Crashed the Scion tC at Infineon Raceway

All things photo, moving or not.
GarySheehan
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 1101
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2004 3:00 pm
Location: SF Bay Area
Contact:

Crashed the Scion tC at Infineon Raceway

Post by GarySheehan »

I was SO excited to be getting back in a race car this weekend. It's been over 3 months since I drove in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill and I was suffering from withdrawal. We'd sorted out the Scion tC's broken trans and added a trans cooler to keep the temps in check. So we brought the car out to a NASA race weekend at Infineon Raceway. The car was entered in the SU class (Super Unlimited) for fun, just so we could see where the little Scion stacked up against the fast cars.

I was out in qualifying and getting back into the groove with this car. Things were going well and I was starting to put some good laps together despite the traffic. I had just turned a 1:50.7 second lap with traffic and was on a relatively clean lap that surely would have put the car in the 1:49's. Coming into the Esses I was catching a Legends Roadster fairly quickly because it was traveling slowly. Turns out he was driving slowly because he had lunched his motor. Instead of pulling off the track, he puked oil right on the racing line as he coasted on his merry way.

As I turned into turn 8a at just over 90mph, the car swapped ends lightning fast with no warning at all. From that point on I was a passenger and watched as the wall came up very, very fast. I remember thinking "Oh, this is going to hurt". Then I remember thinking, "I really wish this was over already." Time really does slow down quite a bit in situations like this. I hit the tire wall really hard with the right front corner and it whipped the car around so the back hit the barrier and flicked it around. Witnesses said the car was about 3 feet in the air after hitting the barrier.

I'm OK, just a slightly stiff back with occasional twinges if I'm not careful. The car is in piss poor shape, though. Considering the impact I'm pretty happy I got away with no injuries. The cage and Recaro seat did a great job and the tire barrier really softened the blow.

Here's in-car video from the crash. It's the lap and a half leading up to the crash. Lots of traffic out there!



Here are a few pics.

Image

Image

Image

To add insult to injury, I qualified on pole...
LHOswald
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 2787
Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2009 10:46 pm
Cars: '99 Civic Hatch w/B16a
Location: Enfield, Connecticut

Re: Crashed the Scion tC at Infineon Raceway

Post by LHOswald »

damn good to see your okay. for how hard you hit i would expect there to be alot more damage to the car. idk the gearing for the TC but you must've been going upwards of 100 mph. i love how right after you hit you instinctively went "well don't want the car to stall" and put it in neutral and just kept wiggling it through neutral waiting for help to arrive.

what doesn't kill ya makes you stronger!
Image
User avatar
comingbackdown
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 7399
Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2007 3:17 am
Cars: 99 Ram 2500, 86 Ford LTD
Location: Ohio
Contact:

Re: Crashed the Scion tC at Infineon Raceway

Post by comingbackdown »

Holy crap. Ow...
Glad you're okay, man. Car doesn't look too good, but it could've been worse.

Even after seeing that, is it odd that I still want to race?

Feel better soon, Gary.
Image
1999 Ram 2500 4x4 360, 1986 Ford LTD 3.8L, 1983 Yamaha Venture Royale 1200
noob5,000,000
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 9380
Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2006 10:57 pm
Cars: 1986 Mazda RX-7 x2
Location: Sterling Heights, Michigan
Contact:

Re: Crashed the Scion tC at Infineon Raceway

Post by noob5,000,000 »

Ouch :( . Glad you fared better than the car.
1986 Mazda RX-7 sport - slowly returning to the Earth
1986 Mazda RX-7 base - Project car, ???, In pieces, turbo parts around.
User avatar
mtheis
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 1512
Joined: Fri Mar 17, 2006 10:06 pm
Cars: 07 Corolla, 76 Celica
Location: Austin, TX
Contact:

Re: Crashed the Scion tC at Infineon Raceway

Post by mtheis »

Ouch... I watched that last night. Glad you're alright.
2007 Corolla
2017 Cannondale Quick 3
1995 Tercel
1976 Celica GT
Unofficial SS.com IRC Server
Driving stick since March 20, 2002
Official lurker
94Corolla5Speed
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 6927
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 5:51 pm
Cars: 1994 Corolla, 1990 Miata
Location: Chicago, IL

Re: Crashed the Scion tC at Infineon Raceway

Post by 94Corolla5Speed »

That's gnarly. Great to know you made it out ok. Although, I have to ask, why did you keep wiggling it in neutral? I would assume it was just to give your hands something to do after being freaked out in a collision like that.
User avatar
gizmo
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 1000
Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2008 1:22 am
Cars: tC

Re: Crashed the Scion tC at Infineon Raceway

Post by gizmo »

it looks like he's trying to get it refired; he keeps pushing buttons and when they don't cooperate then he wiggles the shifter and tries pushing them again. That repeats quite a few times, ending with one final violent push of the puttons, LOL!

That is a real bummer. The first thing that went through my mind was how lucky you were no one else hit the same slick and then reemed into you. Lucked out that you hit the barrier sideways too, helped displace the crash energy over a larger surface.

Is that the first time you were involved in a wreck like that? (I wouldn't say *you* wrecked the car).

I gotta get a rear spoiler like that for my tC, my car feels so naked after those shots.

EDIT: the last violent push i think is the quick release on the wheel.
GarySheehan
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 1101
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2004 3:00 pm
Location: SF Bay Area
Contact:

Re: Crashed the Scion tC at Infineon Raceway

Post by GarySheehan »

The wiggling the shifter thing is completely subconscious. It's apparently something I do to keep my hand busy. I've caught myself doing it in street cars waiting at a light or before I start the car. Same thing in the race car. I'm not even aware I'm doing it. Looks pretty silly in the video.

