Gettin "nailed" at the track

[fireblade1]

This guy realy got "nailed" at the track. I was shocked!

http://www.ballsacracing.com/race_reports/101004_brian.php

[gixxxer351]

Unlucky bastard!!! What are the chances?

[gixxxer351]

Check out this crash picture:eek: :eek: :eek:

[gixxxer351]

There's gotta be a different way to transport your Ducati.

[srtpntman]

I find this hard to believe myself. Yes 150 or 160 mph is pretty fast, but I don't belive a nail, weighing 85 grains or so, can hit you in the shoulder, penetrate a leather riding suit, a shirt, then bury itself that deep into a shoulder. Perhaps shot out of a nail gun, but not just by being flicked into the air by another bike.

[gixxxer351]

I agree with you Jack. Here are the pictures:

Saturday



We got up early and headed over to Pat's house to pick up the toy hauler and head to the track. We didn't actually get to Firebird until after 7am, but luckily Tom was able to get there FIRST (go TOM!) and reserve us a nice big pit area. Our pit was huge this weekend, with 9 bikes! We had Tom (3 bikes), Pat (2 bikes), me, Brian, Aaron, and Matt Bollman in our pit. I had to rush in the morning because I had to change my tires first thing before I went out on the track. Dale Keifer at Michelin was quick with my tires and I was able to make it out for 2 laps in the first session. Not enough time to get up to speed, but enough time to figure out which way to turn next! This was my first time on Firebird Main.



After the 1st session for Expert and Amateur racers (before street riders), CCS called an emergency riders meeting. The entrance to the front straight is basically the burn out area for the drag racing cars. You actually cross a big painted area where the "Christmas tree" is for the drag races (a lighting system that tells the cars when to go). It was SUPER slick!! No matter how fast you were going, if you got on the gas at all, it would slide out. Most of the faster guys were spinning their tires 1/2 the way down the 6/8ths of a mile straight. It was WAY TOO UNSAFE to race on. CCS acknowledged this and asked the riders for their input. After a long meeting and about 20 minutes of a truck running back and forth over that section towing tires (to lay down rubber), we decided to try it the next couple sessions before lunch (carefully) and see if it got safer. If not, we'd redirect the course around the painted section. Luckily, it ended up getting MUCH better by the end of the day. It was nice to see CCS willing to sacrifice the track layout in favor of rider safety if needed.



When I went out for the 2nd session, I was ready to start picking up the pace. Even though you could not get a good drive on the straight yet (because of the slippery paint), you still made it up to 160+ mph by the end. After about 10 laps, I was going down the straight at 150+ mph (toward the end) when I felt what I thought had to be a huge nut or bolt from a bike in front of me, hit me HARD in the right shoulder. I assumed it was kicked up by the bike in front of me. At that speed, IT HURT. I made it through the turn at the end of the straight and then my shoulder starting going numb. I tried to finish the lap normally, but could not grip with my right arm at all, so I laid my right arm on the tank and rode out the lap with one hand, no gas, and only clutch play to control my speed. By the time I got back to my pit, I was feeling woozy and could barely stay up on the bike. I managed to get off it and over to Pat who I asked to help me get my leathers off. I figured I had either broken something or was seriously bruised/swollen. As Pat pulled on my leathers, I heard a rip and then immediately found out that I could not lift my right arm at all. I then though maybe it was dislocated. I felt up there and felt something sticking out of my shoulder. I thought it was a bone. With Pat's help, I managed to get the top of my leathers off before I felt like I was going to pass out, so I sat down. Everything was white, blurry and spinning. We discovered a freakin nail was impacted in my shoulder! (click here for video showing nail in my shoulder -- you will need Quicktime. Get it free here) It was all the way down to the head having pinned my leathers and undershirt to my body. I think my leathers are what stopped the head from making it through and the nail continuing further. I have no idea what a nail was doing on the track, or even how long it was (at the time). It felt like it was in bone to me. Bryan Land from the pit next to us brought over his golf cart and the guys took me to the ambulance. I was too faint to do anything....I was totally white they said. The ambulance people gave me oxygen and the guys (about 10 other racers, some of them my teammates) took care of me by shading me with an umbrella (thanks Chad Rolland and Bryan Land), etc. The oxygen and shade helped, because I eventually got my color back and felt good enough to get to the hospital without an ambulance. Pat was awesome enough to drive me to the hospital and miss some track time. Thanks Pat!! I knew I'd be a while, so I told him to just check me in and then I'd call for a ride later. I hoped it would only be an hour or so ordeal....

[gixxxer351]

....

[jdimond]

Jack:

During accident reconstuction work several years ago, I encountered a similar problem and was informed and confirmed that the ballistics of the situation make it possible.

160 mph is about 235 ft per second, which velocity would easily allow a pointed object to penetrate leather and soft tissue.

That velocity coupled with the possibility that the nail could have been actually accelerated (thrown) by the rear wheel of the bike in front of the rider in question, increases the probability of the penetration shown in the pictures.

I hope they've got all the nails off of the Hallett track!

Jack

[Fisdu]

Am I the only one that doesn't understand the need to copy/paste the info from a link that was posted in a thread? If we are too stupid to go to the link, wouldn't we be to stupid to read the copy/pasted post?

Originally posted by gixxxer351
I agree with you Jack. Here are the pictures:

Saturday



We got up early and headed over to Pat's house to pick up the toy hauler and head to the track. We didn't actually get to Firebird until after 7am, but luckily Tom was able to get there FIRST (go TOM!) and reserve us a nice big pit area. Our pit was huge this weekend, with 9 bikes! We had Tom (3 bikes), Pat (2 bikes), me, Brian, Aaron, and Matt Bollman in our pit. I had to rush in the morning because I had to change my tires first thing before I went out on the track. Dale Keifer at Michelin was quick with my tires and I was able to make it out for 2 laps in the first session. Not enough time to get up to speed, but enough time to figure out which way to turn next! This was my first time on Firebird Main.



