[mattmarks]

Well, it looks like I've become a minor star on the forum, so I figured I'd post what it looked, felt, sounded and smelt like from my perspective.

http://www.youtube.com/v/YXqHvVB0pa8?fs=1&amp

Post-mortem indicates a failed rod bolt and/or nut on #1. Not the classic "#2 bearing" issue. Scott put the picture of the motor up already, so in addition to the oil pan being holed, the bottom half of the rod is somewhere out there on track. There's also a hole in the block up near the alternator mount where what remains of the rod flailed around. Also, the girdle is broken.

For grins, we fired it up on Friday. Started on the first try. They sure know how to make 'em

So, that's the sounds of many $k and a championship shot down the tubes....there's always next year

[RENN 951]

Good thing you stayed in the car based on the "soundtrack!" And no profanity - very impressive!

[MBuck951]

All that tire screetch with your back to the track must have been comforting lol

[jerome951]

Ahh, the smell of burning money.

The tire-screech soundtrack in the background was impressive. I'm guessing you were the most hated man at Summit that afternoon...

[HoodPin]

Bummer........

FWIW, it looks like you did the best you could getting off track when she blew. Fortunately, it sounds like the follow-on incidents, though scary for some, were relatively inconsequential. Also sounds like flagging may need to be re-assessed a bit; visibility and placement appear to have been an issue.

[good hands]

Originally Posted by AJ986S

Also sounds like flagging may need to be re-assessed a bit; visibility and placement appear to have been an issue.

I think I recognize my tire screech....

I have reviewed my video hundreds of times and I can't find a yellow flag anywhere in it.

Maybe I should have heard the girl yell " Oh my God " ???

[John Clay]

Man, sound like they were still wrecking for more than a full minute. To bad the "oh my God" girl didn't have a flag.

[SilverStreak]

Originally Posted by good hands

I think I recognize my tire screech....

I have reviewed my video hundreds of times and I can't find a yellow flag anywhere in it.

Maybe I should have heard the girl yell " Oh my God " ???

At 13 seconds when you are facing the tub the flagger is waving a yellow . . .

I was two cars behind the explosion and they had the yellow out at 10 and then double yellow at 1 that same lap. As it happens my pulley let go so I crawled around 1 and there was a lady who was frantically telling people to slow down. So frantic I thought she might run in front of the car!

[HoodPin]

Its clear they went full course Yellow after the incident. And while they may have been waving the Yellow in T3's tub when Scott was coming up the hill, that's not enough to let him know they're a slippery mess before the turn. We don't even know for certain if that waving Yellow at the :13 mark may have actually just come out for Scott's incident. Normally, the flag station is supposed to be warning you about what's beyond them. IMHO, flagging at T1 and T2 (not always used) would have been the ones responsible for getting cars slowed up the hill towards T3. I don't know what and when flags went up in those corners. In Scott's video, I can't tell if T2 was manned, but if it was, they didn't appear to be displaying a flag when he came thru.

But I don't want to create the impression that I'm berating the flaggers. Theirs is not an easy job. It may not have been evident to them in T3 that oil had been spilled on the track until cars started spinning. And when multiple cars start going off, it takes patience and experience to get flags out quickly, bark out radio calls for additional flags at preceeding stations, and survey the situtation to determine what if any additional help/response is needed. This incident was clearly above the normal range. But I guess my biggest question is whether T2 was manned that event. IMHO, they would have had the best vantage point to validate the oil spill, and provide the appropriate flag warning.

[SilverStreak]

Originally Posted by AJ986S

Its clear they went full course Yellow after the incident. And while they may have been waving the Yellow in T3's tub when Scott was coming up the hill, that's not enough to let him know they're a slippery mess before the turn. We don't even know for certain if that waving Yellow at the :13 mark may have actually just come out for Scott's incident. Normally, the flag station is supposed to be warning you about what's beyond them. IMHO, flagging at T1 and T2 (not always used) would have been the ones responsible for getting cars slowed up the hill towards T3. I don't know what and when flags went up in those corners. In Scott's video, I can't tell if T2 was manned, but if it was, they didn't appear to be displaying a flag when he came thru.

But I don't want to create the impression that I'm berating the flaggers. Theirs is not an easy job. It may not have been evident to them in T3 that oil had been spilled on the track until cars started spinning. And when multiple cars start going off, it takes patience and experience to get flags out quickly, bark out radio calls for additional flags at preceeding stations, and survey the situtation to determine what if any additional help/response is needed. This incident was clearly above the normal range. But I guess my biggest question is whether T2 was manned that event. IMHO, they would have had the best vantage point to validate the oil spill, and provide the appropriate flag warning.

T2 was not manned. The question then becomes "did T1 have a flag out?"