F4SRT (Fans for Safer Race Tracks)
A new site is also in development - a way to honor Dale Earnhardt - please take a look at the NEW Fans for Safer Race Track Initiative!
This has been an ongoing topic for many years…how to improve safety at racetracks. Many people have talked about and developed new “soft wall” technologies, but no one has really looked into implementing this at the track level. It’s time that the fans take action and demand the safety of the drivers. If the sanctioning bodies of NASCAR, CART, and IRL continue to ignore this safety measure, then maybe the sponsors will demand this change. I ask that you take the time as a race fan to write to the sponsors and let them know that now is the time to act.
I dedicate this in memory of Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin.
Below you will find a list of top Sponsors within the NASCAR series, my letter to each of these sponsors, and examples of where “soft walls” have been developed and have helped. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at lkm4earnhardt@aol.com. Please make your voice heard, we as fans can make a difference.
For those of you who thought the test at Lowe's was a "media event" as Mike Helton would like us all to belive please follow the link to see that the product is not just a "folly"
Fans For Safer Race Tracks was invited to witness a the testing of a new soft wall design that took place at Indianapolis Raceway Park on September 20, 2000 - the black box results will be available in the very near future. Officials from both IRL and USAC were present during this test session.
Also please check out this Safety Initiative at the
Racing Press Rivals Site as well - we all can make a difference
An Initiative for Motorsports Safety
Bill Simpson has a solution - read the interview with Dennis Michelsen from - Soft Walls ready for Testing
More Compelling evidence and another system developed after 5 years of research done by the FIA - Finally a safer wall system?
Another safety initiative started by Dennis Michelsen at Frontstretch. Time to Make Our Voices Heard
Sponsor Contact List (in no particular order)
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Mr. Richard Wagoner General Motors 100 Renaissance Center Detroit, MI 48265 |
Mr. Lee R. Raymond Exxon Mobil 5959 Las Colinas Blvd. Irving, TX 75039 |
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Mr. Jacques A. Nasser Ford Motor American Road Dearborn, MI 48121 Fax: 313/845-7512 |
Mr. Arthur M. Blank Home Depot 2455 Paces Ferry Road, N.W. Atlanta, GA 30339 Fax: 770/431-2685 |
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Mr. Floyd Hall Kmart 3100 W. Big Beaver Road Troy, MI 48084 Fax: 248/643-5249 |
Mr. Bernard J. Ebbers MCI WorldCom 500 Clinton Center Drive Clinton, MS 39056 Fax: 601/974-8350 |
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Mr. C. Michael Armstrong AT&T 32 Sixth Avenue New York, NY 10013 Fax: 908/221-2528 |
Mr. Arthur C. Martinez Sears Roebuck 3333 Beverly Road Hoffman Estates, IL 60179 Fax: 847/286-7829 |
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Mr. F. Duane Ackerman Bell South 1155 Peachtree Street, N.E. Atlanta, GA 30309 Fax: 404/249-2071 |
Mr. Robert L. Tillman Lowe’s 1605 Curtis Bridge Road Wilkesboro, NC 28656 Fax: 336/658-4766 |
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Mr. Roger A. Enrico PepsiCo 700 Anderson Hill Road Purchase, NY 10577 Fax: 914/253-2070 |
Mr. William T. Esrey Sprint 2330 Shawnee Mission Parkway Westwood, KS 66205 Investor-relations@www.sprint.com Fax: 916-624-5386 |
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Mr. Douglas N. Daft Coca-Cola 1 Coca-Cola Plaza Atlanta, GA 30313 Fax: 404/676-6792 |
Mr. Summerfield K. Johnston, Jr. Coca-Cola Enterprises 2500 Windy Ridge Parkway Atlanta, GA 30339 Fax: 770/989-3788 |
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Mr. Glen A. Barton Caterpillar 100 N.E. Adams Street Peoria, IL 61629 Fax: 309/675-6155 |
Mr. William C. Steere, Jr. Pfizer 235 E. 42nd Street New York, NY 10017 Fax: 212/573-7851 |
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Mr. Allen R. Rowland Winn-Dixie Stores 5050 Edgewood Court Jacksonville, FL 32254 Fax: 904/783-5235 |
