Wreck at Kennedale 5-23-08

[slow06]

There was a wreck Friday at Texas Raceway during KOTH and from what I heard the driver was pretty badly burned from the waist up. I don't remember the name, I was just wondering if anybody knew how the guy was doing?

[scott442]

From: http://www.voy.com/172457/

"All I can say is Murphys law prevailed over TXR last night. Throttles hung(Martone), Nitrous backfires(Corey Wheat), Biggest Freakin Explosion I Have Ever Seen with a fire more intense than anyone has seen(Kenny Esner) !! I spoke with Kenny this morning and he is fine, a few burns to his face but other than that he is fine.Thank God for that he did an awesome job keeping his car under control while the fire was engulfing his car.Great job Kenny! Glad your ok ,hope to see you back out soon.Congrats to Gaylen Smith and the mini TBH on the win ,water was cold huh!!LOL -- Matt Jones, 08:47:20 05/25/08 Sun"

[slow06]

Thanks for the info.

[Rreemo]

Here's a vid...not good.

Esner vs McCrary-Texas King of the HIll

[lbt]

Damn i hate to see racing like that, I hope he's ok.

........LBT

[jyro]

he had to climb out the passanger side, the drivers side was on the rail, glad his right side door worked. He looked singed coming out the door.

[347Mike]

Damn thats not good.. I hope all is well.

[564826]

Thank god for safety equipment!

[JACKASS RACING]

if you watch the video...you can see he lost ignition......then after it louded up with nitrous and fuel,it decided to fire at least one more time, and the fuel pumps are feeding the fire......glad he's ok. that could have been ugly(er). martone also crashed the cuda...saw it for sale on racingjunk.

[88 LX]

Damn that sucks.

[turbostang]

In the video, I am standing over on the RH side - DAMN, that was horrible to witness. I was relieved to see him flop out on the passenger side.

[aggie97]

can't watch the video here at work but safety equipment is the key to surviving that. Of all the things I fear while racing, it is a fire. However, for just $271, I got a 4 liter fire system with two pulls and 6 nozzles on my car. I hope like hell I never have to use it. That combined with the fire suit, gloves, shoes and PROPER Snell S Rated helmet should help keep me safe.

Safety equipment and practicing how to use it FTW!!!

[turbostang]

Originally Posted by aggie97

can't watch the video here at work but safety equipment is the key to surviving that. Of all the things I fear while racing, it is a fire. However, for just $271, I got a 4 liter fire system with two pulls and 6 nozzles on my car. I hope like hell I never have to use it. That combined with the fire suit, gloves, shoes and PROPER Snell S Rated helmet should help keep me safe.

Safety equipment and practicing how to use it FTW!!!

I couldn't agree more. I have about 2K$ in just my fire suit and fire system. I had to skip out on some hot rod parts to get them - but in the event I ever had to use them - I'd forget all about parts I missed out on.

[texrace]

Shouldn't that car have had a fire extinguishing system?

[Nate]

The fire suppression system was pinned in the back ( you know pinned so it doesn't go off when you don't want it to while towing etc) and the crew members never pulled it out.

Of course this is third or fourth hand info at best.

[turbostang]

If you were there you would have seen the fire flash out QUICK, like, withing a few seconds of the end of that video! Of course, I wasn't near the car, but it sure looked like the fire system was used.

[MadMax404m]

Looks like the powder is on the track where it initially happened, but that could just be me seeing things

[mikeb]

Originally Posted by aggie97

can't watch the video here at work but safety equipment is the key to surviving that. Of all the things I fear while racing, it is a fire. However, for just $271, I got a 4 liter fire system with two pulls and 6 nozzles on my car. I hope like hell I never have to use it. That combined with the fire suit, gloves, shoes and PROPER Snell S Rated helmet should help keep me safe.

Safety equipment and practicing how to use it FTW!!!

There are a few cheap/common sense things you can also do. For example, I believe that many people simply have a fuel pump on/off switch. This is great until your car is going up in flames, being fed from that big ass fuel pump in the back.

I have a pressure switch screwed into a oil gallery. No oil pressure, no fuel pump running.

Another thing to look at is fuel tank venting in the case the the vehicle gets on its side or top to make sure that fuel cannot leak out.

[aggie97]

Originally Posted by turbostang

I couldn't agree more. I have about 2K$ in just my fire suit and fire system. I had to skip out on some hot rod parts to get them - but in the event I ever had to use them - I'd forget all about parts I missed out on.

Safety equipment has been my biggest expense so far.

SFI suit... $600
Helmet... $420
Gloves... $120...comfort is important for extended use.
shoes... $90 Piloti's GREAT shoes!
HANS .... $800
Fire system $271.
Custom seat with head restraints...$850
harness $250

That is nothing compared to the cost of fixing a car or YOU!

the other thing you MUST do is practice using the systems in place to protect you. We have a drill every now and then that has us in full gear, belted in, window nets up...I think we should include car running too so we have to hit the kill switch but... We all sit in impound, a whistle is blown and we have to be out of the car in 10 seconds or less. I think it's a great practice and surprised the shit out of me the first time we did it because my belts hung up on my HANS and I forgot to disconnect the fresh air hose to my helmet. Still made it out of the car in 7 seconds but that was the second forward effort. We may soon have the same drill, but have to exit the passenger door....going to be MUCH more difficult but I will have atleast tried it if I ever have to do it for real.

[Thehead]

Originally Posted by JACKASS RACING

if you watch the video...you can see he lost ignition......then after it louded up with nitrous and fuel,it decided to fire at least one more time, and the fuel pumps are feeding the fire......glad he's ok. that could have been ugly(er). martone also crashed the cuda...saw it for sale on racingjunk.

any pictures of the cuda?

[turbostang]

It didn't look that bad. I didn't see the wreck, but a friend of mine told me he just spun it around and backed it into the wall - folded up the quarter a bit from what I could see.

[SSMAN]

Glad he is ok. SHit, what a fire!

[Last5oh]

that looked awful

[Amackwantsabeast]

http://www.texaskingofthehill.net/ check out the pics of the aftermath

[Nestromo]

Wow. Hope he is quick to get back to racing.

[Rreemo]

I don't think he'll be back racing that one anytime real soon.

[slow55]

Originally Posted by Rreemo

I don't think he'll be back racing that one anytime real soon.

Probaly about a month or so.
Looks like it just burned up all the plastic, fiberglass peices and there wasn't enough heat to hurt any of the metal, tubing etc. Going to take longer to fix the motor.

[Rreemo]

Yup - that's what I was thinking....Chasis looks okay, but man he'll be up to his neck in engine, body, electronics, and wiring.

Showing my ignorance here....but that car will have to recertify with NHRA after a fire like that, right?

[jyro]

http://www.texaskingofthehill.net
look at what he had to climb over to get out the passenger side, on fire and bottles in the way wearing a firesuit and helmet.