What's the dumbest thing you've ever done at the track?

[reedrum]

Working on car in dark at Roebling when thunderstorm hit; next day on track (first session) in T3, I heard a loud clunkity clunk underneath car thinking something major just fell apart. I pulled near flag station and worker told me a bright shiny object about size of wrench came out from underneath car.....hmm ...could it be the socket wrench I was using the night before?? :

 

Or better yet, at CMP, after Sunday race, I was all packed up ready to go except for race car - I was hot and in a hurry - pulled my helmet off so I could stick my head out to see if lined up to pull on trailer...as I pulled my head back in, I hit the window net metal tab on roll bar.... 7 staples later and a detour to the local hospital, I was on my way....should have left my helmet on!

[jimgood]

7 staples later and a detour to the local hospital

 

That's so chuck-norrisesque...Staple your head and THEN go to the hospital! That's bad ass right there.

[hustler]

I watched a guy load a modded 997 GT2 on a trailer not attached to a truck...and then the trailer started to roll down the hill, with the $200k+ car on it, lol. I felt bad for the guy.

[jimgood]

OMG!! I forgot that I pulled that one too! Thank God, it was at VIR in one of the flat paddock areas.

[Fixxxercask]

I had a very embarrassing move once. I normally load up the trunk of my car with spare parts and things to save room in the truck. I obviously remove all parts once I get the car off the trailer at the track. Well...I went out for the 1st session and wow was it loud all the crap slamming around in the trunk. There was a spare helmet, couple boxes of brake pads and 6 spare rotors. I was so embarrassed. At first I thought something seriously bad just happened under the car in the back. Oddly the car still handled and felt fine. By the end of the warm up lap, I realized what it was.

 

I had put parts in may car all year long and never had this issue until the very last track day I did last year. Figures!

[Cobra4B]

I put stuff in the trunk of my car as well, but the most I've ever left in there was my car cover so not a big deal. I can't imagine a helmet slamming around with spare rotors and pads. Was it ruined?

[JohnPutnam]

I had a very embarrassing move once. I normally load up the trunk of my car with spare parts and things to save room in the truck. I obviously remove all parts once I get the car off the trailer at the track. Well...I went out for the 1st session and wow was it loud all the crap slamming around in the trunk. There was a spare helmet, couple boxes of brake pads and 6 spare rotors. I was so embarrassed. At first I thought something seriously bad just happened under the car in the back. Oddly the car still handled and felt fine. By the end of the warm up lap, I realized what it was.

 

I had put parts in may car all year long and never had this issue until the very last track day I did last year. Figures!

 

Yup, I left stuff in my trunk too. Left chairs and spare wheels in there and couldn't figure out why I couldn't slide the rear I have also unloaded the car AFTER unhooking the trailer. Tailgate was down and I still have the mark/dent on it to serve as a reminder.

[brkntrxn]

If I recall correctly, John, there was another e30 at that event with fuel jugs in the trunk. For the rest of the day, I had to check the trunks of any BMWs that came through grid.

[Z06]

Get into racing...period. Oh wait, thought we were talking about worst financial decisions.

[Cobra4B]

Get into racing...period. Oh wait, thought we were talking about worst financial decisions.

Could be worse... you could be into boating.

[Fixxxercask]

Boating...LOL

 

Nothing was broken. It was still in its case thing. Oh yea, there was a fold up chair in there too. All the rotors came out of the boxes and scraped the hell out of the trunk floor. All good though.

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has done this. It was very loud too.

[Z06]

Get into racing...period. Oh wait, thought we were talking about worst financial decisions.

Could be worse... you could be into boating.

 

Bought an RV instead! Second worse financial decision. POS. But life is good at the track when everything works.

[smokinjoe]

This didnt happen at the track but loading up for the track, so it still applies. My garage is separate from the house and stands about 50yrs back, up a hill. The battery was out of the car and the car was parked about 20ft downhill from the garage. To help pull it in, I clipped a strap to the door latch ring by the c pillar (dont ask why) and tied it to the back of the Tundra.

 

1st bad sign - I left the parking brake in the car on, so as I pulled the car the strap crushed the rear quarter panel.

2nd bad sign - After calling myself a dumbass, I dropped the parking brake and tried again. This time the strap came loose on the truck and the car starting barreling down the hill (towards my house).

3rd bad sign - I flew out of the truck, fell flat on my face, jumped up, raced down the hill and dove in thru the open back door, only to pull up the brake after the car nailed a massive rock. Ripping off the bumper and splitter.