After the 1st session for Expert and Amateur racers (before street riders), CCS called an emergency riders meeting. The entrance to the front straight is basically the burn out area for the drag racing cars. You actually cross a big painted area where the "Christmas tree" is for the drag races (a lighting system that tells the cars when to go). It was SUPER slick!! No matter how fast you were going, if you got on the gas at all, it would slide out. Most of the faster guys were spinning their tires 1/2 the way down the 6/8ths of a mile straight. It was WAY TOO UNSAFE to race on. CCS acknowledged this and asked the riders for their input. After a long meeting and about 20 minutes of a truck running back and forth over that section towing tires (to lay down rubber), we decided to try it the next couple sessions before lunch (carefully) and see if it got safer. If not, we'd redirect the course around the painted section. Luckily, it ended up getting MUCH better by the end of the day. It was nice to see CCS willing to sacrifice the track layout in favor of rider safety if needed.



When I went out for the 2nd session, I was ready to start picking up the pace. Even though you could not get a good drive on the straight yet (because of the slippery paint), you still made it up to 160+ mph by the end. After about 10 laps, I was going down the straight at 150+ mph (toward the end) when I felt what I thought had to be a huge nut or bolt from a bike in front of me, hit me HARD in the right shoulder. I assumed it was kicked up by the bike in front of me. At that speed, IT HURT. I made it through the turn at the end of the straight and then my shoulder starting going numb. I tried to finish the lap normally, but could not grip with my right arm at all, so I laid my right arm on the tank and rode out the lap with one hand, no gas, and only clutch play to control my speed. By the time I got back to my pit, I was feeling woozy and could barely stay up on the bike. I managed to get off it and over to Pat who I asked to help me get my leathers off. I figured I had either broken something or was seriously bruised/swollen. As Pat pulled on my leathers, I heard a rip and then immediately found out that I could not lift my right arm at all. I then though maybe it was dislocated. I felt up there and felt something sticking out of my shoulder. I thought it was a bone. With Pat's help, I managed to get the top of my leathers off before I felt like I was going to pass out, so I sat down. Everything was white, blurry and spinning. We discovered a freakin nail was impacted in my shoulder! (click here for video showing nail in my shoulder -- you will need Quicktime. Get it free here) It was all the way down to the head having pinned my leathers and undershirt to my body. I think my leathers are what stopped the head from making it through and the nail continuing further. I have no idea what a nail was doing on the track, or even how long it was (at the time). It felt like it was in bone to me. Bryan Land from the pit next to us brought over his golf cart and the guys took me to the ambulance. I was too faint to do anything....I was totally white they said. The ambulance people gave me oxygen and the guys (about 10 other racers, some of them my teammates) took care of me by shading me with an umbrella (thanks Chad Rolland and Bryan Land), etc. The oxygen and shade helped, because I eventually got my color back and felt good enough to get to the hospital without an ambulance. Pat was awesome enough to drive me to the hospital and miss some track time. Thanks Pat!! I knew I'd be a while, so I told him to just check me in and then I'd call for a ride later. I hoped it would only be an hour or so ordeal....

[Firemann]

:eek:

I would say its possible especially if it got flung off of a back tire from the guy in front of him.

Helli if a hurricane and tornado can shove a piece of straw through a telephone pole I'd say that is definitly possible.:cool:

[srtpntman]

I guess I'm a Missourian...you'll have to show me the math. We would need to know the tensil strength of his leathers and shirt. It could have been one of the one in life time things happen, the nail hitting exactaly on the point, dead on to impact,with very a sharp head. Not saying everything wasn't perfect, it could have been. It just seems pretty amazing it buried the nail all the way into the head. I've seen a 2 inch squre bean bag shot out of a shotgun at 300 fps penetrate a person's body because it turned on edge and cut into the body. It weighed 300 grains.

[gixxxer351]

Originally posted by Fisdu
Am I the only one that doesn't understand the need to copy/paste the info from a link that was posted in a thread?
Personally every time I see a link to another thread or a picture I wish the person posting would just paste the info or post the picture itself to avoid having to leave the website. I guess I'm kinda lazy or simply not interested in anything else on the other site other than what you want me to see.

[srtpntman]

Well actually Chris, those weird events where a piece of straw is seen pentrating telephone poles it caused when the high winds, actually cause the pole to expand or start to seperate the wood fibers. Any debris flying in the air gets caught in the expanding wood fibers and it appears the straw or twig or whatever penetrated the pole. I'll assume this is a true event since they seem to have an actual web site and a racing team. I just find it very hard to believe. I'm basing this on some experiences I have with people who go to great measures, including shooting themselves, to get some attention. Not saying he did this, just saying that's where some of my doubt comes from.

[Pete 954]

I beleive it's possible. If the tire was sticky and able to grab the nail, it could have thrown the nail backwards at a speed equal to the speed of the bike. If both bikes were doing 160, then the relative speed of nail to second bike would be 320. Also, the head of the nail would have acted like the feathers on an arrow and would have made the nail fly staight.... or not.

[01R1_rider]

either way id keep that x ray pic with me on the bike and show it to all the hunnies .. hahaha just kiddin but **** thats some messed up stuff, good to see he's ok though, at least it didnt penetrate any other part. i just am still trying to picture that happen - dan