greg1647545532 Posted June 9, 2014 Report Share Posted June 9, 2014 Instructor dies in raceway crash at Summit Point An instructor at Summit Point Motorsports Park in Jefferson County, W.Va., died over the weekend when a car on the track careened off a curve. The instructor was a passenger in a 2006 Pontiac GTO driven by someone Saturday as part of the HyperFest event, according to Sgt. Robert Sell of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. I'm withholding my commentary until more information emerges. But I did find this: motomoron wrote: Also - I heard reports of "spectators" lobbing cans of beer off the bridge are cars on track, during a race. ... That did actually happen. In fact I was racing my Spec Miata in the group when it happened on the last lap..... We all got red flagged (for a massive accident right at the bridge directly behind me......) right as I passed start/finish and I stopped the car, jumped out and ran to the corner worker bucket in turn 1 to say what happened, they handled it from there..... I had a friend there, he wanted me to go but I didn't want to deal with the Hyperfest crowd. This is very sad news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudiOn19s Posted June 9, 2014 Report Share Posted June 9, 2014 Sad indeed. Summit Point is not a safe facility. No car should ever be able to leave the racing surface and come in contact with a tree. No excuses. As I understand it this happened on the smaller Jefferson circuit not the main course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg1647545532 Posted June 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2014 Yes, there was a DE on the Jefferson circuit - 1 classroom session and 1 track session (15-20 minutes) for $50. I was planning on doing a track day on that circuit in September, but after learning of the lack of guard rails, there's no way. Apparently there was also a wreck on the Main circuit where a Miata went so far into the woods nobody could see it. I don't know how that happens either; I've never driven the Main circuit there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudiOn19s Posted June 9, 2014 Report Share Posted June 9, 2014 (edited) beyond that...there's at least one animal incident on the track every weekend there...generally they are smaller animals with minimal issues to the cars however there have been 2 or 3 incidents involving deer and cars on the track that I can remember which is enough to keep me away. **fixed video** Edited June 10, 2014 by AudiOn19s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudiOn19s Posted June 10, 2014 Report Share Posted June 10, 2014 May he R.I.P. Based on this photo he didn't have a chance...Doubt even a full cage would have made things better. Side impact with a wall and let the whole side of the car take the blow maybe...when you impale a car like that with a tree.... http://www.your4state.com/media/lib/180/a/b/b/abb54fc5-7804-4944-9847-a259b3168c97/Original.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted June 10, 2014 Report Share Posted June 10, 2014 Holy Shit. Thats awful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagner Posted June 10, 2014 Report Share Posted June 10, 2014 May he R.I.P. Based on this photo he didn't have a chance...Doubt even a full cage would have made things better. Side impact with a wall and let the whole side of the car take the blow maybe...when you impale a car like that with a tree.... http://www.your4state.com/media/lib/180/a/b/b/abb54fc5-7804-4944-9847-a259b3168c97/Original.jpg Wow.... A full chassis car *might* have done better, but even then it would have been touch and go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallard Posted June 10, 2014 Report Share Posted June 10, 2014 This is why tree's don't belong on race tracks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuicedH22 Posted June 10, 2014 Report Share Posted June 10, 2014 No car should ever be able to leave the racing surface and come in contact with a tree. No excuses. It's happened at Putnam before as well... driver didnt die (no instructor), but he sure came close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmwohio Posted June 10, 2014 Report Share Posted June 10, 2014 Here's some on-track footage with Mike Skeen in a GT3. No armco or tire barriers at corner exits and other spots on the track is unacceptable. I'm sure if a guard rail were there this would have been a different story altogether. This track will need to have a good look at it's barriers before ALOT of people will set foot on this track again. Alot of these guys at Hyper fest are novices too, so they don't know any better when they come to a track for the first time. Really sad.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImUrOBGYN Posted June 10, 2014 Report Share Posted June 10, 2014 I was unaware they were building tracks with trees directly in the middle of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cordell Posted June 10, 2014 Report Share Posted June 10, 2014 That GTO took the hit in the worst possible place right in the door, like others have said a gaurdrail would've at least spread out the impact. That's just shitty, RIP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted June 10, 2014 Report Share Posted June 10, 2014 dang, that vid is nuts. While it certainly is attractive, doesn't seem to be very safe. EESH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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