I’m back, with this week’s safety article.  I’m sorry about the delay, but we’ve been getting a newer old car ready.  I don’t know what we are going to do with it when it’s done, but at least it will be ready if we need it.

Last article we went over different options for the tracks and club promoters to consider for safety teams.  I got a lot of feedback from that, some good, some bad.  The bad was mostly horror stories about tracks fellow racers had been to.  The good was people making their tracks look at themselves and how safe they were.  I’m glad to hear from both, because that means your reading.  As long as you guys keep reading, I’ll keep writing.

This week I wanted to talk about some safety measures we as racers can do at the track to help improve our safety.  With so few safety personnel at the track, we have to take the responsibility to watch out for ourselves and fellow racers.  These are just a few tips to keep in mind next time you’re at the track.

First thing, keep a fire extinguisher in your pit, and have it readily available.  It doesn’t have to be a 30 pound halon thing, just a simple 40 dollar 5 pound extinguisher.  It doesn’t sound like a lot, but if everybody at the track had one you have the power of numbers on your side.  I know the track safety team has a few fire extinguishers and maybe a truck with about a 200 gallon tank on it. DO NOT RELY ONLY ON THIS.  If a 33 gallon tank were to rupture and ignite, 200 gallons of water might slow it down, but with the assistance of about 15 to 20 competitors extinguishers, the risk of the driver getting harmed lowers dramatically.  I know at the “Little 500,” it used to be a rule that everyone had an extinguisher in their pit just for that reason.  So, next time you’re at the hardware store, pick one up and bring it to the track.  Hopefully, it never gets used, but it’s there if you need it.

The next thing that comes to mind that we can do is have a medical kit in your pit.  As we all know these cars have all sorts of sharp edges and hot pieces all over them.  You’re going to get a cut or two if you work on them.  As manly as duct tape looks on a wound, it can lead to infection if not properly cleaned and wrapped.  Some good ideas of things to keep in your medical bag are band-aids, 4×4 pads, hydrogen peroxide, and medical tape.  These will treat about any common injury you get while working on a sprint car.  Another thing to keep in the kit is burn cream or spray.  We’ve all done it, tried to work on the motor after warm-ups, and burned your hand on the headers.  A little burn cream takes the sting right out of it.  It may also be a good idea for all the racers to invest in a professional type medical bag.  The bag would be at the track and available to anyone in the club.  We did this with the TBARA and it worked great.  If somebody got hurt, I could just patch them up and send them on their way.

It also wouldn’t hurt for each crew to have a designated person for safety.  Like I said in the last article, the CPR classes also have a basic first aid portion.  If that crew member were to take on one of those classes, it would be a huge asset to that team.  Having more of these people in the pits is definitely an advantage.

The biggest safety issue I see in the pits is people not paying attention and losing respect for these machines.  Whether you’re a driver, a car owner, or even a crew member, always keep your head up and never take your eyes off the cars.  Things happen so fast with these things, that if something goes wrong you need to be ready.  The biggest threat is people standing up against the fence.  This happens a lot at CCMP (or whatever they call it now).  People are watching the cars on the track while standing less than a yard off the catch fence.  I wouldn’t trust that fence with my life.  I doubt seriously that the fences at most tracks would do much to stop a car if a direct hit were taken.  As we know with sprint cars, they do tend to leave the ground easily.  You can’t make other teams do anything as an individual, but let the people know in your team not to hang around the fence.  I watched a nice lady get hit violently by an out of control sprint car last year at CCMP.  She was taking photos of the cars, and took her eyes off them for an instant.  Luckily, she was merely bruised, but it could have been disastrous.  So watch out for yourself, and help get others back away from the cars.

I’m sure I probably missed some stuff, but these were the issues that jumped out to me.  These are just some simple things we can do to help take the responsibility of our safety.  If you have any yourself, contact the website or me, we would love to get them out to the people.  The main goal is to keep people safer and still have fun.  Nobody is having fun when people we know are getting hurt.

If you have any questions or comments, contact me or FSCF.com and we’ll get them answered.  Thanks for all the great comments and we’ll see next time on the safest website around, FloridaSprintCarFans.com!

Be Safe and Have Fun!

scotty67hotty@yahoo.com

http://www.scottademaracing.com/

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Ask and ye shall receive.  We asked for your topics, and you guys came up with some great ones.  I’ve really had to put on my thinking cap, and do some web surfing, to get you guys (and gals) the answers you’ve asked for.  I love a good challenge, and if it keeps you guys racing safer, then I’m all about it.

One of the more popular topics revolved around track safety crews.  I’ve been to a lot of tracks in my day, and have seen some exceptional safety measures, but I’ve also seen some stuff that almost scared me out of the place.

I’ve seen some tracks that had a fire engine and an ambulance with five fully trained EMT-paramedics ready to go.  On the flip side of that, I’ve seen tracks with absolutely zero safety personnel on sight.  I know I might be prejudiced, but I feel if the sprint cars are going to be at a track, the track should have the local rescue squad there on site.  Your local fire departments have people trained in extrication, spinal immobilization, and basic first aid.  Having these people on site ensures that we as drivers are going to receive the best care possible, if an accident should happen.  So ask your sanctioning body representative to request this service from the track.  If the track refuses this totally, maybe that’s not a place we should be racing at then?

The next best thing is a track safety team.  Don’t be bashful with these guys; go ask them what experience they have.  Many of them are off-duty firefighters from the local area.  Many track crews have never seen a sprint car up close.  Have them come look at a car and show them some of the do’s and don’ts involved in one of these things.  When I go to Charlotte County Motorsports Park, I usually give the guys a sprint car refresher about once a month.  This keeps them aware of the spots of the car that could be potentially hazardous.

Another good asset to safety is having people devoted to nothing but driver safety.  Luckily, with the Checkered Flag Sprint Series, we have Jennifer Butler and Heather Rehm to help watch out for us.  These two have gone through a motorsports safety class at the old St. Pete Speedway, plus with being raised around sprint cars they are familiar with them and know what happens in a bad crash.  I would take those two to assist me in getting a hurt driver out of a car over most track crews.  They also hold you back when you feel like throwing your helmet at someone, which is a good thing. Thanks Jen and Heather for all you do to help keep us safe!

One thing we can do as drivers and owners is help take on some of this responsibility.  A basic first aid and CPR class is offered in just about every town in the state.  This may not help you extricate a guy out of a mangled mess, but if somebody got injured at the track, you would be able to help them out.  Or, if somebody had a heart attack, basic CPR skills could help save a fellow racer’s life.  These classes are usually offered through the American Heart Association, and run about 55 dollars.  If anybody in the southwest Florida area is interested, I’m a certified instructor and would be willing to give you  the class for the cost of the card, which is only five bucks.

I could go on and on about this topic forever, but the main point is the racers need to be sure their backs are covered.  Find out the experience levels of the track crew, and ask your series president why the local fire department is not there.  If it is a monetary issue, then maybe the racers should all chip in to get them there.  It is also my recommendation that every series appoint a safety officer.  This person would be responsible for issues like driver’s protective gear, familiarization of the track safety crews and lining up the proper safety personnel for the race dates.

Thanks to all of you fine people for the great topics.  Please, if you have an idea for a topic, contact the site or me with it, and we’ll get it answered.  The next article is going to get more into things we can do as racers to be safer at the track.  So come back to FloridaSprintCarFans.com to check it out.  Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you next time.

Be Safe and Have Fun!

scotty67hotty@yahoo.com

http://www.scottademaracing.com/