Paul Cooper & Brian Bush Collide at MINT 400 (VIDEO)
- Thread starter JoeyD23
- Start date
Scariest part is seeing the co-riders hands up on the roof. I'm sure it was not intentional, and the impact when they hit the ground upside down is what pulled is hands away from the grab bar.
You see this happen more often as the co-riders dont have a grip on the grab bar as a driver does on the wheel. Many times its because they are hitting horn buttons, pushing radio buttons, pushing buttons on the GPS or doing other things.
Videos like this can be great learning tools for all. It should make any race team think about where switches are mounted and how to help keep your hands firmly on the steering wheel, grab bar and also where does the co-rider rest his feet? Do you guys have a foot rest tube that the co-rider can push his feet against or tuck his toes under? I bet the co-riders feet ended up at one point on the driver side by his feet. Especially since it was a left sided roll.
You see this happen more often as the co-riders dont have a grip on the grab bar as a driver does on the wheel. Many times its because they are hitting horn buttons, pushing radio buttons, pushing buttons on the GPS or doing other things.
Videos like this can be great learning tools for all. It should make any race team think about where switches are mounted and how to help keep your hands firmly on the steering wheel, grab bar and also where does the co-rider rest his feet? Do you guys have a foot rest tube that the co-rider can push his feet against or tuck his toes under? I bet the co-riders feet ended up at one point on the driver side by his feet. Especially since it was a left sided roll.
After watching it a few more times you see he actually rolls on the right side, not the left as I first thought. He corrects and it lands back on its wheels but then momentum takes them over on the right side. I also notice the fire extinguisher that was mounted on the right A pillar broke loose and become a projectile. Both the co-riders hands on the roof and the fire extinguisher could have been two bad deals. Very glad no one was hurt. Do we know the damage to the car? It would be interesting to know suspension and chassis wise how did it hold up?
crazywatson
#13 - UTVUnderground Approved
Man glad they were ok. When do we get to see the helicopter footage.
Brian B
Red Rotax - UTVUnderground Approved
Its amazing that they walked away unhurt from this. I've never witnessed anything like it in person before. Was scary for all involved. Especially after seeing the fire and the driver unable to free himself.
I was aware that they were behind us as they stuck with us after passing them a few minutes earlier. What I didnt know was that they were going to make a move until I heard their siren, which was way too late for me to make room. My car was going to take that line at that speed whether I wanted it to or not. Once you see the heli footage you'll have a better understanding of the terrain and lack of passing room here. Paul also said this after we stopped to help them. This sucks to rewatch, and even worse to have been involved. Save for Jesse Jones punting me off the course at V2R last year, I've never had car to car contact while racing.
I was aware that they were behind us as they stuck with us after passing them a few minutes earlier. What I didnt know was that they were going to make a move until I heard their siren, which was way too late for me to make room. My car was going to take that line at that speed whether I wanted it to or not. Once you see the heli footage you'll have a better understanding of the terrain and lack of passing room here. Paul also said this after we stopped to help them. This sucks to rewatch, and even worse to have been involved. Save for Jesse Jones punting me off the course at V2R last year, I've never had car to car contact while racing.
G.T.
Member
X2...
Co-Dawg 1915
New Member
We had the fire extinguisher mounted under the front edge of my seat. It was out of the way off being knocked off, or punctured in a crash. All i had to do was reach down pull a pin and release it.
Last year at V2R, my brother and I were involved in a very hard barrel roll crash (3 or 4 times) after being punted by Dondell (still have not seen video from his truck). Once I knew we were going over I crossed my arms on my chest. Drivers should also consider this method, as the steering wheel can jerk violently, and cause the driver to break a wrist or arm.
I am glad that all involved are ok, and glad to see that Brian went back to help them. I wish all racers were more concerned with the lives of fellow racers, than a few minutes of time that they might lose.
Last year at V2R, my brother and I were involved in a very hard barrel roll crash (3 or 4 times) after being punted by Dondell (still have not seen video from his truck). Once I knew we were going over I crossed my arms on my chest. Drivers should also consider this method, as the steering wheel can jerk violently, and cause the driver to break a wrist or arm.
I am glad that all involved are ok, and glad to see that Brian went back to help them. I wish all racers were more concerned with the lives of fellow racers, than a few minutes of time that they might lose.
Well they walked away, so the chassis did its job. As long as the chassis is not twisted you can always cut the top off at the A,B & C pillars and re-fab it. I'm guessing the suspension mounting points on the frame are all bent up when the a-arms & radius rods got torn up, so their might be more then just the upper cage to be fixed?
Did something happen to the passenger seat? It looks to be lower or moved back. It would not surprise me if the seats were not damaged. Years ago when Jimco was doing a shake down on the class 10 car in PC they rolled it. The G force actually bent the MasterCraft G3 seat frames.
