Instructor killed at Summit Point Raceway
#1
06-08-2014, 09:20 PM
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Alexandria, VA
Posts: 1,172
Rep Power: 85 
Instructor killed at Summit Point Raceway
http://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news/...e6d384cd4.html
Sad day for track guys. They were on the Jefferson circuit, which is the small training track (one of three circuits at Summit Point). I've never liked this course, because trees are too close to the track and I've seen four cars over the years go into the tree lines, and I've been into that tree line myself with out-of-control student in 2002 (broken ribs to show for it). This time it killed the instructor. I don't know why they insist on keeping trees so close to the run-off areas, but its been a problem for years. Trees don't move when you hit them, and its a real problem.
No one goes out for a DE day and expects to wind up in the morgue, and after 18 years as an Instructor myself I'm pretty well done with it. When I started back in 1996, we'd go out in 160 HP cars, not what comes to the track are 400 and 500 HP student cars, and they really get going, sometimes faster than the skill set of the person driving them. High speed crashes in a street car are usually bad news for the occupants, there are no cages and 6-points in the car.
You guys that do DE days with Instructors - please remember that you are there to have a good time, but that volunteer Instructor is really putting his life in your hands - be aware of that and don't exceed your personal capabilities at the track.
Sad day for track guys. They were on the Jefferson circuit, which is the small training track (one of three circuits at Summit Point). I've never liked this course, because trees are too close to the track and I've seen four cars over the years go into the tree lines, and I've been into that tree line myself with out-of-control student in 2002 (broken ribs to show for it). This time it killed the instructor. I don't know why they insist on keeping trees so close to the run-off areas, but its been a problem for years. Trees don't move when you hit them, and its a real problem.
No one goes out for a DE day and expects to wind up in the morgue, and after 18 years as an Instructor myself I'm pretty well done with it. When I started back in 1996, we'd go out in 160 HP cars, not what comes to the track are 400 and 500 HP student cars, and they really get going, sometimes faster than the skill set of the person driving them. High speed crashes in a street car are usually bad news for the occupants, there are no cages and 6-points in the car.
You guys that do DE days with Instructors - please remember that you are there to have a good time, but that volunteer Instructor is really putting his life in your hands - be aware of that and don't exceed your personal capabilities at the track.
#2
06-08-2014, 10:49 PM
That is very saddening to hear.
Condolences and prayers for the instructors family and friends.
It does sound like the track could have taken measures to improve the saftey of their venue.
Condolences and prayers for the instructors family and friends.
It does sound like the track could have taken measures to improve the saftey of their venue.
#7
06-09-2014, 12:44 PM
Very Sad, RIP.
I looked up Jefferson on youtube and got scared to see that there was no ARMCO, walls, tirewalls, gravel pits or anything else to slow you down or preventing you from hitting trees that are very close to the track. I may be overreacting but this is a recipe for disaster.
Condolences to the family and friends.
I looked up Jefferson on youtube and got scared to see that there was no ARMCO, walls, tirewalls, gravel pits or anything else to slow you down or preventing you from hitting trees that are very close to the track. I may be overreacting but this is a recipe for disaster.
Condolences to the family and friends.
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#8
06-10-2014, 05:38 AM
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Alexandria, VA
Posts: 1,172
Rep Power: 85
Further looking into this incident, it was part of a NASA 'Hyper-Fest' event which is much less than a traditional DE Day and more like a "Fast and Furious" kind of event. One look at their event page will tell you that.
http://hyper-fest.com/
And this instructor was killed in the 'hyper-drive' event, where their web site page says "Your dream is to be a race driver. You want the cars, the money, the hotties, and all that comes with a racer\’s life. But usually the expense of getting into racing is extreme. Well, Hyper Fest and NASA have made it easy and inexpensive for you to get involved and get a taste of the excitement."
http://hyper-fest.com/hyperdrives/
The presentation/marketing of this event is kind of a 'let-it-all-hang-out, lets have a You Tube moment' kind of thing, rather than a more controlled environment on more responsible DE events that most of us are used to. The Hyper-Drive was just a single pay-as-you-go 15 to 20 minute 'play racer car driver' session where some amp-ed up kid in a hot car is doing hot laps, it doesn't take much imagination to expect this kind of format to become deadly and that is what happened. No hotties came out to swoon over them and no one handed them a check. The car is wrecked, the instructor is dead. Didn't quite turn out to be glorious, did it?
