TOPEKA, Kan. (Aug. 11, 2011) – SCCA racer Ken Buchel, of Denver, Pa., died Tuesday, Aug. 9, due to complications from injuries sustained in a July 9 accident at Watkins Glen International. He was 66.
Buchel was racing his 1990 Honda CRX in the F Production class when he was involved in a single-car accident in Turn Six on the first lap of the Group One race.
Buchel was a member of the Susquehanna Region since 1999. He began racing in 2000 and obtained his National Competition License in 2002, eventually racing in ITA, G Production and F Production. Buchel competed in the 2003-2005 National Championship Runoffs at Mid-Ohio in G Production.
Buchel is survived by his wife, Barbara and their two daughters. A life celebration service will be held in the next week, although details are not available at this time. The family has expressed appreciation for the condolences received from the SCCA community.
For those of you who may not have met Ken, he was an occasional hillclimber. Always a quiet gentleman, skillfull driver and race car builder, in my opinion. I only got speak with him during a few races at Summit Point and NJMP during Regional and National races and he was always helpfull to me.
I'd like to pursuade the PHA to respond to the family in some way.
Dave Y.
There, but for the grace of God, go I.
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timurf
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- Current Racecar: 1968 Datsun Roadster
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Re: There, but for the grace of God, go I.
Oh thats terrible. Ours is a safe sport, but accidents are a reality in the risk of daily life itself.
Maybe we can get a collection going at Duryea. For 'what' I am unqualified to say, maybe someone has an idea of something appropriate.
Maybe we can get a collection going at Duryea. For 'what' I am unqualified to say, maybe someone has an idea of something appropriate.
Tim Murphy
68 Roadster
69 Roadster
other Datsuns too
68 Roadster
69 Roadster
other Datsuns too
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dspgti
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Re: There, but for the grace of God, go I.
I had to search a bit to find info on Ken. It turns out that the prodracing web site was monitoring his progress and eventually succumbing to his injuries. I'll pick off some pertanent information for you here but a little more details could be found under the threads of the Watkins Glenn Double http://prodracing.com/prodcar/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12593 and the anounce of his death http://prodracing.com/prodcar/viewtopic ... 0b7d02c337
From Ron Bartel:
Ken spun right in front of me during the first lap going down the hill into turn 6. The car immediately snapped sideways as he hit the brakes, then tank slapped and went off to the inside, hit the tire wall and then crossed back onto the track in front of me and hit the outside. I don't think that there was any mistake made in his driving. It looked like something broke, or a tire blew since he immediately went sideways.
More from the Star Gazette on July 13:
"...Buchel suffered severe head and neck injuries in a first-lap crash in Saturday's Group 1 race and remained in guarded condition Wednesday at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.
Mike Toombs of Rochester, the event's registrar, visited the Buchel family at the hospital Monday. He said Buchel suffered several broken facial bones and a fractured skull and was in an induced coma at the time of the visit.
From Bill Hunter on July 31:
Ken had a setback when an artery in his neck burst. He was operated on and it was repaired. Two days later he was operated on again to repair the other artery. The doctors knew the arteries were leaking but not bad enough to work on them at the time. He has the breathing tube back in again. This is information I got from his wife Barb. It is a week old. I should be talking to her tomorrow and will update his condition. Ken was not wearing a HANS and the doctor told his wife it would not have help in this case. The damage was due to the g-force his body went through. Barb did want to thank everyone for their prayers and kind thoughts. She wanted to also give thanks to the Glen Region and Finger Lakes Region for their help during these hard times.
From Dave Parker:
As most of you know by now Ken Buchel has passed away. There will be a life party for him on August 27th at 5:00 PM. This will take place at:
Fox Chase Golf Club
300 Stevens Road
Stevens, PA. 17578
Those of us who raced with him are going to miss his humor and laid back attitude at the track. When ever you saw his yellow Honda in your mirror you knew you were in for a fight for position but a clean fight. Ken's family would like to thank the SCCA family for their help, thoughts, and prayers.
Dave Y:
If you are wondering why I titled this thread the way I did, especially since I have no religious beliefs? I was scheduled to run at that event and often run along side of Ken and Ron Bartel (they pull away pretty fast after the first lap or so) and with the other Prod racers chating in the treads. I had to drop out due to the move to our new house that weekend. Being a similar age to Ken, these kind of events give a greater reason for contemplation and consideration to how we approach our own lives and how we live them and how we can minimize risks that we take.
May he rest in peace and be a model for rest of us.
Dave Yeager
From Ron Bartel:
Ken spun right in front of me during the first lap going down the hill into turn 6. The car immediately snapped sideways as he hit the brakes, then tank slapped and went off to the inside, hit the tire wall and then crossed back onto the track in front of me and hit the outside. I don't think that there was any mistake made in his driving. It looked like something broke, or a tire blew since he immediately went sideways.
More from the Star Gazette on July 13:
"...Buchel suffered severe head and neck injuries in a first-lap crash in Saturday's Group 1 race and remained in guarded condition Wednesday at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.
Mike Toombs of Rochester, the event's registrar, visited the Buchel family at the hospital Monday. He said Buchel suffered several broken facial bones and a fractured skull and was in an induced coma at the time of the visit.
From Bill Hunter on July 31:
Ken had a setback when an artery in his neck burst. He was operated on and it was repaired. Two days later he was operated on again to repair the other artery. The doctors knew the arteries were leaking but not bad enough to work on them at the time. He has the breathing tube back in again. This is information I got from his wife Barb. It is a week old. I should be talking to her tomorrow and will update his condition. Ken was not wearing a HANS and the doctor told his wife it would not have help in this case. The damage was due to the g-force his body went through. Barb did want to thank everyone for their prayers and kind thoughts. She wanted to also give thanks to the Glen Region and Finger Lakes Region for their help during these hard times.
From Dave Parker:
As most of you know by now Ken Buchel has passed away. There will be a life party for him on August 27th at 5:00 PM. This will take place at:
Fox Chase Golf Club
300 Stevens Road
Stevens, PA. 17578
Those of us who raced with him are going to miss his humor and laid back attitude at the track. When ever you saw his yellow Honda in your mirror you knew you were in for a fight for position but a clean fight. Ken's family would like to thank the SCCA family for their help, thoughts, and prayers.
Dave Y:
If you are wondering why I titled this thread the way I did, especially since I have no religious beliefs? I was scheduled to run at that event and often run along side of Ken and Ron Bartel (they pull away pretty fast after the first lap or so) and with the other Prod racers chating in the treads. I had to drop out due to the move to our new house that weekend. Being a similar age to Ken, these kind of events give a greater reason for contemplation and consideration to how we approach our own lives and how we live them and how we can minimize risks that we take.
May he rest in peace and be a model for rest of us.
Dave Yeager