Concerning my crash at Giants....

[Cass Racing]

In case any of you haven't seen it, here is the onboard video from my crash at Giants on saturday: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=262552433851416

First and foremost, I would like to thank everybody for the outstanding support I have received after my first crash! A special thank you must go out firstly to Donna. After I hit she was the first one there (after she leaped off the side of the hill!) to come to my rescue and make sure I was alright. She got me sat down, drinking water, and fought off the crazy drunk spectators coming down to see me. Second on the scene was Patti Murphy, who almost had tears in her eyes she was so worried about me. I think to many of us Pittsburgh racers (I am not a wanker! haha, well maybe after this weekend...) Patti is really like our motherly figure when we are away from our mothers. She looks out for us, supports us, and even feeds many of us (and often without thanks mind you!).

I would also like to thank everyone at the PHA, especially Jen, Matt, Rich Rock, Cannon, Dave and everyone else who immediately came up that hill and the FIRST thing out of every one of their mouths to me was "Are you alright?". The event officials, corner workers, and medical personnel are all outstanding professionals who really don't get enough thanks for the amazing work they do!

Next I want to thank my fellow drivers! Every last one of you, and your significant others as well, were beyond supportive of me. Especially Kurt, who made me realize that sometimes "shit happens", and even showed me pictures of his shunt at Weatherly. You all did an amazing job cheering me up (getting me drunk), and helping me laugh off my horrible driving error. Special thank you to Darryl Danko for having the band on saturday night sing a fabulous, impromptu, song about my foray into Devil's Elbow!!! This crash has taught me something very important: we are not all people who happen to enjoy the same sport on the weekends....we are friends. I am honored to call all of you my friend. Thank you.

Finally, and without a doubt most importantly, I wish to thank my father Mason. Even though I buggered up and crashed, I wouldn't even be able to contemplate doing this amazing sport if it wasn't for him. His incredible engineering capabilities keep me both fast, and safe! I have learned so much about cars and mechanicals from him; now I get to learn how to fix a car that has been crashed!

Once again, thank you to you all.

[Dogpatch]

Hi Nigel,

I just watched the video of your crash. If you remember after the first run on Saturday I warned you to stay off the center yellow line because it had no grip causing the car to swerve as you crossed it. Your right front tire was on the yellow line when you hit the brakes, locking the right front tire the car pulled to the left and you were off course.

Some times you need to listen to what the old guys say.

Glad you were okay. Lesson learned?

Kurt

[Rich Sweigart]

Not to mention that the braking zone into the elbow is table top ramp. The car wants to compress the suspension on the ramp, once the car reaches the table top the suspension goes light. The brakes lock up and you become a passenger. It
kind of sucks because in a low powered car you want to carry as much momentum as you can thru the elbow and
the rest of the
hill.

[gdh57]

Hi Nigel:

I didn't realize how hard you hit until I saw your video, glad you were ok!

How old were your tires?

When my tires go, the first place I feel it is during braking. I had something similar happen to me at Pagoda . I locked up the brakes after braking at the entrance to turn 2 where I normally brake (using normal braking pressure), and took out the barricade. Luckily it was a plastic one and not a wood one and it disintegrated in a spectacular manner.

I had been suspicious of the tires before the event, but had tried to extend their life with the Formula V stuff. I'm sure it works, but my tires were too far gone.

Grace

[Cass Racing]

Ohh I am fine, Grace! Just a little bit sore, but frankly I deserved it.

On sunday I went up and spoke to every spectator who had been there to see my wreck. Every one of them said they thought something looked "wrong" with my front suspension coming into the turn. Many of them even said that my left front tire looked flat before I ever got to the turn.

When you watch the video, at about second 18 you will see the car weave and my hands correct. Based on where Patti Murphy was standing and what she said she heard, my dad thinks this is the moment my left front tire lost pressure. Of course, it could have also happened when I locked the brakes up, we will never know for sure.

No matter what happened, Ive learned two important things: 1rst, how not to do it. 2nd, I have more friends than I ever knew at PHA hillclimb events.