Flip & Spin

I'm driving down the front straight at Spokane Race Way; it is a qualifying session for  Group 1, Pro3 cars, and other classes as well. It is a very hot day in the high 90's, probably 120 degrees on the blacktop. I remember sitting in the Hot Pits (no pun intended) while waiting for our turn to go out on the track, and I was pulling hard on my shoulder straps to get them as tight as I possibly could. This is a rough track, many uneven surfaces, and the speeds are high down the front straight. We (the Pro3 cars) are doing about 130 mph at the end of the straight, and then braking hard down to about 60 mph into a tight turn that banks left. This is turn 2.
 
The front straight at Spokane is almost a mile long. Turn 1 is hardly a turn at all, it is more like the straight taking a 20 degree right turn of sorts. It's almost a kink in the road. The thing about this turn is you need to be on the throttle when going into it or you will cause your rear end to come loose. As you are traveling at full throttle, when you approach the kink your normal reaction is to slow down or even brake, but you can't; you need to be on the throttle.
 
So as I was saying, I'm driving down the front straight approaching the kink doing about 120 mph when I hear this noise. Is that coming from my car I wonder? I let up on the throttle a bit and the noise changes. Yes, it's my car. OK, here comes the kink. Back on the throttle, I turn in, and as I'm coming out of the turn my front right wheel begins to shake. I think to myself, it must be a flat tire. I let up on the throttle and slowly depress the brake. The car pulls hard to the right. I have no control. The car heads up the 20 foot dirt embankment, torpedoes straight up in the air, leans backwards, and comes down on the trunk and roof. It begins to roll back down the embankment. One roll, dark then light, 2 rolls dark then light, then smashes onto the tarmac on its roof, slides across the race track, and begins to spin like a top on its roof. One, two, three, four times; as its spinning I think, DAM, I going to have to crawl out upside down and then instantly it flips again onto it wheels. BAM! The car finally stops.
 
I look up; the windshield is gone. I look to my left and see Fred another Pro3 driver stopped 20 feet from me with his eyes popping out and his jaw hanging to the ground in horror. The flaggers are just behind me in their station waving every flag they have. Yellow, Black, and Red. Then I hear the screech of brakes as an RX7 comes skidding sideways towards me trying to stop. That's when I knew I had to get out of there.
 
I unbuckled my harness, climbed through the window and began running to the infield to avoid any other kamikaze drivers who were not looking at the turn workers. I ran until I heard some yelling to me. It was a turn worker from the next turn station coming at me. He grabbed me under my arm pits to hold me up as he asks if I am OK. I say "I guess so, I just ran this far".
 
He kept hold of me until the ambulance came. The car was a wreck but I seemed OK. I knew the adrenalin was keeping me up, but I was sure I was fine.  Thank goodness I was. I was wearing a Hans device that kept my neck from snapping and the harnesses were so tight that even when I was rolling top to bottom my head never hit the roof.
 
Besides having a great story to tell and living through it, I have learned some good. This was not driver error, but malfunction of a part that came loose. The brake caliper bolt that bolts the caliper to the hub had come loose and backed out. The caliper then broke away and actually tore through the wheel. Fragments of the wheel were sticking through the tire from the inside out like some poltergeist spear.
 
Some things to learn from this are:
 
First; make sure your caliper bolts are tight. Yes, it is now the first thing I ask my mechanic to check before I go out on the track. One thing to note is that this is more common on 325i E30's (1985 to 1991) than on newer models.  Watch your flag stations, I cannot emphasize that enough. When I instruct this is the first thing I teach, and I make sure the student keeps there eyes on the flaggers. They can save your life.
 
Safety Equipment. Your life is worth more than the few hundred dollars it cost to buy additional safety equipment. If you have a race harness in your track car you should have a Hans Device. Isn't your life worth more than the $800 it cost for this great safety device?
 
Be aware with all your senses; eyes, ears, smell, and the feeling from your seat. If you think your hearing something, then you are. Come back to the pits ASAP to check it out. If you smell water look at your guages, you may be over heating. If the car does not feel right, come in and take a walk around it. It could be something as simple as rubber you picked up from the track, or it could be that your lug nuts are loose.
 
This did not discourage me from racing again, thanks to some really good people that encouraged me to get out there and get back in the seat. Friends like Brandon Pederson now the head mechanic at Pacific Motorsports, who rebuilt my new race car and Haithem Taulan who supplied many of the parts needed. Mike Christopherson, then manager at Pacific Motorsports who now has his own shop called Pro-Tek Automotive, became my main mechanic, and made sure my caliper bolts were always tight. Mark Dikeos, owner of Pacific Motorsports, who took me in and sponsored my race car for the next two seasons. Mark was a huge supporter of the cause, thank you Mark. These folks deserve mention because they are great people and/or mechanics who care about motorsports and the people involved.
 
At the recent BMWACA Holiday party, Cindy Lux talked about getting back up on the horse after an incident. I can thank my Pro3 friends for getting me out there and on that horse again.
 
By the way, the BMW ACA club has a car trailer they bought for track days to help us get off the track quickly if you break down or have an incident. I have had the pleasure of being towed with that trailer twice now in my '95 M3 that I set up for track use. The car overheated due to a small crack in the head. Thanks guys for helping us out.
 
For more information on Pro3 racing go to www.pro3-racing.com.