Props to Carly Holmes for for-going victory lane photos and basically running the operation to get Angelique's car roll-able and get it back in the trailer for their team.
Carly is a Rockstar! She is setting the tone for her team! Tanner is very lucky to have her. She was all over that car. Shout out the the crews that jumped into help the Bell family and team. Hope she recovers soon.
I have never seen a fire take so long to be put out at a track. There needs to be a standard level of equipment on site and the trained personnel to operate it. It is not just driver safety but also safety of spectator's.Just because fires are usually contained to the track but what if the accident had been in a spectator area and the fire was on the other side of the fence? People complain about too many regulations from the government. In this case we need certain regulations to keep racing as safe as possible. I am sure the insurance companies will be asking questions about this one. It is not the government that scare me around racing, it is the insurance companies. Good show Justin.
Drivers and sanctioning bodies (NARC) need to hold tracks more accountable. If track doesn't meet minimum safety standards, no one races. The lack of an ambulance/EMT's is scary. Anyone catch the guy first on the crash in the side by side, driver's on fire but lets make sure to close the door on the side by side 😬 Hope Angelique recovers quickly. I'm sure Tanner didn't want to win this way. Bummer all the way around.
You only get one chance to do safety right. If A track cannot have a sufficient fire crew and put out a methanol fire, they shouldn’t be running sprint cars.
Hey man I agree with your comments about the wreck at the Southern Oregon Speedway speaking as a safety crew member who responded to that accident. We where not given the proper equipment for these sprint cars nor did we have enough crew with fire protective suits. (Only two had fire suits at the track) and our fire unit was not equip to deal with a fire that big as well as improper gear. The safety official that pulled the driver out of the car was also hospitalized for safety concerns for his well being after jumping in as fast as he could with the provided fire equipment he had on. He is doing ok. I do hope the driver makes a full recovery.
Justin, I respect and appreciate what you do, so don’t take any of this the wrong way. I know you hear a lot of shit and thankfully you don’t waste air time responding to those folks. Safety is huge and yes, stuff needs to be done. We all know that and hope things change when bad bad things like this happen But something else that should have been noted was the super human like heroics of the man who pulled her out. NARC made a post about it and it’s crazy to know someone did this. People in the racing community are the best people this country has to offer. Good old boys and girls to super human driver, to the dedicated fans, volunteers, and crews that put on a show for us. So yes, things need to change and tracks need to be more aware of what they need to do their job. So maybe we need to start a movement in the industry to help these smaller operations out. Instead of pointing fingers and complaining, let’s figure out a way to help an already strapped track ownership and get the big name folks in the industry to help out their sport at the grass roots level. I’m just one guy and I don’t have a clue how to help, but if you can use your channel to raise awareness and create action, I’m the first one in line to join. We need action, not words, and that has to come from us
Sport wise, we're better off from where we were then but last night showed we still have a ways to go. The north west is trying to rebuild sprint car racing up there. Last night showed how far it has fallen from the 80s. Lets hope the tracks up there learned from last night and they come up with a regional safety team that can be at each track for these shows.
Fires in racing really just come down to people knowing what they are doing. Methanol isn't racing gas, it behaves differently...for the most part it's a lot safer...but it's hard to see the flames and you need the right foam, as you said. Purple K is what the Navy uses on a ship for jet fuel fires...makes sense to me.
This is the third fire in less than a week due to tail tank issues 1. Knoxville 2. Skagit and now 3. SOS. The safety council should figure out if this is isolated to one bladder mfg or if its different ones.
We were there last night and watching the push truck driver go into hero mode, peeling out to drive up to Angelique's car then running up in his t-shirt with no fire extinguisher to try to help her get out of the car reminded me of the first rule I was taught as an emergency response team member: Do not go into a incident without proper equipment and training because you can make things worse by becoming another victim. I was also very confused why the track emergency response team was so focused on extinguishing the fire at the bottom of the track rather than focusing on the fire at the car. Although the right call, it was a shame that the race was called because Holmes was flying and a showdown with Sanders for the win looked to be coming.
I'm really looking forward to going to port royal Saturday. Always loved to watch the silver crown cars and the wingless sprints whip it around the track.
The outlaws and high limit have upped the amount of safety crews and equipment this year we need it to happen at regional and local level I know it’s expensive but driver safety is paramount
Back in the day my father ran Super Modifieds at Oswego when "Halon" onboard fire systems first came out . My dad approached the car owner about getting one knowing they were quite expensive. The car owner just looked at him and said "seems to me it would be a lot cheaper to just hose out the cockpit and find a new driver ".
Was at the race last night, it took forever to get the fire out and they really just could not get it out, it was a scary moment and I hope Angelique gets better.
After watching the limited video again, not only do they need the right extinguishers and fire suits, we also need to make sure EVERYONE knows how to use a fire extinguisher CORRECTLY
As a racing photographer for 10 years, I made friends with many of the corner safety guys at WG, Lincoln and BAPS and they had fire suits for the guys for the like the past 7 years or so.... if the track can't afford them or up-to-date fire extinguishers, then they can't afford to race...
Dominic Scelzi probably was trained by his dad Gary. Nhra in which Gary was a competitor has some of the best safety equipment in motor sports. The safety safari!!
Let us not forget about what happened to Doug Wolfgang. Fire safety should be at the top of the list for all tracks, sanctioning bodies, etc. I was a fan of sprint car racing many years prior to fuel bladders being required. With these recent fires are the bladders failing to do their job?
