Peter Jank - Sprints crash

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PostPosted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 12:05 pm
That's great news Peter!

Glad to hear that your recovery is underway and making progress.

As mentioned, please keep us informed.

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 2:56 pm
To Peter J and the SRF Community:

SRF Folks,
I hope you don't mind me intruding because I'm not a part of the SRF world. I did want to say this, though, and then I'll keep quiet. Peter J sparked my interest in racing in general and taught me oodles about karting specifically. He also taught me what it means to behave like a gentleman and sportsman even though I'm a long way off from mastering either.

Peter J !,
I hadn't been to gmail in months but got a message from Reed through work. I thought maybe you scratched your knee or something. WOW! I'm glad I read this thread in reverse order.

I'm so happy to hear you're okay and in good spirits. I can almost hear that laugh of yours all the way out here. May you mend as fast and well as you race, sir.
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 2:42 pm
Thanks Martin. I'll do my best on the mending. Visited with the local orthopedist yesterday. My right leg is in pretty good shape and should heal with no complications. The left is a little more problematic. Due to the nature of the break, some gaps were left in the bone when everything was pinned together. Time will tell how well the gaps fill in on their own or if additional surgery will be required.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 5:59 pm
Well we won one for Peter after all. Our Leftcoast Lemons team with our Clueless sub Steve Kohli scored its first class win in the true 24 Hour Arse-Sweat-Apalooza race held this past weekend at Buttonwillow, CA. The team had Peter in mind through out and were thrilled to bring it home almost in once piece. Looking forward to bringing the trophy out to share with Peter next week when I come out to Chicago. He has been a big part of our team and the cars development these past 4 years. He was definitely missed at the race.

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 02, 2012 8:07 pm
Paul-

As part of my Buttonwillow Raceway duties I am in charge of our Facebook Page... When I posted the Car and Driver Blog link to our page this morning I noticed that the Route 66 mustang took home the class B win. I wasn't totally sure if that was your car, but I thought it might be! Congrats! For those unfamiliar with the 24 Hours of Lemons, most of the races are not continuous 24 hours, however, this one was. A very tough task.

Hopefully Peter will be part of your team next year to defend your title.

-Mike Miserendino
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 04, 2012 11:36 am
Thanks Mike! Yes, you are correct that the Route 66 is our car. I am sure Peter will be back with us to defend.

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 12:45 pm
Peter, Best wishes, just talked with your father Vito. Very sorry about your crash. I've run at RA, and the Kink is a nasty place. Hope you have a speedy recovery, and are out racing again.

Your friends at Ohio Valley Region, SCCA.
Phil Alspach, Director.
(Ex-DSR racer, now IT-7)

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:03 pm
Peter, first of all I want to add to those many people wishing you the best in your recovery. You are a great competitor and know you will be back soon. A few years ago I was involved in a crash at Hallet and I broke 2 bones in my right foot, one in my left wrist and also had a cracked tailbone. It healed and I was back in the car the next year. I hope we will see you back in the car soon.

Several people have mentioned the Kink and all that goes with it. I have personally had only one bad experience when someone dropped liquid in front of me and at that time I was just a passenger as was another driver. The foot protection of a specracer is no match to those walls. When we first got started in racing, I will never forget the day that one of our fellow Skip Barber racers died in the kink after being T-boned. They gave all of us the option of racing that weekend and both Scott and I decided not to. Since then we have seen way too many crashed there.

I have always been torn between leaving it as is because of tradition or changing it. On our way back from Topeka this weekend, Scott and I talked about it and we both felt something needs to be done. RA has done a great job putting money into the facility but I think they need to put some money into safety. What can they do to achieve this? Scott suggested moving the inside and outside walls back. Yes it would cost some bucks but I think it would be possible. How about adding safer barriers or an outside runoff area? Not sure if they have enough room on the outside but perhaps they do.

All of these suggestions would keep the track surface itself intact. One other option would be to use the chicane right before the kink. This was added, I believe for cycle safety. I wonder if the track has ever considered making these changes in helping to prevent what happened to Peter and many others.

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:51 pm
I agree with Mr. Goolsbey. On google earth I noticed for the first time there is a Bend turn before the Kink - using that would be a great help. Or do as they have done in several other turns and add the gravel pits. There is a minimum of about 80 feet at the beginning of the Kink that then widens out a lot - plenty of room to add a gravel pit. I think if we as individuals wrote to the track managment voicing our concerns that it may help. They added a gravel pit at turn 1 after Foyt's big crash about 20 years ago so I would imagine adding a gravel pit in an area that has been the scene of at least 2 fatal incidents would be an easy decision to make. The bigger, faster cars have to brake for the Kink and avoid the problem - slower cars that go flat out are vulnerable when bad things happen.

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 17, 2012 12:41 am
The Kink is needlessly dangerous. From the aerial photos, there is no apparent reason why the outside and inside walls could not be significantly further away from the track. This would minimize impacts, give cars a place to settle off the track and not intimidate drivers into mistakes. While it is enticing in theory to have a truly dangerous element in our increasingly sanitized and protected lives, the reality is that we are amatuer car racers with almost nothing to win and an awful lot lose. This is simply a hobby and should not be a matter of life and limb. Personally, I avoided RA for years due to the stories of horrific accidents. Over the past three years, I have been racing there, including two visits to the Sprints. I like the track so much that I have a painting of the Moraine Sweep (entrance to Turn 5) in my dining room. However, the excitement of RA is the multi-car freight trains and many passing opportunities. The excitement, for me, has nothing to do with danger element of the track. In fact, the risk of injury is a significant turn off and kept me from this year's Sprints and will keep me from the CAT National and possibly the Run-offs. The number 1 offender at the track is the Kink. It has claimed too much metal, flesh and bone. I would gladly support any organized effort to make that turn into just a 110 mph dog leg (isn't that exciting enough?) as opposed to the infamous Kink.
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