What motorsports moment are you NOT proud of?

Let me preface this by saying all of my REAL racing experience is motorcycle drag racing. Harleys specifically (well, Buell)

First national race. Had about 65 people entered in my class and they only take the top 32...I qualified 32. Had to race the #1 guy on Sunday morning. I knew I didnt have the speed/power to beat him, he was half a second faster than I'd EVER been in the 1/4, but, dangit, if I wouldnt try

Long-story-short - looped the bike. It stood up, I fell off the back and it kept on going about 300'

That's how I turned my street bike into a race bike.

Another was about three years later at a local dragstrip. I had just won money for the first time ever at a national event the week before and was feeling good. There was a charity event at a local strip and it was just a bunch of 'normal' harley guys there, and then me. Full leathers, wheelie bar etc. It's fine, it's not a race, really. But when I went up it caught a lot of attention because, that day, I was the fasted bike there and much different than the others.

Welp, I went to heat up the rear in the burnout box and it kept pushing me out, wasnt breaking free. It inched forward little by little and I was just trying to give it more gas and not thinking about anything else...then the peg clipped my heel and down the bike goes. Nothing damaged but my ego. But that sucked.

I think that race car development is just a process of trying to imagine all of the things that could possibly go wrong and trying to address them in advance (mucsh cheaper than dealing with them after something goes wrong).

My only failure in that regard was in assessing the possible degree that a race tire might deflect under hard cornering in a race.  It was on my TVR, and the answer was "1/2" more than the wheel/tire/ offset combination I had would allow. Exit backward in the first turn taken at race speed.

Install wheel spacers and a pair of new race tires and that was eliminated, leaving me to try and deal in advance with dozens of other imagined failure modes.

I did about 4 years of road racing with no incidents. A fellow competitor had his car wiped out by a complete numbskull in our race group. Between that and the high cost of racing I decided to go back to HPDE/instructing. Sold the race car and bought the perfect M3 TT car.  First weekend out:

Nobody to blame but myself. Sideways into the tire wall at...well, too busy wondering if I was going to die to look at the speedo.

Thus ended my on-track career, mostly because I couldn't stand to look at the 'fixed' car anymore, not from any fear. I had it on the track again once after putting it back together just to make sure I could get back on the horse. I decided there is a maximum speed I'm comfortable at in my advanced years and it is slightly less than what a E36 M3 is capable of. 

Pretty much everything I do is embarrassing. Guess that's why Ive mostly given up racing.

Season opener this year at MIS and we are using the infield road course. I'm excited to run somewhere that isn't a parking lot, even figured out how to get my phone to record my runs.

 Every run was a spin and a DNF.  

DeadSkunk (Warren) said:

Racing on my roof, not the fast way around the lap.....

Wow, I recognize some of those cars. Got my race license in the Yellow Fiero.

In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :

I don't remember your crash, but I was likely in the same race. Around that time ITC and ITB were run in the same race group.

In reply to Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter) :

Well see there's yer mistake. "Record my runs"

My codriver thought it'd be a Good Idea to put a rollcage cam and a dashcam in the rallycar. Well, we got away with it for 2 rallies. But on rally 3, the cams faithfully recorded my early apex into wide 90L, so there was no need for me to early apex, putting the nose of the car into the grass , really taking the fast line thru this corner see, thus subsequently and consequently finding the hidden treestump. 

Bridgehampton 1977. Standing start time trial, what would be "Time Attack" today. My scheduled ride for the day had a mechanical on the way out and I was carless, or so I thought. Don49 to the rescue, "Here Bill, take my Turner out for 2 sessions and timed runs, I am flagging station 4 for timed runs." So I took practice 2 and 4, Don ran it 1 & 3. My first drive in a Turner and I was in awe of the cornering power. Also my first run ever on racing slicks....that were warm when I got in the car for the first time.  After break Don and another buddy of mine go to flag at station 4 and I line up for time. They say I came down the hill through station 3 faster than anyone else that day! Unfortunately a little prior to the first apex I realized simultaneously how little grip cold slicks have and that my trajectory was never going to reach the second apex, or anything resembling pavement at the exit.... I had to dig through 3 inches of sand to reach the harness release in my lap, and was still spitting sand when we got the tow rope detatched in the paddock. We are still friends though!

Mid Ohio with Gridlife last summer. Spent a ton of money prepping the car and everything but didn't get a Hybrid S in time thinking "I'll be fine".