I pretty much retired from dirt track racing because most tracks are run by volunteers and the safety crews are typically not trained professionals. I have been to some tracks like Lincoln in PA and watched real professionally trained track safety workers in action. You can race confidently there knowing there will be a fully prepared, trained crew on you within seconds if you have an incident.
This is a start by pointing it out about the problem of safety but you need to address the need to give a hand up to these tracks to raise money for the safety you need.
Thanks Justin. I have been a sprint car fan for 45 years but am having trouble this year when many of my favorite drivers have been on the struggle bus..
We do need fire suits as a racer and a safety crew member, we have been using fire suits since the early 2010s even as a small safety crew at an average local track
again it all comes down to money. the right equipment is probably insanely exspensive and most local tracks are fighting to stay open as it is. I 100% agree about having it im just making light of why they might not
Years ago Jim Dunn died in dirt late model having a methanol fire.I remember that all fire extinguishers were emptied. Late models no longer run methanol.
If I recall the story correctly the water truck caught fire the night before Jim's accident and the track used the majority of the fire fighting supplies they had available. I believe it wasn't until many years after Jim's passing late models stopped running on methanol. When just about every race was a 100 lapper they switched to gas.
Its an easy fix for fighting a methanol fire. Water, water, and more water! Indycar has figured it out, have water sprayers everywhere, buckets of water in the pit areas. Dirttracks have water tankers for track prep. All tracks that host sprintcars should have a tanker truck with a fire hose at the ready.
While we are at it, drivers need to raise their hands not only on safety crews and fire equipment, also on fencing, openings in walls, poor lighting etc.
the recent sprint car fires are a direct result of the"safer" method of mounting the tanks! When the tanks were strapped on and came off in a crash there were almost no fires. Now with the damn threaded slugs in the tanks it tears holes in the tank leaving the bladder unsupported.The mandated extra roll bar supports make it hard to get out of the cars and nearly imposible for someone to get you out!
Tracks will never put in the equipment needed to fight fires. Cost being the biggest reason and thats a shame.most times its the local volunteer fire department there, tracks have had years to get it safer.what will it take ?????
I'm not sure why in this day and age there aren't a minimum set of fire fighting requirements by the series that have to be inspected pre-race. They may have them, but to exhaust all your suppressant on one fire seems a bit risky. If that was a minimum, then the number needs to be tripled as a baseline. Also was puzzled to hear that there was no ambulance on the scene. As a kid, we didn't race until the ambulance arrived. Hopefully something positive will come out of this.
Not having the right shit to fight a fire is a massive fuck up on the tracks part and the series for going to a track that wasn’t prepared for proper safety
The narc series had a traveling safety and fire crew,they went to every race until last why, could have used them last nite,i wonder why the safety was t shirts to and jeans, WOW, how can put out a fire,when your no protected
All this talking about fires goes All the way back to the Doug Wolfgang accident, not sure how these tracks get away with this. If I was there insurance company I would be asking questions.
I noticed zeb wise scary fire a few years ago and chase Randall's fires were pretty orange and thought methanol fires were invisible. Are additives making fires harder for safety to deal with?
I asked about this as well. It seems like the fire color in these instances is more due to other things burning, and not just the fuel. For example, Randall's fire was that pinkish color right around the cockpit area. This was likely due to other things on the car burning, and not the fuel. The fuel that was burning down the track was the traditional very light color that methanol is known for.
As an ex-racer who has been on fire with methanol, yes, it burns invisible. The scariest part for me was feeling being burned but not seeing any flames.
NARC just posted this a little bit ago: ANGELIQUE BELL UPDATE - 3:00 PM: Angelique Bell just had her breathing tube removed and is now breathing well on her own. She has various first and second degree burns on her body that still require treatment. In the meantime, she is resting comfortably at Rogue Valley Hospital with family members.
the most f-ed up mess this year. at the narc race and the most f-ed up statement iv ever heard at a race last nite, was, its ok we called 911 for a ambulance!!!!!!!!!!NARC needs your own safety crew.great job Tanner and crew.1 of many
The track had an Ambulance there on site. They called for another one to transport the driver. It the track Ambulance leaves, then another has to get on site to replace it. Because you can't race without one onsite. I was at Skagit two years ago when a big wreck happened. The track ambulance took the driver out. But only as far as the parking lot. Another Ambulance had come in and they transferred the driver to that one to go to the hospital. The track Ambulance then came back to the infield. Then the races restarted. Saw it all from the top row of section B.
We got guys looking really stupid wearing helmets on the flagstands now and push truck drivers with helmets on also but they got dick for safety for fires and the safety crews to get the fires out makes sense
Crewed 2006 to 2010 in USAC CRA - 410 cars. You and your team are responsible to review any and all safety equipment and personal prior to racing at any track. If it isn’t safe don’t unload. Help or volunteer to make your local track safer. God bless America 🇺🇸. God bless spring car racing. ❤❤❤❤❤❤
I don't know when we've seen so many bad fires since the Outlaws started in 1978 and modern sprint car racing kinda began. There have been bad fires for sure, Donny Schatz at Chico happened almost in my wife and my laps sitting in the 3 rd of the pit grandstand. I'm sure there are a number of others as well but the is at least 5 bad fires since Paul McMahon's followed by Macedo's and Randall's at Knoxville, 1 at Port Royal last year and now this one in Oregon. What is that, 5 fires in what 4 years ? I don't remember exactly when McMahon's fire crash and fire happened. I'm I wrong in thinking these fires are happening more often?
