I wanted to bring this video over to this forum cause a lot of guys here are building or have built trucks. The Smarty seems more popular than ever and rightly so... it's giving us the power we want !

Safety should never be taken for granted. This happen at a event this past weekend in FLA. This guy went beyond what the rules stated and had all the correct safety features in place. If they weren't.... he may not have made it

http://youtube.com/watch?v=K5GmuPtyBQ8

we're taking these very HEAVY trucks beyond what they were designed for. You've spent a ton of cash getting your truck where it's at.... don't be shy to spend a little more on safety !!

 

ouch, well put buddy!

 

Thanks for posting that Ty. I know I for one have always looked for more power and want to go faster and faster, but incidents like these need to be shown as a reminder. Thanks again.

 

WOW...he got lucky that could have been bad!!glad he is ok

 

That there was an expensive jump....didn't even look like a fast run...what was his time to the 1/8th. Anyone know the truck and owner...I'd love to know what happened....lots of black smoke....no smoke, rear seemed to lock, pole vault. KS

 

yeah, his name is Gary and very well known in diesel racing. They didn't have his time but, he rolled across the finish at 91mph. That's after hitting both walls and clipping a telephone pole in half !

He hasn't said yet what exactly happen but, it happen at the 60ft. I've speculated a second stage of NOS kicked in and kicked the truck sideways. There could have been a bad spot on the track ???? You can bet there will be new rules and safety features required after this. From what I've read... all the top dogs of the sanctioning bodies will be reviewing and modifing rules to make sure everyone stays safe.

 

This is from another site-I talked to Gary a few minutes ago...the breakdown on the crash is like this:
He left soft cause the track was not so good...got about 60' out and hit full boost (120psi) then hit the lock-up switch...after that he was just along for the ride.....he hit the left wall, bounced off and headed for the right wall which sent him airborne, clipped off a light pole somewhere around 20' high, hit the ground and rolled at least twice before coming to a stop on all 4 wheels.
Randy has some good video he's gonna get to Gary so everyone can see exactly what happened.

This all happened in a "light" truck at UNDER 100 mph...I really think this should open up some serious discussion on cages and when they should be required...especially in some of the heavy trucks. We all knew something was gonna happen, unfortunatly it has and we should ALL look a bit closer at what safety equipment we currently run vs the times we run.

 

Come on guys, keep the thread pointed in the right direction.

 

just to clarify... that was a 1/8 mile track ! He would have been closer to 130 - 150mph if that happen at the end of the 1/4 !

 

Well running that fast, safety equipment isnt really his choice or not. Its pretty much mandated and inspected. Good to be safe though, I knew a guy with half a foot from not using a blow proof bellhousing......OUCH!

 

yes you're right but... there are many that don't follow the rules because their trucks are also daily drivers and don't race at sanctioned events where the rules are governed. A lot tracks that don't even know what a diesels should have or not.

This track didn't even have an ambulance on stand by and it took an hour for one to get there. This was totally unknowning to the event organizers.

He was beat up bad enough that his helmet was damaged and bad enough to take a ride to the hospital. Had he not had the required 5 point harness, helmet and roll cage....it wouldn't have been pretty.

 

Pretty nasty bro. Im glad your friend is alright. Tell em all us diesel heads hope he heals soon and good on him for the roll cage. Also SWEET truck, I hope it heals well also.

 

Thanks man... I've only meet the guy once though. His truck is totalled. The motor mounts yanked holes in the block !

I believe though he's already found another truck to build. He really praises the roll cage and said the new truck will be going straight to have one installed.

 

Yeah, at the track i race at, the inspection is so lame...i pull up, the guys looks at my truck from the outside for about 5 seconds and says ok go ahead. i dont think he even knows what he supposed to be looking for!

at least there is a stand by rescue truck

 

That looked like "one hell of a ride"! I know there was a comment made about it being a lame crash, however, no one knows exactly what it felt like, except the driver, and I'm sure he has a different opinion.

Thanks for the post, as we all need to remember the ol' saying
"safety first"