The button pushing was me talking to my crew telling them that I went off the track hard and we were done. I never tried to refire the car. After a hit like that it wasn't going anywhere. The right front control arm turned out to be broken as well.

This is the third big crash I've been in on the race track. Still an eye-opener.

Gary
User avatar
comingbackdown
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 7399
Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2007 3:17 am
Cars: 99 Ram 2500, 86 Ford LTD
Location: Ohio
Contact:

Re: Crashed the Scion tC at Infineon Raceway

Post by comingbackdown »

GarySheehan wrote:The wiggling the shifter thing is completely subconscious.

The button pushing was me talking to my crew telling them that I went off the track hard and we were done. I never tried to refire the car. After a hit like that it wasn't going anywhere. The right front control arm turned out to be broken as well.

This is the third big crash I've been in on the race track. Still an eye-opener.

Gary
As for the shifter wiggling, in that situation I would be doing that... to try and forget that I just slammed into a wall around ten times faster than I can hit a wall at a dead run with a tailwind.

After watching the video, I kinda figured the car wasn't going anywhere under its own steam after that one.

Major bummer, but we're glad you're alright.
Image
1999 Ram 2500 4x4 360, 1986 Ford LTD 3.8L, 1983 Yamaha Venture Royale 1200
User avatar
theholycow
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 16021
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:36 pm
Cars: '80 Buick LeSabre 4.1 5MT
Location: Glocester, RI
Contact:

Re: Crashed the Scion tC at Infineon Raceway

Post by theholycow »

LHOswald wrote:damn good to see your okay. for how hard you hit i would expect there to be alot more damage to the car.
Word. Doesn't look like "piss poor shape" to me, appears to be just body damage...is not not in an acceptable condition for racing (assuming some basic bodywork to stabilize it)?
what doesn't kill ya makes you stronger!
Not true. Often what doesn't kill you maims you and leaves you permanently disabled.
1980 Buick LeSabre 4.1L 5MT

Put your car in your sig!

Learn to launch/FAQs/lugging/misused terms: meta-sig
watkins wrote:Humans have rear-biased AWD. Cows have 4WD
User avatar
fa22raptorf22
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 1282
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 9:31 pm
Cars: 2004 SSM Acura RSX
Location: Norwalk, CT

Re: Crashed the Scion tC at Infineon Raceway

Post by fa22raptorf22 »

Yeah, that was some good driving out there!

Ive had a crash at about that speed as well, but if you are properly strapped in as I was, and as you appeared to be, you probably didn't feel much of anything.

But either way, each crash helps you learn what to do and not to do the next time, and you are always on the look out for the ocurrance of the same situation so that it doesn't happen again.

Good luck out there!
User avatar
AHTOXA
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 14693
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2007 6:31 pm
Cars: '19 4RUNNER TRD ORP
Location: Irving, TX

Re: Crashed the Scion tC at Infineon Raceway

Post by AHTOXA »

Damn, Gary. First - glad you're okay.

How much do you think it'll cost to get this damage fixed?
'19 Toyota 4Runner TRD ORP
'12 Suzuki V-Strom 650
GarySheehan
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 1101
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2004 3:00 pm
Location: SF Bay Area
Contact:

Re: Crashed the Scion tC at Infineon Raceway

Post by GarySheehan »

theholycow wrote:
LHOswald wrote:damn good to see your okay. for how hard you hit i would expect there to be alot more damage to the car.
Word. Doesn't look like "piss poor shape" to me, appears to be just body damage...is not not in an acceptable condition for racing (assuming some basic bodywork to stabilize it)?
Well, you don't chuck a car into a wall at 80mph and come away with just body damage. The unibody frame ahead of the firewall is moved over to the driver's side at least an inch. It's going to have to hit a frame straightener at least. Front suspension is broken and there's more than likely some subframe damage. There are witness marks on components mounted to the chassis in the engine bay that contacted the pulleys on the engine, which shows how much the frame flexed. There could be engine damage as well. The damage to the rear quarter is very deep. The internal structure that braces the outer skin and the structure that supports the interior panels is pushed way into the cockpit. We haven't really started digging into it yet, so we don't know how much damage the B pillar has taken.

It's a lot of damage.

Gary
User avatar
theholycow
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 16021
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:36 pm
Cars: '80 Buick LeSabre 4.1 5MT
Location: Glocester, RI
Contact:

Re: Crashed the Scion tC at Infineon Raceway

Post by theholycow »

Ah, bummer...that explains it. In the video it looked like a hard hit but the photos make it look like sheet metal and the wall absorbed all the energy. I thought maybe it slapped the wall just right to avoid that kind of damage.
1980 Buick LeSabre 4.1L 5MT

Put your car in your sig!

Learn to launch/FAQs/lugging/misused terms: meta-sig
watkins wrote:Humans have rear-biased AWD. Cows have 4WD
LHOswald
Master Standardshifter
Posts: 2787
Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2009 10:46 pm
Cars: '99 Civic Hatch w/B16a
Location: Enfield, Connecticut

Re: Crashed the Scion tC at Infineon Raceway

Post by LHOswald »

i suppose those cars are made to absorb and deflect the damage over the largest surface area possible though, so its really not that amazing that the body damage doesn't look that bad. only problem is that since its designed to go over such a long area of the car, the whole car took the beating which means alot more replacements than just if one thing completely shit the bed. but the upside of that is that gary came away with minor injuries. i would rather replace the whole damn car than get severely hurt.

how do you think you would've faired if the retard puking oil in front of you didn't make you eat that wall?
Image
Post Reply