Brian, As I said in my instagram post, Our bells were rung hard and we did not have the instinct that practice and seat time bring. Chris and I are grateful that you and Drew stopped to help us out of the car, putting the oil fire out! and pulling the car off the track and out of the racing line. It shows the sportsmanship that is alive and well in this sport. We learned a lot from this especially the practice of getting out of the belts while upside down and locked into a Hans device.
As to the accident itself, it is what it is. You and I settled this on the track, I would like to talk with you so PM me and we can discuss. It was a accident, you did not intentionally hit us and we felt we had the line. More importantly your actions after the accident speak for themselves as to the quality of both you and Drews character.
To the reason we walked away, our guardian angel in Jessica "COOPDAWG" Cooper was watching over us, and a well engineered car, with full safety equipment.
NIKAL
We have done some initial review of the frame and found the front lower A Arms are bent under, the upper A arms fared true and straight except the tortional twist at the upper ball joint, and the upper shock mounts were actually torn but still attached to the frame. The A arm pivot points are intact and not sheared or distorted. Trailing arms look to be unscathed but the rr shock bottom casting is sheared off, and the shock tabs at the top to the frame are pulled thru. As to the cage, the right A pillar will need replaceing, and the roof cross bars. We will see once we get the car completely tore down and on the jig, but all in all for a side roll and end over end, I am impressed. The bolt on parts took the brunt of the impact, 3 broken axles, 2 sheared radius rods, the other two are bent, and every piece of Sheetmetal either is bent or has a hole in it except for the drivers panel. We live to fight another day, battered but not beaten!
CDM CoDawg
New Member
Nikal has some very good points about me putting my hands up. I have never experienced anything like that before and after watching the video from the car 100 times I will NEVER make that mistake again. Cognito builds one hell of a car. I am walking proof... that nasty wreck and all I had was a bruised up knee and a black eye from my helmet smacking the ground. So glad everyone is ok!
Attached are some pictures of the damage.
We will keep everyone updated on the status of the car and soon enough we will be back!
Attached are some pictures of the damage.
We will keep everyone updated on the status of the car and soon enough we will be back!
Thanks for the updates guys. Yeah I would bet you will be cutting off the A,B & C pillars and putting a new "Green House" upper cage on the car. But that is not bad and can be expected in a crash like you guys had. Shock mounts are another easy fix. Overall as long as the chassis is not twisted I think she will live to race another day. Another thing to consider is using a thicker aluminum panel on the roof. Back in the day when we used to access the cars via the roof we build them out of the same thickness aluminum as the side panels. But now that most enter via the side window making that roof skin thicker can and will keep rocks and other objects from protruding into the drivers area and protect your head and helps keep your limbs from sticking out of the car in a rollover. Looking at your roof skin it would have been easy for Chris's hands to have stuck out of the car and been hurt.
Chris, don't feel bad as you probably did not do anything wrong. The G force and impacts is more likely what caused your hands and arms to start flying around. Once they do you will not have the strength to get them back under your own control. But now that its happened you know what its like and you can better position your hands and be better prepared if there is a next time.
Also your bruised knee is most likely from hitting the grab handle. What you need to look into is making some sort of simple tubed foot rest that you can put your feet under the tube to help lock your feet from moving around.
Your helmet hitting the ground is a bad thing, I dont know how to fix that when your in such a narrow drivers compartment. I highly suggest that your helmet becomes a show piece on the shelf and you buy a new helmet. If it took enough of an impact to blacken your eye, then the helmet did its job and is now retired.
CDM CoDawg
New Member
The 1st thing to go is the helmets for both of us and the 5 point harnesses. My hands up was a big no no... I got away with it this time. Next time I may not be so lucky! As far as my knee goes I know I hit the grab bar and your idea of a tube to lock my feet in sounds great. We will have to look into that.
motive
Active Member
Nice Nova...
Since you have to make a new roof make sure you use thick enough aluminum. We replaced a roof skin on one of our cars because it was made with too thin material as per the rules. Since then I have seen several other cars that run "trailer skin" thickness. This should be caught in tech but I've seen those same cars run every race this year.
Good luck with the rebuild.
Since you have to make a new roof make sure you use thick enough aluminum. We replaced a roof skin on one of our cars because it was made with too thin material as per the rules. Since then I have seen several other cars that run "trailer skin" thickness. This should be caught in tech but I've seen those same cars run every race this year.
Good luck with the rebuild.
FullTiltLunatic
New Member
As as driver coming from sprint car racing, I wear arm restraints to help keep arms inside cage. Don't know if possible for co-driver's in desert racing to still have the reach and keeping straps tight enough so arms don't exit cage, but worth a shot if you haven't tried them.
Similar threads
