TEMPERS FLARE OVER ADRL TURNOFF INCIDENT
Sun, 2009-08-23 23:51
Chassis builder Gary Naughton looked over his client’s 1970 Chevelle assessing the
damage from an incident in the National Trail 
Raceway shutdown area on
Friday afternoon at the ADRL Ohio Drags in Columbus, Ohio.
Kenny Doak’s Extreme 10.5 entry qualified 13th in the field but, because of the damage sustained, was unable to make the first round call.
According to witnesses, the Wellston, Ohio-based Mustang, driven by Jason Wilson, had a parachute snag the wheelie bars of Doak’s car. The wheelie bars were ripped from the rear of the car and forced through the quarterpanel of Doak's Chevelle.
Chassis builder Gary Naughton looked over his client’s 1970 Chevelle assessing the
damage from an incident in the National Trail Raceway shutdown area on
Friday afternoon at the ADRL Ohio Drags in Columbus, Ohio.
Kenny Doak’s Extreme 10.5 entry qualified 13th in the field but, because of the damage sustained, was unable to make the first round call.
According to witnesses, the Wellston, Ohio-based Mustang, driven by Jason Wilson, had a parachute snag the wheelie bars of Doak’s car. The wheelie bars were ripped from the rear of the car and forced through the quarterpanel of Doak's Chevelle.
Wilson's parachute then forced Doak's into the parked tow quad. This is just the initial damage that Naughton could quickly survey. He believes there’s more damage inside of the trunk that will show in a closer inspection.
“We were pulling away and it’s a shame because in thirty seconds the car would have been out of the way,” Naughton said. “We just made a really good pass, got in the show, we're all excited, the car's working now; we figured some things out electronic wise. We were all ready thinking we could throw power at it now and then this happened and that was real heartbreaking.”
Naughton said the incident could have easily involved another car as well as Doak’s.
“Jason Wilson come around the corner with both chutes deployed, instead of going around Kenny with another 50 feet around the side, he tried to get, for some reason, between both cars and wound up collecting Kenny's car,” Naughton explained. “Very lucky he didn't grab the Titan car because it would have drug them both together. Whether he forgot that he pulled the chutes, I don't know, but I think it was just a dumb move on his behalf. The guy never even apologized, never even came over to look at the car or the damage; right now he has not been over here to apologize and it's just, it would have been nice to at least get an apology out of him.”
Wilson told CompetitionPlus.com that he followed the instruction of the shutdown personnel.
“I was coming off and the guy was telling me to go ahead and turn so I made my turn and there was another guy standing there pointing to the inside,” Wilson said. “So when I made the turn I went to the inside and the guy kept motioning for me to come forward and I was just rolling down through there and the next thing I know, the car stopped. I knew the chutes were out.”
Wilson said the top end official motioned that his chutes were down, and dragging the ground presenting no potential problem. As Wilson turned off the track, a burst of wind, he said apparently blossomed the parachutes.
“No I had no idea at all,” answered Wilson, when asked if he had any idea what was going on behind him. “I was just rolling up through there, unhooking my HANS device and stuff and the car just came to a sudden stop. And I heard him start yelling. I didn't know what happened until I got out.”
Wilson doesn’t fault the officials on the top end for the incident. He blames it on a “freak” accident.
“I've had it happen to me too,” Wilson added. “You know, turn the corner, you don't know where your parachutes are when you turn, so I mean it was a bad deal but like I said I was doing what I was told to do.”
Raceway shutdown area on
Friday afternoon at the ADRL Ohio Drags in Columbus, Ohio. Kenny Doak’s Extreme 10.5 entry qualified 13th in the field but, because of the damage sustained, was unable to make the first round call.
According to witnesses, the Wellston, Ohio-based Mustang, driven by Jason Wilson, had a parachute snag the wheelie bars of Doak’s car. The wheelie bars were ripped from the rear of the car and forced through the quarterpanel of Doak's Chevelle.
A shut-down incident omn Friday took Kenny Doak's Chevelle out of
competition for the weekend. A fellow competitor's parachute snagged
Doak's wheelie bars causing substantial damage. The other driver said
he was following orders of a race official when the mishap occurred.
Kenny Doak’s Extreme 10.5 entry qualified 13th in the field but, because of the damage sustained, was unable to make the first round call.
According to witnesses, the Wellston, Ohio-based Mustang, driven by Jason Wilson, had a parachute snag the wheelie bars of Doak’s car. The wheelie bars were ripped from the rear of the car and forced through the quarterpanel of Doak's Chevelle.
Wilson's parachute then forced Doak's into the parked tow quad. This is just the initial damage that Naughton could quickly survey. He believes there’s more damage inside of the trunk that will show in a closer inspection.
“We were pulling away and it’s a shame because in thirty seconds the car would have been out of the way,” Naughton said. “We just made a really good pass, got in the show, we're all excited, the car's working now; we figured some things out electronic wise. We were all ready thinking we could throw power at it now and then this happened and that was real heartbreaking.”
Naughton said the incident could have easily involved another car as well as Doak’s.
“Jason Wilson come around the corner with both chutes deployed, instead of going around Kenny with another 50 feet around the side, he tried to get, for some reason, between both cars and wound up collecting Kenny's car,” Naughton explained. “Very lucky he didn't grab the Titan car because it would have drug them both together. Whether he forgot that he pulled the chutes, I don't know, but I think it was just a dumb move on his behalf. The guy never even apologized, never even came over to look at the car or the damage; right now he has not been over here to apologize and it's just, it would have been nice to at least get an apology out of him.”
Wilson told CompetitionPlus.com that he followed the instruction of the shutdown personnel.
“I was coming off and the guy was telling me to go ahead and turn so I made my turn and there was another guy standing there pointing to the inside,” Wilson said. “So when I made the turn I went to the inside and the guy kept motioning for me to come forward and I was just rolling down through there and the next thing I know, the car stopped. I knew the chutes were out.”
Wilson said the top end official motioned that his chutes were down, and dragging the ground presenting no potential problem. As Wilson turned off the track, a burst of wind, he said apparently blossomed the parachutes.
“No I had no idea at all,” answered Wilson, when asked if he had any idea what was going on behind him. “I was just rolling up through there, unhooking my HANS device and stuff and the car just came to a sudden stop. And I heard him start yelling. I didn't know what happened until I got out.”
Wilson doesn’t fault the officials on the top end for the incident. He blames it on a “freak” accident.
“I've had it happen to me too,” Wilson added. “You know, turn the corner, you don't know where your parachutes are when you turn, so I mean it was a bad deal but like I said I was doing what I was told to do.”
Advertisement
Categories:
