Poor thing got hit at a buck eighty on the back straight by one of the Rolex cars.

I guess the front car got all the damage while the second driver got all the guts on his helmet and everywhere else.

LOL... Poor thing.

Anyone else hear about this?

 

Saw it on the TV coverage. I was going, "Aaahhh!" when my wife came in, just in time for the replay. She asked if all of the pieces flying around were the groundhog. I explained that they were body parts - that the biggest piece of the rodent would have fit through a soda straw. Very nasty. And they seem like such friendly, furry critters.

K

 

And you're posting this now?

 

I hate groundhogs!!!

Corey - Who Farmed for years....

 

They have been sighted at Summit Point as well. During the ECHC event in September one ran out in front of me during one of our sessions. He then scampered off to the side of the track where he sat and watched us for a couple laps.

Z

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18C5 EH &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Poor thing got hit at a buck eighty on the back straight by one of the Rolex cars.

Anyone else hear about this?</TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by zygspeed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">And you're posting this now?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Finally catching up on your TiVo?

 

A friend runs one of the old fiberglass bodied Nascar style race trucks in driver's schools and his first time running it at the Glen, I think first session ever out in the truck, he got a ground hog, or was it a wood chuck? It took out a nice half round chunck from the front spoiler but that's all. Being built simple and like a tank is a good thing. I have also found that telling a first time student that they just missed a critter at 100+ scares the hell out of them. I don't mention it to them now until we are off the track. The real fun is when the short course has been run for a few days, deer tend to show up in the boot in the morning. That'll get your eyes open in the morning.

 

We've had adventurous cows on-track (or near-track) on more than one occasion at Summit. And those don't bounce right off

Jon

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by getfast &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">We've had adventurous cows on-track (or near-track) on more than one occasion at Summit. And those don't bounce right off

Jon

</TD></TR></TABLE>

i live out in the boonies, and one nice while driving home i saw a late 80's caddy (huge boat of a car) that had just ran into a huge cow at 45mph. the caddy was toasted, the cow didn't look too good but was still alive

 

Ask me about the time I saw the bear sitting in the middle of a dirt road waiting for me in my MGB with the top down. I think he saw it as dinner being delivered to him. He just sat there in the middle of the road. I turned around and beat feet what with it looking like his eye level was higher than mine in the car.

 

If anybody knows how to convert VHS to digital, I'd be glad to post the "Matt's CRX vs groundhog" at Summit Point from 3 years ago. I nailed it going about 95mph or so coming into turn 10.

 

a couple years back at our track a seagull got beheaded by a formula atlantic that was visiting to do a demo. He came up on the birds a bit faster than we usually do in our ITA cars and formula vees!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by zygspeed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">And you're posting this now?</TD></TR></TABLE>
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FormulaIntegra &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Finally catching up on your TiVo?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I never saw the race, I just heard about it...
My manager has raced with the SCCA for 25 years he was talking with the two rolex drivers that he is freinds with on a message board.

So my question is do they throw the debris flag when there is an animal on coarse? LOL

It seems to be fairly common...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">do they throw the debris flag when there is an animal on coarse?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes.

Matt&lt;---says "Be aware of the ducks in turn 1 at Roebling...."

 

Man this seems like a really common thing to happen at tracks. Any pics of the car damage that can be done? I would rather see it post washing to avoid the blood and guts. I live in Nebraska but I have some how managed to never hit an animal with my car so I am kind of intereted in the amount of damage they can do at those speeds.

 

I saw a groundhog hit by a 944 Turbo at Nelson Ledges a few years ago. The car got away with a few scratches, although the passenger said "It sounded like a cannon went off in the front of the car." The ground hog had a much worse day....

 

It sucks for all involved to hit a critter with a racing car.

We totally filled the grill of a rally car once, with little, puffy, sparrow-like birds - probably 20 of them, poked in the radiator, headlights, and everywhere.

A friend in Seattle had a runnnig tally at SIR (now Pacific Raceways) of three - a fox, a cat, and a bunny if I remember correctly. Or maybe there was a possum in there.

Al Unser Jr. sucked a rabbit into the sidepod of his Indycar at Laguna Seca when i was there a long time ago. Much of it actually made it through the radiator and out the exit vents. He won and they stopped to hose it out before the victory circle celebrations.

Yook.

K

 

I'd be more sympathetic if groundhogs didn't have huge buckteeth.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ralphie14 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Man this seems like a really common thing to happen at tracks. Any pics of the car damage that can be done? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Mine actually had no damage at all. He was running right to left, and I swerved right thinking that maybe I could avoid him that way. I ended up hitting him pretty close to dead center (no pun intended) and got him with the front factory tow hook. When I came in, the only sign of the impact was a little bit of blood, and a lump of fur on the tow hook.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Knestis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It sucks for all involved to hit a critter with a racing car.

We totally filled the grill of a rally car once, with little, puffy, sparrow-like birds - probably 20 of them, poked in the radiator, headlights, and everywhere.

A friend in Seattle had a runnnig tally at SIR (now Pacific Raceways) of three - a fox, a cat, and a bunny if I remember correctly. Or maybe there was a possum in there.

Al Unser Jr. sucked a rabbit into the sidepod of his Indycar at Laguna Seca when i was there a long time ago. Much of it actually made it through the radiator and out the exit vents. He won and they stopped to hose it out before the victory circle celebrations.

Yook.

K</TD></TR></TABLE>

A few years ago I was co-driving in a rally up in New York. We came around a bend to a water crossing to find a BIG bird sitting there drinking. My driver SLAMMED on the brakes, started beeping the horn, and said "Holy crap, that is a Great Whooping Crane!" (or whatever it was). I was over in the passenger seat yelling "GO!!!! It will move, GO!!!!!" He looked at me like I was from Mars and said "Dude, they are endangered."

I looked right back at him and told him that if we stopped where we were, WE would be endangered, and he finally moved when the bird flew away.

 

Tell them about the frog.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by krshultz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Tell them about the frog.</TD></TR></TABLE>

A year or two ago at Roebling, I was out playing in the instructor session with our boy Shultz as a passenger when out of nowhere in jumps a frog. Apparently his timing was JUST right (or wrong) and he just shot right in the window at 90+ mph.

The little bastard perched on the dashboard for about a lap, then jumped back out the window, apparently preferring Froggie suicide to another lap of my driving and staring at Shultz.

Can't say I blame him.

We were both laughing so hard I nearly had to pit early.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Honda318dx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I hate groundhogs!!!

Corey - Who Farmed for years....</TD></TR></TABLE>

someone cue deliverance.

anyone have a vid of this? i'm never let down by exploding animal.

 

I've got more actually. It's kind of sad (but it's kind of funny).

One time on the way to VIR, I apparently offed a bird with my Suburban. I remember seeing a bird enter my field of vision to the right, and not exiting on the left. It sat on the front bumper of my truck all day beefore we noticed it. Poor guy.

I was also present for the killing of a bird during a test drive of a WRX. Poor guy just flew right into the windshield like he did it on purpose.

But nothing will ever, ever beat the frog.

 

I saw a groundhog trying to cross at the chute at Summit during some motorcycle races..... THAT would have been bad. Luckily everytime he tried to cross we'd yell at it and it went back into the grass.

Brian