Mr. Daniel A. Carp Eastman Kodak 343 State Street Rochester, NY 14650 Fax: 716/724-0663 |
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Mr. Jack M. Greenberg McDonald’s McDonald’s Plaza Oak Brook, IL 60523 Fax: 630/623-5700 |
Mr. Samir G. Gibara Goodyear Tire & Rubber 1144 E. Market Street Akron, OH 44316 Goodyear.investor.relations@goodyear.com Fax: 330-796-2222 |
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Mr. Hans W. Becherer Deere 1 John Deere Place Moline, IL 61265 |
Mr. August A. Busch III Anheuser-Busch 1 Busch Place St. Louis, MO 63118 |
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Mr. Andrew J. Schindler R.J. Reynolds Tobacco 401 N. Main Street Winston Salem, NC 27102 |
Mr. David R. Whitwam Whirlpool 200 M-63 Benton Harbor, MI 49022 |
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Mr. Stephen C. Hilbert Conseco 11825 N. Pennsylvania Street Carmel, IN 46032 |
Mr. James M. Kilts Nabisco Group Holdings 7 Campus Drive Parsippany, NJ 07054 |
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Mr. Carlos M. Gutierrez Kellogg 1 Kellogg Square Battle Creek, MI 49016 |
Mr. Theodore M. Solso Cummins Engine 500 Jackson Street Columbus, IN 47201 |
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Mr. Richard A. Snell Federal-Mogul 26555 Northwestern Highway Southfield, MI 48034 |
Mr. Alfred Lerner MBNA 1100 North King Street Wilmington, DE 19884 Fax: 302/456-8541 |
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Mr. Joe T. Ford Alltel 1 Allied Drive Little Rock, AR 72202 |
Mr. Stephen W. Sanger General Mills 1 General Mills Blvd. Minneapolis, MN 55426 Fax: 612/540-4925 |
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Mr. Roger C. Beach Unocal 2141 Rosecrans Avenue El Segundo CA 90245 Fax: 800/324-0498 |
Mr. Paul W. Chellgren Ashland 50 E. River Center Blvd. Covington, KY 41011 (Valvoline) investor_relations@ashland.com Fax: 606/815-3559 |
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Mr. Robert S. Morrison Quaker Oats Quaker Tower Chicago, IL 60604 (Gatorade) |
Mr. James L. Pate Pennzoil-Quaker State Pennzoil Place Houston, TX 77252 Fax: 713/546-6639 |
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Mr. Robert Lutz Exide 645 Penn Street Reading, PA 19601 Fax: 610/378-0235 |
Mr. Charles G. McClure Detroit Diesel 13400 Outer Drive W. Detroit, MI 48239 |
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Mr. Geoffrey C. Bible Philip Morris 120 Park Avenue New York, NY 10017 Fax: 917/878-2167 |
Mr. Ronald M. Loeb Mattel 333 Continental Blvd. El Segundo, CA 90245 (Hot Wheels) Fax: 310/252-2179 |
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Mr. Kenneth W. Winger Safety-Kleen 1301 Gervais Street Columbia, SC 29205 |
Mr. John H. Bryan Sara Lee 3 First National Plaza, Suite 4600 Chicago, IL 60602 (Hills Brothers Coffee) Fax: 312/726-3712 |
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Mr. Alan Lafley Procter & Gamble 1 P&G Plaza Cincinnati, OH 45202 (Tide) fax: 513/983-4381 |
Mr. Leo Kiely Coors Brewing Company P. O. Box 4030 Golden, CO 80401-0030 |
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Mr. B. Doidge Citgo Petroleum Corporation 6100 S. Yale Tulsa, OK 74136 |
Mr. Norm Miller Interstate Batteries 12770 Merit Drive Suite 400 Dallas, TX 75251 |
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Mr. Greg Towles Caterpillar 100 N.E. Adams Street Peoria, IL 61629 |
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My letter to the sponsors – feel free to use it
Dear (fill in the blank):
How long are we going to ignore the safety concern at Winston Cup tracks?
Are we simply waiting and praying those concerns go away? NASCAR and Winston Cup are big business. They make a lot of money, yet we still have the same wall technology at the tracks that we did back in the '50's. Why isn't something being
Done to correct the situation, solutions looked at and tried. I present you with three examples with the documentation attached.
How many more young men must die because of outdated safety technology at the tracks? Why are you so willing to accept these deaths as "part of the sport"? You pay a lot of money to sponsor a car and driver. The driver you have sponsored brings many a loyal fan to your business. Will the driver you sponsor be the next one to die?
