[MrToad]

BE CAREFUL OUT THERE.


Joe Drey died after an accident Saturday at Willow Springs International Motorsports Park in Kern County, where he was driving his 2002 Mini Cooper.

Drey’s Mini-Cooper S crashed in turn nine, the last before the finish line/pit stop area. The weekend’s events were sponsored by the National Auto Sports Association, an amateur racing group. Details were sketchy, but Drey was airlifted from the track to a hospital. He died Sunday after undergoing several surgeries.

[!Xoible]

got link? that's hella sad. sorry to hear!

[MrToad]

http://www.nasaproracing.com/

[Crimson92]

i heard about this, sad

[mmm def]

So sad.

[wj4]

Not the first I've heard of accidents at Willow.

KNOW YOUR LIMIT when you go out there.

[!Xoible]

showed this to my friend, who's been there many many times:

Yeah. Shit. I’ve known Turn 9 to kill before. Imagine entering a decreasing radius turn at 100+ MPH… and the only way to shave time off your laps is to go into it as hot as you can, which means scrubbing your speed by drifting (touch the brakes at that speed in a corner and you’ll spin). If you don’t cut the line right and the tail starts to come out, you’re going for a ride on the infield (rough dirt area) and if you’re unlucky, you’ll be sideways when you hit, sometimes resulting in flips.

[Hans Delbruck]

Guys... to me, it's just this simple: DON'T RUN BIG WILLOW WITHOUT A CAGE or at least a weld-in ROLL BAR. There are other tracks that are safer. This is why I don't run this track (yet)

I have personally seen 2 cars roll there, one driver had a cage and walked away. The other did not, and was airlifted out with major spine injuries (a hair away from being a Christopher Reeve type injury)

A high speed track is not the place to learn car control or "the limits of your car" -- the reason being, you are going 90+ mph when you hit that limit.

Learn your limits on the slower tracks like Streets of Willow, or pick your corners at higher speed tracks like Buttonwillow. Learn car control first. Know how to slide the car and get it back. There are always unforseen circumstances on the track, but with good car control you can avoid a bad outcome.

That's really horrible... it looks like the car didn't have roll protection. Wow..... sorry to get on a soapbox, but when you've seen it happen to someone you know... you hope you can prevent it from happening again.

[E90330iS]

sucks..

[Couch]

Very sad. Best wishes to family and friends.

It seems that the short, squatty body of the Mini probably caused it to flip. Being fwd, probably made things worse taking a turn like that too fast.

[monsta]

wow! my prayers go out to his family and loved ones....R.I.P.