I remember back in my BMW M3 on my first track days in 1996. I liked it fast and loose, with minimum structure and supervision. "Just let me do my own thing" and go as fast as i could was what I wanted out of track days. I was pretty good at it, and never had a spin or an off-track, and pretty quickly I was asked to Instruct, which I took to like a duck to water. And in my early days of doing it I instructed fast and loose, too. But time and experience have a way of changing the way you think and act, and after seeing crashes, roll-overs, people going to the hospital I became that instructor I used to loathe, the guy that wants to teach the student car control at a measured pace, very safely, and a good day at the track was when no one tore up their car or themselves. I guess that's called wisdom, but maybe its just getting older. I get in car now with a young hot shot who thinks he's running a sprint race and I shut that down pretty quickly, because I know we are in a street car with no cage, no harnesses and no race shell seat - and any crashes above 45 mph are going to be ugly.
Here's a photo of the car in which the Instructor was killed, a 2006 Pontiac GTO. As you can see, it embedded into the trees at speed on the instructor side of the car. I had a similar incident at Summit Point in 2002 and we crashed the same way, into the tree line on my side of the car and my ribs were fractured on my right side, but we hit the tree line at a much slower speed, probably at 20 mph after sliding sideways in the mud- this looks like a hit at 45 to 50 mph.
http://www.your4state.com/media/lib/...7/Original.jpg
I personally am hanging up my instructing gig, retiring after 18 years of it. This past weekend's incident a reminder of how dangerous it can be.
http://hyper-fest.com/
And this instructor was killed in the 'hyper-drive' event, where their web site page says "Your dream is to be a race driver. You want the cars, the money, the hotties, and all that comes with a racer\’s life. But usually the expense of getting into racing is extreme. Well, Hyper Fest and NASA have made it easy and inexpensive for you to get involved and get a taste of the excitement."
http://hyper-fest.com/hyperdrives/
The presentation/marketing of this event is kind of a 'let-it-all-hang-out, lets have a You Tube moment' kind of thing, rather than a more controlled environment on more responsible DE events that most of us are used to. The Hyper-Drive was just a single pay-as-you-go 15 to 20 minute 'play racer car driver' session where some amp-ed up kid in a hot car is doing hot laps, it doesn't take much imagination to expect this kind of format to become deadly and that is what happened. No hotties came out to swoon over them and no one handed them a check. The car is wrecked, the instructor is dead. Didn't quite turn out to be glorious, did it?
I remember back in my BMW M3 on my first track days in 1996. I liked it fast and loose, with minimum structure and supervision. "Just let me do my own thing" and go as fast as i could was what I wanted out of track days. I was pretty good at it, and never had a spin or an off-track, and pretty quickly I was asked to Instruct, which I took to like a duck to water. And in my early days of doing it I instructed fast and loose, too. But time and experience have a way of changing the way you think and act, and after seeing crashes, roll-overs, people going to the hospital I became that instructor I used to loathe, the guy that wants to teach the student car control at a measured pace, very safely, and a good day at the track was when no one tore up their car or themselves. I guess that's called wisdom, but maybe its just getting older. I get in car now with a young hot shot who thinks he's running a sprint race and I shut that down pretty quickly, because I know we are in a street car with no cage, no harnesses and no race shell seat - and any crashes above 45 mph are going to be ugly.
Here's a photo of the car in which the Instructor was killed, a 2006 Pontiac GTO. As you can see, it embedded into the trees at speed on the instructor side of the car. I had a similar incident at Summit Point in 2002 and we crashed the same way, into the tree line on my side of the car and my ribs were fractured on my right side, but we hit the tree line at a much slower speed, probably at 20 mph after sliding sideways in the mud- this looks like a hit at 45 to 50 mph.
http://www.your4state.com/media/lib/...7/Original.jpg
I personally am hanging up my instructing gig, retiring after 18 years of it. This past weekend's incident a reminder of how dangerous it can be.
#9
06-10-2014, 06:08 AM
Sad
Dr, you are right on the trees and tracks, they don't mix. Absolutely stupid of track management to have those there. And not picking on the GTO crowd, but i have seen 3 local accidents at local "car" events like C&C with GTOs. They have a ton of power, very little traction control and zero downforce. At a very low price to purchase and high horsepower you tend to get very inexperienced drivers (overgeneralizing i know, but I see it all the time. its the number one car that revs its motor next to me at stop lights behind Camaros) who then over do it in the car. IMO a GTO is a drag type car, not a track car. Cant believe they would let a non-track prepped car with that HP hit a track at speed. So Sad for the family of the instructor.