There are a couple of comments from the attached documentation I wish you to consider.
· "A stuck accelerator might have cause the crash. But to blame a driver's death on that misses the point. Accelerators stick on cars in practice sessions at other tracks, and death is not the result. Engines explode, tires blow, crashes occur in the midst of races. Usually, remarkably in fact, no one dies."
· "Erecting protective barriers that would soften the impact of crashes has been recommended for New Hampshire and other tracks. Drivers walk away from crashes in which they collide with other cars at high speeds and their vehicles topple over and over like 3,400-pound dominoes. Drivers should have the same opportunity in a single-car collision with the wall.”
Kenny Irwin died of a crushed skull, the coroner in Concord, N.H., said yesterday.
New Hampshire, a 1.058-mile oval, was way down on the list of treacherous racetracks on the Winston Cup circuit. Its biggest flaw is its sharp turns that don't allow drivers room to maneuver out of trouble if, as suspected in the cases of both Irwin and Petty, the throttles stick on their cars. You as a sponsor make everything possible in racing. Can you please speak out now for the safety of your driver and demand that change takes place, so that safety in the track facilities is as important as the safety of the car itself?
I thank you in advance for taking the time to read my concerns.
Sincerely,
Examples that I included:
Example 1 Tucson Raceway Park's Track SpecsOverall Track: 3/8-mile
paved oval 60 feet wide with
12-foot apron Turns: Banking: "Compound banking" from
six to nine to 12 degrees Frontstretch: Length: 350 feet Banking: Six degrees Backstretch: Length: 350 feet Banking: Six degrees Here is a post I
found from a gentleman explaining the styrofoam barriers at TRP... ·
A couple
years ago at Tucson Raceway Park a young man hit the wall on Southwest Tour
night. He was nearly killed and is still badly disabled. It was not a happy
night. What is even more
interesting is that this racetrack is owned by ISC. |
Example 2
Trackcare
International Racetrack Safety was formed four years ago with the sole aim of
improving the safety at race circuits for all types of motorsports world-wide.
It is the only system in the world that can cover all your motorsport needs
with one type of safety barrier. Most events require different types of
safety barrier not if you use our system, it has been approved by the FIM for
motorcycling events world-wide, and has recently been tested for FIA use in
Formula 1and can now be used at Formula 1 events. The barrier has recently
been given an award by the Department of Trade and Industry as one of the
most Innovative products for the Millennium and will be on display in the
Millennium Dome in London for the year 2000. The system will last for up to ten years and longer if cared for properly and only requires an inspection by ourselves once a year there is no routine maintenance required at the circuit throughout the year.The system is fire retardant, UV protected, waterproof, and tear resistant. The barriers if damaged can be repaired at the trackside. In the event of major damage at a Formula 1 event it takes only eight minutes to replace two sections of the barrier therefore not disrupting practice. |
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Example 3 "Belted" tire
walls in use for the first time. The Rio 400 was the
first event CART used a new technology in tire barriers to improve oval racing
safety. In response to safety concerns raised after multiple injury-causing
accidents in 1996 at the Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway in Brazil, CART placed
specially 'belted' tire barriers into the impact areas along the outside
walls of turns 1 and 4. These tire barriers are
wrapped in a special 1-inch thick belting material made by Goodyear, and are
held together with steel rods. Tire cores are filled with a plastic material
to keep them from collapsing too easily. Before the race, CART
chief steward Wally Dallenbach explained that "it's something the
drivers wanted and it's untested, so I'll wait to comment on it."
Mauricio Gugelmin's high-speed impact at the event today, plus multiple
lesser contacts in race, practice and qualifying suggest that the barriers
did their job and protected drivers extremely well. With further
improvements and experience gathered at the race today, one could expect
similar protection to be tested at other ovals where high g-forces continue
to threaten life and limb of drivers. What remains to be tested is how the
technology performs at shallow approach angles one could expect at high speed
tracks like Michigan or Fontana. Absurd
as it may sound, but apart from the promising safety aspect CART must also
consider the impact of race delays that could be caused by high-energy
deformations of these soft walls. A 30 minute repair of a wall during a live
telecast would not help the TV-ratings during a live telecast. But what if it
is that one delay that saves a life? Further testing and development of
high-tech barriers like the tire walls tested today at Rio could bring about
new era in driver safety in oval racing. |