4th bad sign - Calling myself a dumbass for the second time, I hear a loud BANG. Look back and the truck (which was still in gear), drove itself into the garage, somehow between the lift posts and was wedged against my toolbox against the far wall. Rear tire slowly spinning in place. Grille smashed.

 

I wish I could have made that up..

[Cobra4B]

This didnt happen at the track but loading up for the track, so it still applies. My garage is separate from the house and stands about 50yrs back, up a hill. The battery was out of the car and the car was parked about 20ft downhill from the garage. To help pull it in, I clipped a strap to the door latch ring by the c pillar (dont ask why) and tied it to the back of the Tundra.

 

1st bad sign - I left the parking brake in the car on, so as I pulled the car the strap crushed the rear quarter panel.

2nd bad sign - After calling myself a dumbass, I dropped the parking brake and tried again. This time the strap came loose on the truck and the car starting barreling down the hill (towards my house).

3rd bad sign - I flew out of the truck, fell flat on my face, jumped up, raced down the hill and dove in thru the open back door, only to pull up the brake after the car nailed a massive rock. Ripping off the bumper and splitter.

4th bad sign - Calling myself a dumbass for the second time, I hear a loud BANG. Look back and the truck (which was still in gear), drove itself into the garage, somehow between the lift posts and was wedged against my toolbox against the far wall. Rear tire slowly spinning in place. Grille smashed.

 

I wish I could have made that up..

I think you win the prize

[sperkins]

I wish I could have made that up..

I hate that it happened, but holy crap that's funny.

[obzezzed350]

Video/pics or it didnt happen...

[brkntrxn]

Close the thread. Joe wins!

[smokinjoe]

Misaligned rear door.. bondo/primer on the rear quarter. Believe it!

 

[Fixxxercask]

WOW Joe.

 

You definitely won.

 

[SNAKBITN]

Damn Joe and I felt stupid for leaving my hoodpins out!If there was video of that I'd give 10 to 1 odds that would have won the money on AFV.I say we all pass a hat at the track for Joe or at least drink a cold beer for him.

With luck like that I would have stayed home that weekend.

 

Robert

[PushinTheLimit]

I’ve only been doing track stuff for about 3 years now and have a few stories from all the dumb stuff that’s happened…

 

May 2010 @ VIR

This actually happened on my way to a SVTCobraClub event at VIR and my first time in my new T1/ST2 vette. I borrowed a friends open trailer as I was still looking for an enclosed trailer at the time and had a leaky trailer tire before I even made it to Knoxville. So I filled it up but only made it to the 2nd tunnel on I-40 in NC. Right after the tunnel is a pull off that can be used as a exit around the tunnel and its rarely used. So I park the truck and trailer about 20ft from the interstate and begin unstrapping the car. I do the rear straps and then the front straps. I notice the last strap was really difficult and then all of a sudden… the vette rolls off the trailer and heads toward a drop-off! So I take off after it trying to jump in the window and hit the brakes when it just stopped all on its own. The e-brake was still on but I guess it just didn’t hold very good but the car was out of gear. No damage but when I opened up my tool box, I forgot to latch it the last time and every socket fell out on the ground. I spent about an hour just fishing for all the pieces and putting them back in the correct spots.

 

August 2010 @ Road Atlanta

First time ever at RA and it showed. I was approved to run DE3 at this point and I had been watching lots of videos to get a feel for the track. Just don’t understand how much elevation changes at the track until you drive on it yourself. First session of the day I’m late to get out on the track, which was not a big deal, but I wanted a quick pace lap to get a feel of the track before it went green. Didn’t make it so I get sent out on the green track and the second lap I go WAY too hot into turn 3 and loop it right in the middle of the track. Then the next lap, I loop it in turn 5 right in the middle of the track. Then I feel a bad vibration from the left front thinking a broken hub or something. As I’m about to take the wheel off, I notice it about fell off itself. The lugs had almost came off! I apparently only tightened all the wheels with my cordless impact and didn’t check back over them with my torque wrench. That was a close one but the rest of the weekend went well.

 

 

February 2011 @ CMP

Signed up for comp school and had my cousin there with me to help with the car prep in between sessions. The day is going pretty good as we get set for the Comp School race and I’m gridded at the rear so I was ready to see how it would go. I open the door to get into the car, and shut the door… it doesn’t shut. Shut it again, same thing. WTH?? Apparently the door latch broke into pieces where I had been slamming it shut for so long. Couldn’t find a ratchet strap in time and had to miss the race.

