The most basic idea behind a drag strip is to provide a safe, controlled, environment for people to race their cars. A basic expectation of drag racers is that the track they are running down has at least some basic safety standards that would help them in the event of a crash. This video shows a track that falls outside of parameters.
Vinny DiRose recently finished a bunch of changes and upgrades on his bad ass, blown 1957 Chevy door slammer. Last weekend he was competing at Capitol Raceway in Maryland. As you’ll see in the video he launches, has to pedal the car, then things go bad and he wrecks. After rolling over, the car bursts into flames. Sadly, that’s not the shocking part.
The “fire crew” bursts onto the scene as a bunch of people wearing t-shirts and shorts. Thankfully, Vinny was able to get out of the car because if he was in any other position, he’d be dead. The car sat there, on fire, reportedly for nearly 20 minutes before a local volunteer fire crew could get to the track and put it out. Needless to say, it is a total loss.
There was no sufficient fire fighting equipment at the track, and judging by the lack of safety gear on the safety response team, their training was probably insufficent as well.
This track is owned by a man who operates an NHRA Pro Stock team, someone who sees the NHRA Safety Safari work on a near weekly basis during racing season, and someone who sure seems like he should know better than to run a race at his own track that they do not have the capacity to do in a safe manner.
Good tracks set themselves apart when the shit hits the fan. Training, equipment, organization, and readiness come to the forefront instantly. To be kind, we’ll say that this is not an example of any of those things.
This is truly hard to watch.
Our heart goes out ot Vinny. We’re very happy that he made it out of this mess with his health.
