July Will Be a Month to Remember

Last weekend was my first weekend to sleep in for 3 weeks. I worked three back-to-back 3-day race weekends starting with Oregon Region's SCCA double national at Portland International Raceway (July 3-5), followed by the Portland Historic races (July 10-12) and then finally the Portland NASCAR Camping Series West event (July 17-19). Each weekend had it's own set of memories and learning experiences, but the Historics weekend will stand out in my mind forever.

Portland Historic Races weekend is, hands down, one of my favorite weekends at Portland International Raceway (PIR). If you have never been to such an event, come on out! It's great fun and where else can you salivate over gorgeous works of art crafted in to race cars.

That Friday, July 10, was fairly uneventful for me. While I was supposed to be station on Chase, I ended up being on turn 6 handling flags and communication due to the low worker turn out. For those who don’t know what Chase is, it is the vehicle that responds to cars that have gone off course in the in-field between turns 4-8 at PIR. While I was bummed to not be responding to cars that day, I had a blast hanging out with a few of my favorite track buddies. Plus, I had a militia parked next to me with Safety II, a flat bed truck and an ambulance…. More on that ambulance later. And it is also probably good to mention that Safety II was a brand new vehicle for the track donated from a local auto dealership.

Saturday, July 11, the workers came out in full force, so it was my first full day to be assigned to Chase. I was to be the person in the back of Chase who jumps out and assesses cars, drivers and situations. Chase is a smaller Nissan truck owned by PIR, with the goal of quickly assessing and fetching cars while the track is still hot. When an uglier situation occurs either Safety or Safety II, which are big trucks, are dispatched from race control. That day cars were on course at 8:30am and by 12n we had a couple minor incidents, but nothing significant. The afternoon was quite a different story.

With 2 sessions left in the day, the Big Bore Production cars were being released for a 25-minute heat race. This group consists of 1960’s Shelby Mustangs, 1970’s Corvettes, and an assortment of other bigger cars including a smaller Studebaker and a Sunbeam Tiger. Since this group was one of my favorite, I stepped off the back bed of Chase to watch the start of the race with one of the workers on Safety II because the truck’s back bed sat up higher and I could get a better view of the Chicane.

Approximately 5-10 minutes into the race, the #111 cream colored Studebaker spun off drivers right just prior to turn 4 and was facing counter course just off the racing surface. Within an instant Safety II was en-route with me along for the ride (the truck moved so quickly I had no time to get off the back bed). Approaching the scene, #15 blue NASCAR spun off drivers left and hit the wall but continued on. As Safety II shielded the #111 car, the worker in the back of Safety II with me yelled “You – Stay!” as he jumped off the truck.

I moved toward the cab of the truck, crouching near a race car seat that was positioned in the back bed and leaned in to the back sliding window to give commentary to the driver of Safety II what was happening behind us. The cars were still racing hard and I yelled at the Safety II driver, “They’re not lifting! They’re not lifting!” and he put the palm of his hand on the horn. Just as I saw the pace car come out, I yelled, “Pace has the leader” - it was then that I saw the #45 black Sunbeam Tiger start to lose it just behind us. I yelled “Incoming” and the Safety II driver laid on the horn…. Thankfully that action sent the two workers and the #111 driver running in to the infield. At the same time I yelled I shoved myself into the race seat and braced for impact. The car hit us at approx. 70 mph at the left-side rear wheel well, shoving Safety II approx. 6-8” and jarring me in the Safety II back bed. Total time that elapsed from the #111 car spinning off to the #45 car hitting Safety II?..... 15 seconds.

What I didn’t know and see was that #111 car spun off track in his own oil; which resulted in the #15 car spinning and hitting the wall and (obviously) the #45 car hitting Safety II. What I also did not see were the yellow flags, which starter and turn 1 were frantically waving. From all the assessments and statements, everything was done properly from a workers standpoint. It was an unfortunately incident for both drivers involved. Due to the fact that the rest of the group were still racing as the incident was taking place, all the drivers got a stern talking to by the race officials for not observing the waving yellow flags. Thank God Safety II shielded the two workers and driver who were near the #111 car - that saved their lives. The race car seat in the back of Safety II definitely saved my life because without it I would have either been thrown from the vehicle, suffered head trauma or worse. So while I’m tired today, I am thankful I only have soreness and bruises…. It could have been a lot worse of an outcome.

Yes - An ambulance checked me out right after the incident. And yes - I will still continue working the races.