Virginia Nationals at VMP-June 21-23

[Jim]

there is a timothy fletcher running a 69 maro in h/sa trim. dan's son? brother?

He has a son named Timothy so I assume that is him. Unless there is another Timothy Fletcher out there.

 

[J. S.]

I would think there would be nobody in the stands today (Friday) since no fuel cars are running. Why would the track owners want this event structured with only 2 days of fuel cars (Sat and Sun)? They can't be making as much $$ as they would with 3 days of fuel cars running.

 

[z28]

I would think there would be nobody in the stands today (Friday) since no fuel cars are running. Why would the track owners want this event structured with only 2 days of fuel cars (Sat and Sun)? They can't be making as much $$ as they would with 3 days of fuel cars running.

way less overhead today, more like a Lucas race as far as what it costs to put on. I would guess the Friday crowds haven't been good in the past so they save from a cost area and likely gain additional gate for Saturday. I hope the heat doesn't scare off to many folks.

 

[Tim]

For a Friday without Pro’s and brutal heat, the crowd was better than I thought it would be.

Not sure what to expect crowd wise today but the heat has to limit walk up sales.

 

[Scoe]

VMP confirmed to return next year.

 

[twostep]

Tony Stewart #1 after 2 sessions; Jasmine Salinas # 2. How 'bout that.
No 3 second FC passes yet.

Tricky track; 147 degrees. Geezus.

 

[J. S.]

I thought the fuel cars did really well today, especially in the final sessions, considering the extreme heat. Most of the dragsters got down the track in the final session, with even a few 3.80's. Most of the cars improved their position in the order. The Crew Chiefs earned their money today setting up the cars, and the drivers did too with having to sit in their cars in the staging lanes with their fire suits on. I bet there was a lot of ice cold Gatorade and Powerade being consumed down at the shut-off area by the drivers, not to mention by the Safety Safari crew.

 

[DanTheFan]

I was amazed how many figured it out enough to get decent runs in that heat. In Q3, 10 tf cars run over 300. That’s great for a fan show. Not sure why so many other hot tracks 20 degrees less can’t produce that on Q days. Great job overall.

 

[Paul]

Big explosion and hit for Force, hope he is ok.

 

[Tybamf]

Big explosion and hit for Force, hope he is ok.

It’s taking so long for an update. Be ok John.

 

[Tybamf]

Sounds like he’s ok, looks to be hurting tho.

 

[Paul]

Prock was pretty upset, hoping it's nothing serious.

 

[Chili]

Yeah that is about as bad as we see anymore. Looked like a possible head or neck injury from how they were holding him on the stretcher. Prayers going out for John and his family and team.

 

[ZWeinstein]

That was awful, you know its bad when Alan says its one of the worst of his career, and honestly other than Dallas this one might be. They just had a live update during the qualifying show and the video showed him on the stretcher and sitting up at one point so that is pretty encouraging. If they were worried about his back/neck/head he would be immobilized. Hopefully everything is ok and he will be ready to go soon.

 

[Jer]

That was awful, you know its bad when Alan says its one of the worst of his career, and honestly other than Dallas this one might be. They just had a live update during the qualifying show and the video showed him on the stretcher and sitting up at one point so that is pretty encouraging. If they were worried about his back/neck/head he would be immobilized. Hopefully everything is ok and he will be ready to go soon.

2 hard hits,looked liked he chipped a tooth??

 

[J. S.]

Sure glad it sounds like he is not badly hurt. I have not seen a video of the wreck yet - nothing on Youtube so far. I hope this isn't the last we see of him driving. He has survived some real bad wrecks over the years, but at some point he's going to say enough is enough. At 75, you just don't recover from these things like you would at 30 or 40.

 

[8sec71]

That was ugly.

 

[TSK]

No parachutes from Force’s car.
I thought something in the safety system was supposed to automatically deploy the chutes in case the driver was unable.

 

[Chili]

No parachutes from Force’s car.
I thought something in the safety system was supposed to automatically deploy the chutes in case the driver was unable.

I thought maybe they got tangled up with the body/ wheelie bar with the explosion but on the replay it appears they were not deployed. Either the system itself failed with the explosion or the system was bypassed.

 

[sutton]

No parachutes from Force’s car.
I thought something in the safety system was supposed to automatically deploy the chutes in case the driver was unable.

By the time it got too the system that actually works the safety equipment every thing was most likely was blown apart. the car came apart at the finish line. the system that works everything is past the finish line.
Larry Sutton---
for John