 

May 2011 @ CMP

Pretty uneventful weekend except I noticed in grid for Sunday’s race the car was getting hard to start. After the race, I loaded the car into the trailer afraid it might not start if I shut it off outside. Well, I was right… it wouldn’t start once back home. Got it on the jackstands and checked the starter… it was about to fall off! I guess hitting the rumble strips in turn 14 will do that.

 

June 2011 @ Road Atlanta

During qualifying on Sunday I had a decent lap going and noticed my window net wasn’t attached to the top like it was supposed to. Not sure if it came loose or if I didn’t put it up to begin with. Oops.

 

October 2011 @ Nashville SS

It’s about 10 minutes before the race to start and I get in the car to get strapped in and get everything ready. Then it dawned on me when I started the car up… I only had about ¼ tank of gas left! So I unstrap and go run and grab two gas jugs and dump as much fuel in as I can and try not to be late to grid since I was 2nd overall I didn’t want to start from the rear. Get just enough in and make it to pit road with about 30 seconds to spare before it would’ve been too late to keep my grid position. Now on my checklist… PUT FUEL IN CAR BEFORE THE RACE!

 

December 2011 @ Road Atlanta

Weekend was going good until I put it in the wall coming out of turn 12. So once the car was back at the trailer, we all decided to go ahead and put it in the trailer before the right side tires go flat. Not thinking anything about it, I jump in to steer it and about 4-5 more guys pushing when my friend yelled “Stop, don’t go any further!” Then I realized, the trailer wasn’t hooked to the truck at all! Somehow the trailer only moved a foot or two and didn’t slam into the back of my truck. That would’ve been a complete disaster if I would’ve messed both vehicles up in the same weekend.

[kbrew8991]

June 2011 @ Road Atlanta

During qualifying on Sunday I had a decent lap going and noticed my window net wasn’t attached to the top like it was supposed to. Not sure if it came loose or if I didn’t put it up to begin with. Oops.

I've done the same thing but somehow managed to stab the hole & get it latched without looking. Couldn't do it again without even if I tried it just sitting in the car still, nevermind at 95-100mph headed down the back stretch

[Cobra4B]

I’ve only been doing track stuff for about 3 years now and have a few stories from all the dumb stuff that’s happened…

 

May 2010 @ VIR

This actually happened on my way to a SVTCobraClub event at VIR and my first time in my new T1/ST2 vette. I borrowed a friends open trailer as I was still looking for an enclosed trailer at the time and had a leaky trailer tire before I even made it to Knoxville. So I filled it up but only made it to the 2nd tunnel on I-40 in NC. Right after the tunnel is a pull off that can be used as a exit around the tunnel and its rarely used. So I park the truck and trailer about 20ft from the interstate and begin unstrapping the car. I do the rear straps and then the front straps. I notice the last strap was really difficult and then all of a sudden… the vette rolls off the trailer and heads toward a drop-off! So I take off after it trying to jump in the window and hit the brakes when it just stopped all on its own. The e-brake was still on but I guess it just didn’t hold very good but the car was out of gear. No damage but when I opened up my tool box, I forgot to latch it the last time and every socket fell out on the ground. I spent about an hour just fishing for all the pieces and putting them back in the correct spots.

 

August 2010 @ Road Atlanta

First time ever at RA and it showed. I was approved to run DE3 at this point and I had been watching lots of videos to get a feel for the track. Just don’t understand how much elevation changes at the track until you drive on it yourself. First session of the day I’m late to get out on the track, which was not a big deal, but I wanted a quick pace lap to get a feel of the track before it went green. Didn’t make it so I get sent out on the green track and the second lap I go WAY too hot into turn 3 and loop it right in the middle of the track. Then the next lap, I loop it in turn 5 right in the middle of the track. Then I feel a bad vibration from the left front thinking a broken hub or something. As I’m about to take the wheel off, I notice it about fell off itself. The lugs had almost came off! I apparently only tightened all the wheels with my cordless impact and didn’t check back over them with my torque wrench. That was a close one but the rest of the weekend went well.

 

 

February 2011 @ CMP

Signed up for comp school and had my cousin there with me to help with the car prep in between sessions. The day is going pretty good as we get set for the Comp School race and I’m gridded at the rear so I was ready to see how it would go. I open the door to get into the car, and shut the door… it doesn’t shut. Shut it again, same thing. WTH?? Apparently the door latch broke into pieces where I had been slamming it shut for so long. Couldn’t find a ratchet strap in time and had to miss the race.