Further looking into this incident, it was part of a NASA 'Hyper-Fest' event which is much less than a traditional DE Day and more like a "Fast and Furious" kind of event. One look at their event page will tell you that.
http://hyper-fest.com/
And this instructor was killed in the 'hyper-drive' event, where their web site page says "Your dream is to be a race driver. You want the cars, the money, the hotties, and all that comes with a racer\’s life. But usually the expense of getting into racing is extreme. Well, Hyper Fest and NASA have made it easy and inexpensive for you to get involved and get a taste of the excitement."
http://hyper-fest.com/hyperdrives/
The presentation/marketing of this event is kind of a 'let-it-all-hang-out, lets have a You Tube moment' kind of thing, rather than a more controlled environment on more responsible DE events that most of us are used to. The Hyper-Drive was just a single pay-as-you-go 15 to 20 minute 'play racer car driver' session where some amp-ed up kid in a hot car is doing hot laps, it doesn't take much imagination to expect this kind of format to become deadly and that is what happened. No hotties came out to swoon over them and no one handed them a check. The car is wrecked, the instructor is dead. Didn't quite turn out to be glorious, did it?
I remember back in my BMW M3 on my first track days in 1996. I liked it fast and loose, with minimum structure and supervision. "Just let me do my own thing" and go as fast as i could was what I wanted out of track days. I was pretty good at it, and never had a spin or an off-track, and pretty quickly I was asked to Instruct, which I took to like a duck to water. And in my early days of doing it I instructed fast and loose, too. But time and experience have a way of changing the way you think and act, and after seeing crashes, roll-overs, people going to the hospital I became that instructor I used to loathe, the guy that wants to teach the student car control at a measured pace, very safely, and a good day at the track was when no one tore up their car or themselves. I guess that's called wisdom, but maybe its just getting older. I get in car now with a young hot shot who thinks he's running a sprint race and I shut that down pretty quickly, because I know we are in a street car with no cage, no harnesses and no race shell seat - and any crashes above 45 mph are going to be ugly.
Here's a photo of the car in which the Instructor was killed, a 2006 Pontiac GTO. As you can see, it embedded into the trees at speed on the instructor side of the car. I had a similar incident at Summit Point in 2002 and we crashed the same way, into the tree line on my side of the car and my ribs were fractured on my right side, but we hit the tree line at a much slower speed, probably at 20 mph after sliding sideways in the mud- this looks like a hit at 45 to 50 mph.
http://www.your4state.com/media/lib/...7/Original.jpg
I personally am hanging up my instructing gig, retiring after 18 years of it. This past weekend's incident a reminder of how dangerous it can be.
http://hyper-fest.com/
And this instructor was killed in the 'hyper-drive' event, where their web site page says "Your dream is to be a race driver. You want the cars, the money, the hotties, and all that comes with a racer\’s life. But usually the expense of getting into racing is extreme. Well, Hyper Fest and NASA have made it easy and inexpensive for you to get involved and get a taste of the excitement."
http://hyper-fest.com/hyperdrives/
The presentation/marketing of this event is kind of a 'let-it-all-hang-out, lets have a You Tube moment' kind of thing, rather than a more controlled environment on more responsible DE events that most of us are used to. The Hyper-Drive was just a single pay-as-you-go 15 to 20 minute 'play racer car driver' session where some amp-ed up kid in a hot car is doing hot laps, it doesn't take much imagination to expect this kind of format to become deadly and that is what happened. No hotties came out to swoon over them and no one handed them a check. The car is wrecked, the instructor is dead. Didn't quite turn out to be glorious, did it?
I remember back in my BMW M3 on my first track days in 1996. I liked it fast and loose, with minimum structure and supervision. "Just let me do my own thing" and go as fast as i could was what I wanted out of track days. I was pretty good at it, and never had a spin or an off-track, and pretty quickly I was asked to Instruct, which I took to like a duck to water. And in my early days of doing it I instructed fast and loose, too. But time and experience have a way of changing the way you think and act, and after seeing crashes, roll-overs, people going to the hospital I became that instructor I used to loathe, the guy that wants to teach the student car control at a measured pace, very safely, and a good day at the track was when no one tore up their car or themselves. I guess that's called wisdom, but maybe its just getting older. I get in car now with a young hot shot who thinks he's running a sprint race and I shut that down pretty quickly, because I know we are in a street car with no cage, no harnesses and no race shell seat - and any crashes above 45 mph are going to be ugly.
Here's a photo of the car in which the Instructor was killed, a 2006 Pontiac GTO. As you can see, it embedded into the trees at speed on the instructor side of the car. I had a similar incident at Summit Point in 2002 and we crashed the same way, into the tree line on my side of the car and my ribs were fractured on my right side, but we hit the tree line at a much slower speed, probably at 20 mph after sliding sideways in the mud- this looks like a hit at 45 to 50 mph.
http://www.your4state.com/media/lib/...7/Original.jpg
I personally am hanging up my instructing gig, retiring after 18 years of it. This past weekend's incident a reminder of how dangerous it can be.
