers had at Daytona on Sunday:

1. We installed a center saftey net in our Miata. In the video of the crash, you can see the drivers head hit and bounce off the net. Without it, his head would have traveled much further, and this might have caused him serious injury. We highly recommend a center safety net.

2. A good 15 minutes passed after the actual crash before we knew anything was wrong. We thought, or should I say hoped, that Evan was sitting on the track with the master off. We learned he was involved when another competitor came and told us. I know that getting the driver out safely takes precedent over everything else, and would have it no other way, but a system to let a team know when there is an issue would be a great enhancement.

As a stop gap measure, we are going to put the name and phone number of our team captain on every helmet. The Daytona represenative at the hospital was trying to get a number to call, and of course Evan did not know any of our numbers by memory.

Thanks again to John, Mike, every corner worker and volunteer, the Daytona safety crews, and all of our fellow competitors for such a memorable weekend.

[Guest Alphafemale]

Thank you for sharing your feedback and TOTALLY agree. My team, Backmarkers, had a pretty bad crash at Portland earlier this year and the video shows that the center net is extremely useful in reducing the possible neck and head trauma- i highly recommend everyone add the center safety net based on our experience as well.

This is also a good PSA for entering in your information into the ChumpCar registration system when you sign up for a race. We were missing names for some of the drivers at Daytona and many of the emergency contact information. I know some people were annoyed that we called them back to provide this info, but things happen on the track and we MUST be able to determine who as involved, make the team aware and find emergency contact information for anyone involved in an accident. ALL TEAM CAPTAINS- Please fill out all your driver information especially phone numbers and emergency info in the database just for this reason!

Great suggestion on putting names and numbers on the helmet... not likely something we will require as ChumpCar as filling in the emergency contact if should be sufficient IF IT IS DONE- but a great idea anyway and we support any additional measure anyone wants to take to ensure your own safety during the race.

[Car54]

Hello chumps!

I have a couple of suggestions for everyone as a result of the crash Flying Tigers had at Daytona on Sunday:

1. We installed a center saftey net in our Miata. In the video of the crash, you can see the drivers head hit and bounce off the net. Without it, his head would have traveled much further, and this might have caused him serious injury. We highly recommend a center safety net.

2. A good 15 minutes passed after the actual crash before we knew anything was wrong. We thought, or should I say hoped, that Evan was sitting on the track with the master off. We learned he was involved when another competitor came and told us. I know that getting the driver out safely takes precedent over everything else, and would have it no other way, but a system to let a team know when there is an issue would be a great enhancement.

As a stop gap measure, we are going to put the name and phone number of our team captain on every helmet. The Daytona represenative at the hospital was trying to get a number to call, and of course Evan did not know any of our numbers by memory.

Thanks again to John, Mike, every corner worker and volunteer, the Daytona safety crews, and all of our fellow competitors for such a memorable weekend.

Does the car have a containment seat? I can't recall if it did or not.

[The_Emu]

Excellent idea.

If not on the helmet, than on a laminated card in the drivers pocket or dog tags or something!

[Jer]

center window net is unnecessary if you're wearing a hans device of some sort, I would assume.

[Ham Sammich]

Does the car have a containment seat?

^^^this^^^

I do like the idea of the drivers name on the helmet though.

[Guest Alphafemale]

center window net is unnecessary if you're wearing a hans device of some sort, I would assume.

Even with a Hans device, the center net is a great way to further reduce the potential for injury to the neck and head of the driver.. ideally they work togehter.

[csadn]

I do like the idea of the drivers name on the helmet though.

Name; Contact data; Blood type. (I see most drivers these days have blood type somewhere near the name on the suit.)

[chip]

HANS device doesn't do much side to side- not that they don't do anything, but it's not perfect.

A HALO seat will really help as well as a side net

[Bongle]

Name; Contact data; Blood type. (I see most drivers these days have blood type somewhere near the name on the suit.)

Everything I've read says that no emergency worker will ever trust blood type written on a card, verbally told to them, or on a suit or anything - they'll give you universal blood until they can get it typed for sure. If you borrowed the suit and they give you the wrong blood type - bang, you're dead (or injured worse than you started).

Here's that same advice in a cycling context: http://forums.teamestrogen.com/archive/index.php/t-44629.html

[Izzys Cages]

center window net is unnecessary if you're wearing a hans device of some sort, I would assume.

XXX Wrong answer. HANS devices have very little lateral support.... which is why every organization who's mandated the use of a SFI 38.1 device now magically mandates the use of right side/center nets OR halo containment seats.

Good idea regardless. We run an Isaac system with very good lateral numbers, but I still feel better when I run our ITA car with a side net.

[Guest Packard Goose]

HANS device doesn't do much side to side- not that they don't do anything, but it's not perfect.

A HALO seat will really help as well as a side net

A Halo seat is FAR superior to a center net.