 

May 2011 @ CMP

Pretty uneventful weekend except I noticed in grid for Sunday’s race the car was getting hard to start. After the race, I loaded the car into the trailer afraid it might not start if I shut it off outside. Well, I was right… it wouldn’t start once back home. Got it on the jackstands and checked the starter… it was about to fall off! I guess hitting the rumble strips in turn 14 will do that.

 

June 2011 @ Road Atlanta

During qualifying on Sunday I had a decent lap going and noticed my window net wasn’t attached to the top like it was supposed to. Not sure if it came loose or if I didn’t put it up to begin with. Oops.

 

October 2011 @ Nashville SS

It’s about 10 minutes before the race to start and I get in the car to get strapped in and get everything ready. Then it dawned on me when I started the car up… I only had about ¼ tank of gas left! So I unstrap and go run and grab two gas jugs and dump as much fuel in as I can and try not to be late to grid since I was 2nd overall I didn’t want to start from the rear. Get just enough in and make it to pit road with about 30 seconds to spare before it would’ve been too late to keep my grid position. Now on my checklist… PUT FUEL IN CAR BEFORE THE RACE!

 

December 2011 @ Road Atlanta

Weekend was going good until I put it in the wall coming out of turn 12. So once the car was back at the trailer, we all decided to go ahead and put it in the trailer before the right side tires go flat. Not thinking anything about it, I jump in to steer it and about 4-5 more guys pushing when my friend yelled “Stop, don’t go any further!” Then I realized, the trailer wasn’t hooked to the truck at all! Somehow the trailer only moved a foot or two and didn’t slam into the back of my truck. That would’ve been a complete disaster if I would’ve messed both vehicles up in the same weekend.

Remind me to stay as far away from you as possible

[edhunter]

IF incidents trying to get to the track count....

 

July 2010, loading to head to VIR for the GRM UTCC / NASA weekend. As always the temp is near 100. I take the day off (Thursday) from work so I can take my time getting loaded, no rush no fuss. Like Joe, my garage is detached, only it's downhill from the house. To load I have to drop the trailer ramp up on the level drive, drive the car up the hill to the trailer, then winch it in. It's probably 60' from the drive to the garage. All is going well, Im standing in the bay of the enclosed trailer as the car comes up the ramp. Tow strap on the car breaks loose when the car hangs on the ramp/trailer hinge, car goes flying backwards out the trailer and down the hill.... straight into the corner of the garage. All I can do is watch.... Car hits on the corner of the bay wall hard enough it appears the rear of the car comes off the ground. Corner post nearly rips completely through my wing, since it's set back the 1" AI rules allow. Shoves the hatch in, jams the wing struts on the mounts so I can't open the hatch. Have to crawl through the maze of cage bars, over the fuel cell doghouse cover, and beat the wing struts loose with a hammer so I can open the hatch. Nearly pass out from the heat in the car, doesn't help that I'm so incredibly pissed off right now. Finally able to get the struts loose so I can open the hatch...

 

Spend the next two hours cutting the rear bumper off the car, beating it straight, then putting it back on. Get the wing struts somewhat straight, gorilla tape the wing back together. No idea if it'll survive the weekend, but it might. Start looking for something to replace the front tow strap, spy a spare axle strap in the corner. It'll work, but I need a 1/2" hole through the webbing. In a hurry now, I decide to drill a hole in it with the drill press. Knock the leather gloves out of the way, and start drilling. Holding the webbing on the drill platform with my left hand, drill grabs the nylon strap, jerking my thumb into the bit. Bit cuts completely through the thumb nail (deep!) and back to the 1st knuckle. Almost pass out from the pain and the heat and the sight of blood everywhere, stumble to the house to wash it up. My wife won't look at it, it's bleeding too bad. Sends my son to get the neighbor who's a medic. They want me to got get it looked at, but I bandage it up and head back to the garage. Burn a hole in the axle strap with a torch, it works fine this time and get the car loaded. Finally arrive at VIR around 10:00 that night...

 

During the weekend the wing holds together fine... The bandaged thumb wont fit in my gloves, so I go without bandage, just a small band-aid to hold the nail down. Thumb bleeds through gloves...

 

Get home, discover the wall to the garage has been completely knocked off the lower plate... 1.5 years later my thumb nail is nearly completely healed. Appears it's going to be a permanent reminder to wear gloves in the garage. Or to not be stupid in the garage. DIY wing repair added about 10lbs to wing with fiberglass cloth, resin, etc....

[obzezzed350]

Your racecar hits the garage, you drilled through your thumbnail, bled everywhere....and you thought it was a good idea to use a torch? Thats awesome!!!