CMP LeMons race death.

A driver at the CMP LeMons race apparently had a medical on track. He left course at turn 14 at full throttle, went through the gravel and hit the K rail at full speed. He was 63.

My thoughts and prayers to the family and friends.

That wouldn't be a bad way to go, doing what you love, but not a good day for friends and family.

RIP

Thats horrible. My sympathies to family and friends.

I just got a email from the Lemons crew. The gentleman had a massine heart attack and no other injuries.

A "medical" meaning a heart attack or something, versus a stuck throttle? Awful either way.

RIP unknown crapcan racer.

Edit: http://www.thestate.com/2013/09/22/2995761/driver-dies-in-kershaw-countys.html

I know it may not be appropriate, but if I manage to "go" doing what I love, then a more fitting end could not be scripted.

RIP.

warpedredneck wrote: I know it may not be appropriate, but if I manage to "go" doing what I love, then a more fitting end could not be scripted.

I know people mean well when they say that and just aren't thinking it through. I love to race. I really do. I could do it every single day. I do not like to crash at all. I'll be berkeleying goddamned if I want to die from the sort of lethal injuries a fiery or big impact crash produces no matter how much risk I am taking on the track. I'll take aneurism in my sleep any day.

absolutely no disrespect intended, my sympathies are to his family and loved ones, and I hope he rests in peace

warpedredneck wrote: absolutely no disrespect intended, my sympathies are to his family and loved ones, and I hope he rests in peace

I wasn't calling you out for it - or atleast I didn't intend it that way. I just find it a curious way for people to express condolences.

As an update - his name was Sidney Brayton, of Norcross, Ga. He died of a heart attack and was deceased before impact. The crash was secondary according to the coroner.

RIP Sidney.

Seems he lived only three miles from me. I might know, or have met him. Condolences out to his family.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: RIP.

warpedredneck wrote: I know it may not be appropriate, but if I manage to "go" doing what I love, then a more fitting end could not be scripted.

I know people mean well when they say that and just aren't thinking it through. I love to race. I really do. I could do it every single day. I do not like to crash at all. I'll be berkeleying goddamned if I want to die from the sort of lethal injuries a fiery or big impact crash produces no matter how much risk I am taking on the track. I'll take aneurism in my sleep any day.

I would not want my fiancee/soon to be wife watch me die in a racing crash.

I came through Turn 14 at CMP maybe ten seconds after it happened, the flag station had just barely had enough time to get the caution flag out.

If there are any bright spots to be found in all this, I can think of two: today just about every car wore a '22' in his memory and some of the racers in the remaining races of the year will have that number on their cars as well. NSF Racing also started a collection which Jay is going to match, last I heard it was a tick under $10,000. No it won't replace him to his family. But that does reinforce something I've known for years: racers are some of the finest people on the planet.

Curmudgeon wrote: I came through Turn 14 at CMP maybe ten seconds after it happened, the flag station had just barely had enough time to get the caution flag out. If there are any bright spots to be found in all this, I can think of two: today just about every car wore a '22' in his memory and some of the racers in the remaining races of the year will have that number on their cars as well. NSF Racing also started a collection which Jay is going to match, last I heard it was a tick under $10,000. No it won't replace him to his family. But that does reinforce something I've known for years: racers are some of the finest people on the planet.

Hear, hear!

My sympathy to the family. Hope they hold together and remember the good times.

I would not want my fiancee/soon to be wife watch me die in a racing crash.

Sounds like he may have lived through the impact itself. " first responders say the driver suffered no injuries from the crash" (http://www.midlandsconnect.com/news/story.aspx?id=949811#.UkBqdD_4Jhc).

I say lived through because this whole idea that a heart attack turns you off like a light switch is goofy. You can retain consciousness for many seconds even if you're decapitated. He probably slowly grayed out and lost strength to control the car. It definitely wasn't instant. So while he didn't die in a crash per se, it's still plenty bad. I'd rather go in my sleep too.

I think it's also a reminder for people of that age to get checked out. My dad (58) goes in to get a kidney out in a couple of weeks. Massive tumor. Only found it because he got a scan after a minor motorcycle accident. If he'd not had that incident that made us make him go to the hospital, he'd probably go painfully at some point in the next couple years (maybe on his bike.. maybe hit a wall..) and we'd have ANOTHER dead ~60/yr old that could have been prevented with more pro-active health management.

Condolences to the family, certainly. I hope they'd agree that some value can be salvaged from this tragedy if it leads more people to get themselves checked out and stay on top of things.

Codolences to the family.

didn't something similar happen a few years back at Lemons? iirc was driving a Volvo?

regardless, RIP mr. lemons racer guy.

At least he had lemons checked off his bucket list, more than I can say for myself.

In reply to xflowgolf:

Yes, that happened at Altamont. Same thing.

xflowgolf wrote: didn't something similar happen a few years back at Lemons?

Yeah, this isn't the first time someone died from medical issues in LeMons.

It's a shame for sure, but if it had to happen I think it's better for all concerned that it wasn't related to a crash.

I would say this should serve as a reminder to ALL of us to keep up on our health.

Racing much like going and doing any other intense activity can put any one at risk, as its something we all love doing we have to still be able to do it so we can keep doing it for many years to come.

My thoughts go the family and friends affected.

The driver's name was Sid Brayton. He had a lot of Super Modified experience, it seems. There is a thread on the LeMons forum with a PayPal link for his daughter who is handling his final arrangements, if anyone would like to contribute.

Thanks!

http://forums.24hoursoflemons.com/viewtopic.php?id=23820&p=3

JtspellS wrote: I would say this should serve as a reminder to ALL of us to keep up on our health. Racing much like going and doing any other intense activity can put any one at risk, as its something we all love doing we have to still be able to do it so we can keep doing it for many years to come. My thoughts go the family and friends affected.

+1, I keep myself in pretty good shape these days. I'm ready to go out the front door and run a half marathon... but when I put on my heart monitor on for a race... holy E36 M3. I'm at 145-165 bpm for the whole damn thing. It is the same as running whatever race length is to the ol' ticker. Maybe some of you are a little less amped up than me but... still... do make sure everything is in good working order before you stress it.

JohnyHachi6 wrote:

xflowgolf wrote: didn't something similar happen a few years back at Lemons?

Yeah, this isn't the first time someone died from medical issues in LeMons. It's a shame for sure, but if it had to happen I think it's better for all concerned that it wasn't related to a crash.

it was a hill-climb, not Lemons, but didn't Rich Shafer go out the same way (he of cool shirt fame)

What G.P. Snorklewacker says^

I've been a road cyclist since forever and I'm a sculler as well.

When I come of track after a 14 lap sprint race at Summit on a 90+ degree day, I'm about done.

On my bike, or at the oars if I want to dial it back? No problem.

If I leave turn 1 on lap on in the lead and I can get 1/10th of a second a lap on the P2 car if I go an honest 100% - then I have to go 100% for about 18 minutes plus the cool down lap.

In any case - RIP Sid.

wbjones wrote:

JohnyHachi6 wrote:

xflowgolf wrote: didn't something similar happen a few years back at Lemons?

Yeah, this isn't the first time someone died from medical issues in LeMons. It's a shame for sure, but if it had to happen I think it's better for all concerned that it wasn't related to a crash.

it was a hill-climb, not Lemons, but didn't Rich Shafer go out the same way (he of cool shirt fame)

Yes he did.

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/cool-shirt-ceo-dies-at-crow-mtn/14692/page1/