The whole front end of the car was pushed 4in toward the driver side (front fender stuck out further than the mirror). Seat bent like crazy. I had a concussion that the effects lasted a good 2-3 weeks with weird balance, one side of my head feeling heavier than the other, etc. Keep in I didn't even hit my head on anything, but my neck and back hurt like hell for a while.

Someone ahead of me went 2 off at the exit of T1, made a huge dust cloud, I had already committed that this was going to be my first "flyer lap" of the day, and without being super familiar with the track, I dipped two off and it hooked and spun towards the inside and I flew across the track, hit the tire wall, bounced off, and went across the track AGAIN. At least two other cars in the Sundae Cup group nearly hit me, both have video of the entire incident. Fortunately they did not.

Also track insurance made the whole ordeal suck a lot less than it could have. Car was totaled.

Just got a Hybrid S for Christmas. And the crash structure of a MK7 GTI is a good bit sturdier so that is the replacement.

flatlander937 said:

Mid Ohio with Gridlife last summer. Spent a ton of money prepping the car and everything but didn't get a Hybrid S in time thinking "I'll be fine".

 

 

 

 

The whole front end of the car was pushed 4in toward the driver side (front fender stuck out further than the mirror). Seat bent like crazy. I had a concussion that the effects lasted a good 2-3 weeks with weird balance, one side of my head feeling heavier than the other, etc. Keep in I didn't even hit my head on anything, but my neck and back hurt like hell for a while.

 

Someone ahead of me went 2 off at the exit of T1, made a huge dust cloud, I had already committed that this was going to be my first "flyer lap" of the day, and without being super familiar with the track, I dipped two off and it hooked and spun towards the inside and I flew across the track, hit the tire wall, bounced off, and went across the track AGAIN. At least two other cars in the Sundae Cup group nearly hit me, both have video of the entire incident. Fortunately they did not.

Also track insurance made the whole ordeal suck a lot less than it could have. Car was totaled.

Just got a Hybrid S for Christmas. And the crash structure of a MK7 GTI is a good bit sturdier so that is the replacement.

Wow. I had a pretty awful (funny if it wasn't me) experience at mid Ohio a few years ago at nasa nationals. I never ran there so was just shaving a second or two each session. By the race, I think I gridded 5th and got to 3rd. Then something really changed. DJ Fitzpatrick was doing a great job of hounding me while the handling got worse and worse on my car. Eventually I lost it and flew off the track. Got back, flew off again. All told I believe I had 10 offs. Somehow I didn't finish dead last. The event was being streamed and my friends said the announcers seemed to be getting a kick out of my situation. "There he goes again". Somehow, during the race, my rear toe started moving. I measure 3/4" of toe out in the left rear afterwards. So basically, I was rear wheel steering off track on every right hander. That was embarrassing.

Once dropped a wheel in a students car; it bent the rim. He only noticed on the drive back home. The wheel was repaired and I offered to pay but he said don't worry about it.......20 year on I'm still deeply embarrassed by that one.

As for a race; Saturday qualifying race, I started in 5th place and quickly got to 3rd.  4th place motored by down the back straight but I was faster in the twisty bits. Coming to the last set of corners I set him up for an outside block pass going into the 90 left 90 right sequence leading on to the front straight. I zapped the guy on the outside of the left hander and then reality set in. Someone had gone off there the lap before and dragged a bunch of gravel onto the track. Off line was covered in gravel, I went skating into the dirt in an instant, just missed the 3rd place car. The car behind me took to the dirt to avoid me. I crossed the line in 5th place......all that work for nothing.

$2019 challenge... We kicked the E36 M3 out of the last chance class... Right up until we learned at the banquet that Patrick's AMG was also in the last chance class. I don't take any of this all that seriously but man I lost all my sportsmanship in a second 

The hotel bar tender was remarkably tolerant of my one man pitty party 

Getting into the bad habit of overdriving at every event.

Time will tell if I manage to unlearn that.

Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:

I've been off course for all five runs more than once.

Man, I've been off course multiple times in a day on courses I designed.

At a Philly region autocross I spun three times... in a single pass.

DirtyBird222 said:

Champcar Sebring 14 Hour 2020. 

The night prior to the race I decided to indulge in some Cuban cigars and Hungarian Polinka...

Oh man, I feel awful!  I could have prevented this 100%!!

Here's my rule concerning Hungarian Palinka and racing (well, any event really):  "Not the day before.  And not the day before that."

I broke that rule once, and it was the worst time on the track I've ever had. 

However, if I happen to have some in my cabinet the night before a big race I see it as fair game (or even generous, really) to share with all the other drivers