#10
06-10-2014, 08:20 AM
Further looking into this incident, it was part of a NASA 'Hyper-Fest' event which is much less than a traditional DE Day and more like a "Fast and Furious" kind of event. One look at their event page will tell you that.
http://hyper-fest.com/
And this instructor was killed in the 'hyper-drive' event, where their web site page says "Your dream is to be a race driver. You want the cars, the money, the hotties, and all that comes with a racer\’s life. But usually the expense of getting into racing is extreme. Well, Hyper Fest and NASA have made it easy and inexpensive for you to get involved and get a taste of the excitement."
http://hyper-fest.com/hyperdrives/
The presentation/marketing of this event is kind of a 'let-it-all-hang-out, lets have a You Tube moment' kind of thing, rather than a more controlled environment on more responsible DE events that most of us are used to. The Hyper-Drive was just a single pay-as-you-go 15 to 20 minute 'play racer car driver' session where some amp-ed up kid in a hot car is doing hot laps, it doesn't take much imagination to expect this kind of format to become deadly and that is what happened. No hotties came out to swoon over them and no one handed them a check. The car is wrecked, the instructor is dead. Didn't quite turn out to be glorious, did it?
http://hyper-fest.com/
And this instructor was killed in the 'hyper-drive' event, where their web site page says "Your dream is to be a race driver. You want the cars, the money, the hotties, and all that comes with a racer\’s life. But usually the expense of getting into racing is extreme. Well, Hyper Fest and NASA have made it easy and inexpensive for you to get involved and get a taste of the excitement."
http://hyper-fest.com/hyperdrives/
The presentation/marketing of this event is kind of a 'let-it-all-hang-out, lets have a You Tube moment' kind of thing, rather than a more controlled environment on more responsible DE events that most of us are used to. The Hyper-Drive was just a single pay-as-you-go 15 to 20 minute 'play racer car driver' session where some amp-ed up kid in a hot car is doing hot laps, it doesn't take much imagination to expect this kind of format to become deadly and that is what happened. No hotties came out to swoon over them and no one handed them a check. The car is wrecked, the instructor is dead. Didn't quite turn out to be glorious, did it?
I also can not understand how a levelheaded instructor could get involved in this.
This remains horribly sad for the victim and his family but sheds a different light on what happened. It will unfortunately reflect poorly on the entire DE community. Sorry if I sound harsh or judgmental, but this kind of hillbilly party, mixing racing, rollover contests, 'rally' rides, 'hyperdrive', camping, live music etc. is a recipe for disaster. It just makes me feel nauseous...
#11
06-10-2014, 08:28 AM
Here's the media release (2 sentences "for immediate release"... 2 days after the fact) posted by Nasa/Hyperfest. No comments needed. I think that the content and format speaks volume.
#12
06-10-2014, 08:53 AM
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Alexandria, VA
Posts: 1,172
Rep Power: 85
I see a forthcoming lawsuit on this one from the survivors of the Instructor's family. And they probably should, too. That whole "Hyperfest" thing - and the wording of it - denotes a lack of responsibility and safety.
Summit Point needs to get those damn trees cleared off the courses once and for all. Only a massive lawsuit is going to make that happen.
They just released the name of the Instructor who was the fatality - I didn't know him personally, but several of my pals that are area instructors did.
https://www.facebook.com/ken.novinger
Summit Point needs to get those damn trees cleared off the courses once and for all. Only a massive lawsuit is going to make that happen.
They just released the name of the Instructor who was the fatality - I didn't know him personally, but several of my pals that are area instructors did.
https://www.facebook.com/ken.novinger
Last edited by drcollie; 06-10-2014 at 10:47 AM.
#13
06-11-2014, 05:55 AM
Back in my instructing days, I saw an awful lot of accidents. One a day at Road America, nearly one a session at Road Atlanta (I was one of those 
) and at CMP or Roebling Road we'd often have one a weekend go turtle on us. And the one school that I did at Summit Point, there was an accident there where an instructor was injured.
This is a dangerous hobby, folks.
And I hate to heap further poop upon the pile, but my experience with NASA back in the day was very discouraging, to the point that I refused to do any more events with them.
My condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Novinger.
) and at CMP or Roebling Road we'd often have one a weekend go turtle on us. And the one school that I did at Summit Point, there was an accident there where an instructor was injured. This is a dangerous hobby, folks.
And I hate to heap further poop upon the pile, but my experience with NASA back in the day was very discouraging, to the point that I refused to do any more events with them.
My condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Novinger.
