[firehawkclone]

last weekend at buttonwillow raceway,two(thats three this year) racers were killed while driving a convertable car(austin healy) with no rollcage! I thought you had to have a rollcage even if it was a OT day,am i right?

im not to sure on the fact's,but i think it was a jaguar.the men were 46 and 70 yrs of age,and they went off after the lost hill turn down in the sweeper(a nice med speed right hander).

I just thought some poeple should know! I work some kind of emergency skill everytime i go to the track.

anyway im thinking more than im writing and it looks like............

Can we get a section on safety?

[CMC #37]

bakersfield.com Archive Article

Two men die in crash on Buttonwillow track
Author(s): MARK BARNA,
Date: September 27, 2004

Two men were killed Sunday at Buttonwillow Raceway when their convertible sports car overturned while motoring on the track during a non-racing event. The driver, Ronald Burnett, 46, of Cypress, died while being transported by helicopter to Kern Medical Center, said Kelly Cowan, deputy coroner of the Kern County Sheriff's Department. The passenger, Ronald Yates, 70, of Mohave Valley, Ariz., was pronounced dead at the scene.

Both men were wearing a seat belt and helmet, Cowan said.

The accident occurred during a mid-day drive-around in which visitors pay a fee to motor their cars on the Buttonwillow Raceway track. Burnett was driving an Austin Healy, a convertible that racers at the track said was a street vehicle with no roll bar or other safety accouterments found on race cars.

Buttonwillow Raceway officials were not available late Sunday afternoon for comment on the wreck.

Bakersfield residents Martin and Twila Willey, there to race their Formula V car, were having lunch in the racers parking area when the accident occurred. They were about a quarter-mile from the accident site, which is near a remote stretch of track called Lost Hill, known to racers as Magic Mountain.

"I just heard an ambulance and everyone started running," Twila WIlley said.

After the rise and fall of Lost Hill, the track straightens out, then is followed by a sharp C-turn called the Sweeper. It is this general area where the accident occurred, Twila Willey said. Martin Willey said he typically motors around the Sweeper at 70 mph in his Formula V.

Willey said he feels safe on the track because his race car has roll bars, and he wears a seat belt and a helmet. But he acknowledges that things can go wrong quickly.

"It's a dangerous sport," he said.

This is really sad to read because it was so unnecessary and affected so many people.