[Guest Packard Goose]

XXX Wrong answer. HANS devices have very little lateral support.... which is why every organization who's mandated the use of a SFI 38.1 device now magically mandates the use of right side/center nets OR halo containment seats.

Good idea regardless. We run an Isaac system with very good lateral numbers, but I still feel better when I run our ITA car with a side net.

When did SCCA mandate containment or center nets? I saw NASA do it, have not seen SCCA - yet.

[Guest Packard Goose]

It certainly hurts nothing to put/affix your name and ICE (in case of emergency) info on your helmet. If nothing else, you might end up getting it back when you leave it laying around at the track.

But this is also why we need EVERY DRIVER registered online. We spit out a list before the race that has the emergency contact info on it.

[mickeycarter08]

I think a bar across the floor that attaches to the bottom of the front rollcage legs would be a good idea. I am going to put one in both of our cars. It used to be standard practice in oval track cars but has never been used much in Road Racing. If he had been hit in the drivers side it would have been much worse. im not critizing the cage. The one bar that tore did its job and all of the welds held up fine. But the door bars and cage pulled the rocker panel halfway to the tunnel. Also the seat was at an odd angle. Did the emt crew loosen the seat or did it move in the crash?

[Ham Sammich]

center net and containment seat and hans... I think it depends on the angle of impact. 90 degrees sideways the containment seat holds you in. straight forward (like headon into a wall) the hans does it's thing. Both are good for quite a few degrees in any direction.

We've got containment seat and Hans. Thinking about adding the center net, but debate it's value with the other 2 items already in the car. Especially if you don't have a quick release center net, you've now blocked your only other exit. That's worth taking into consideration as well.

[Ham Sammich]

The one bar that tore did its job and all of the welds held up fine. But the door bars and cage pulled the rocker panel halfway to the tunnel. Also the seat was at an odd angle. Did the emt crew loosen the seat or did it move in the crash?

do you have pics of the bar and tear? I don't want to be critical of them, just like to think about it, as it applys to our cage.

[Wendell34]

I think "waste of helmet space" is my new insult du jour.

[rennwagen]

My info has been on helmet since my first driver school,center net,full contanment how bad do you want live

[Guest unclebilly]

On my HANS, I have written:

My name, my blood type, and my health insurance carrier and policy number.

I don't have a pile of experience with us health care but I do know that if they know that they are going to get paid, I should get more prompt care than otherwise. I also got it in writing from my health insurance carrier that there are no exclusions for sporting activities.

Thank you for sharing your feedback and TOTALLY agree. My team, Backmarkers, had a pretty bad crash at Portland earlier this year and the video shows that the center net is extremely useful in reducing the possible neck and head trauma- i highly recommend everyone add the center safety net based on our experience as well.

This is also a good PSA for entering in your information into the ChumpCar registration system when you sign up for a race. We were missing names for some of the drivers at Daytona and many of the emergency contact information. I know some people were annoyed that we called them back to provide this info, but things happen on the track and we MUST be able to determine who as involved, make the team aware and find emergency contact information for anyone involved in an accident. ALL TEAM CAPTAINS- Please fill out all your driver information especially phone numbers and emergency info in the database just for this reason!

Great suggestion on putting names and numbers on the helmet... not likely something we will require as ChumpCar as filling in the emergency contact if should be sufficient IF IT IS DONE- but a great idea anyway and we support any additional measure anyone wants to take to ensure your own safety during the race.

[Blue Cobra]

We did not have a containment seat. And as someone said, the HANS is not a side impact solution. Our next car may have a containment seat.

I decided to put the contact information on our team helmets when we were at the hospital. The guy from the track was trying to contact a team member and Evan did not know any of our phone numbers. His helmet was sitting on the table right next to him.

I will try to post some pics of the cage when I can, but it will be a few days. I think it fared quite well, and even if the impact had been on the drivers side, Evan should have lived, but it would have been much worse. Based on all the video I have seen, my guess is the impact was at least 80mph, perhaps more. With that in mind, the cage and the car are amazingly intact.

[chip]

For our first race (VIR 2011) in the car we did not have a HALO seat nor the correct harness for the HANS- it had the 3" webbing. Before the start of the 2012 season I found a new/used HALO seat for cheap and picked that up and at the same time got a harness with the 2" webbing and we installed these before the Road Atlanta race- We sold the other seat so the cost wasn't bad, but in the same of safety it's very cheap. Still want to install the center net.

[Blue Cobra]

And don't forget that the center net is not just for your head, but also reduces how much your arms can flail around, and therefore potential injury.

[Guest Red52]

Here are some pictures of the car and cage on my FB page

http://www.facebook....o_album_comment

Edit

ok try the photo bucket stuff, the rest are at the site below

http://s1257.photobucket.com/albums/ii511/baseballstud52/

[Salna]

Your wiring is awesome, I'm jealous. Best of luck getting a car back to the race track. Great theme execution too