Sad Day (1 Viewer)

[Don]

When an individual exhibits poor judgement to the extreme that was displayed on Saturday, sanctioning bodies and or track owners or their insurance companies, or somebody... anybody... ought to step in and prevent this individual from killing more people.

I seemed to recall when Clay did his burnout on the street in front of Graceland, not only was NHRA and other race media in attendance....so was the mainstream media...not to mention the fact that the local police had to block the street.

Did you complain then?

 

[Stroker]

God Bless the families of these young people who's lives were cut short

 

[megadeth]

This is from an Australian reporter after speaking to Troy's father I guess he is considering retirement.

Dragster wouldn't drink and race: father - Yahoo!7 News

 

[turbo ken]

With the so called dragracing fans here hanging Troy for what happend makes me sick, Troy needs our support as much as the vitims do, but the way some of you are talking about him (lifetime suspension, and other things), you are doing the same amount of damage to dragracing as the media seems to like to do, and you wonder why hardly no professional drivers come here to post, they could come here and say one thing about something and you would want to hang him or her too for what they said. The best thing to do is to support the victims families and everyone else that was involved in this accident.
I pray for the victims and their families, the carshow promoter who was trying to raise money for disabled kids, and to Troy and his crew for the strength to get through this difficult time, as should everyone else who is a member here.
BTW an accident is an unplanned event, as alot of you seem to not know what an accident is.

 

[Murph]

I don't see many posts wanting to hang Troy out to dry. There's a few questioning the wisdom of this type of exhibition and there's nothing wrong with that given the tragedy that unfolded. I think a huge majority here feel terrible for what Troy has to go through, myself included.

The guy takes time out of a busy schedule to help out a worthy cause. That was his intention and why he was there. I think we all lead busy lives and know how easy it would have been to say "can't do it, too busy". Critchley seems made of the stuff thats above that, for that I respect him and feel terrible for him as well.

 

[UK_Nitro]

Oh well shit happens, lets alll move on!

GROW UP! If you people want the reporting of drag racing/street racing reports in the media to stop, you have to have a drag racing only happens on a drag strip or airfield, somewhere controlled.

Fine, I really don't care if more people get killed by this sort of thing. But please don't blame the media for more BAD reporting of drag racing/street racing accidents on the street.

James,

Please refrain from typing on this site as like other members of our European drag racing community you are making us look like utter tools.

I cannot actually believe what you are typing on here? You don't care that people died? You don't care how the driver feels?

I think you should get back to your true love of bus spotting and leave us true fans to respect and remember the dead and pray and think of Troy on a daily basis as his journey is going to be a lot more difficult than you make out.

Now i personally think you should apologise to all our american friends here for your insensitive, rude, disrespectful and plain disgusting remarks towards this tragic incident.

Also, i don't think your really care about the NHRA i think your are more concerned how this is going to affect you!

See you at Santa Pod, unless your bus spotting again...

 

[UK_Nitro]

Another gem of wisdom James?

We're taught to keep our eye on the ball -- but I fear you have been hit by one too many pitches?

Aint that the truth Bobby!

 

["Dr. Dirt"]

Hey Doc,

Why are you so hell bent on getting this thread removed?

I guess I'm just trying to reduce speculation and use sensitivity in a very emotional situation. I picture Troy getting wind of some of these remarks and I shutter.

. . . you know, like forcing you to sit through an entire Van Halen tour with Sammy Hagar singing. Does that help?

 

[ProStockJunkie]

I'm sure that he and the crew have heard every single scenario and opinion of what happened. And, they are likely to continue to be faced with it.

This incident is likely to have an impact on drag racing and should be discussed in a reasonable manner, in my opinion.

 

[none]

it is a fact of life. Accidents happen. For those finger pointers calling for Critchley to be suspended think for a moment. Do you really think anyone who has been involved in such a tragic accident would be ready to just hop back in the saddle and continue racing? If it were you what would it take? six months? a year? two years? ten years? That may have been the last burnout he will ever do in a race car for a long time to come. How many years did it take the late Clayton Harris to come back to racing after his tragic clutch explosion which killed spectators? we learn from tragedy. If we want to point fingers we could ask, who was ultimately responsible for crowd control? Certainly not Troy. Who failed to set up concrete jersey barriers which can be rented from road construction firms? It was not Troys crew. Troy did nothing more than perform a procedure that had been performed in the past for decades by other professionals. Only This one time a worst case scenario reared its ugly head. Doing a burnout on a city highway introduces a bunch of variables not seen on your usual VHT treated rubber coated racetrack that has been ground billiard table smooth. How can you even tell how fast you are going when there is no tug on the motor and initially your lane it three times wider than your average lane on a drag strip? I am not suggesting he should not accept responsibility. But now is the time for prayer and to learn what can be done to reduce the chances of this ever happening again. Those in charge of safety I think were overwhelmed and unprepared for the power and potential danger these type of cars posses. Rather than b**ch about media coverage and point fingers, instead As a representative of a typical drag racing fan why not donate to a recovery fund?

Couldn't have said it any better. I agree wholeheartedly, Al...

 

[turbo ken]

Reasonable discussion, and nitromater is an oxymoron in terms.

 

[PJ]

I've seen people post about wanting to know of ways to help. After contacting officials is Selmer, this is what I was told.

HOME BANKING COMPANY

795 Poplar Avenue, PO Box 247

Selmer, Tennessee 38375

(731) 645-6166

“CARS FOR KIDS VICTIMS FUND”

A 501©3 Tax Exempt…

 

[mike]

James,

Please refrain from typing on this site as like other members of our European drag racing community you are making us look like utter tools.

I cannot actually believe what you are typing on here? You don't care that people died? You don't care how the driver feels?

I think you should get back to your true love of bus spotting and leave us true fans to respect and remember the dead and pray and think of Troy on a daily basis as his journey is going to be a lot more difficult than you make out.

Now i personally think you should apologise to all our american friends here for your insensitive, rude, disrespectful and plain disgusting remarks towards this tragic incident.

Also, i don't think your really care about the NHRA i think your are more concerned how this is going to affect you!

See you at Santa Pod, unless your bus spotting again...

Dan,

Well said buddy. James I'd like to know what ticks in your head man for real!!

Hope you're doing well Dan. Is there sunshine back in England? It's boiling here, I'm not down with it.

Take care,

Mike

 

[Speedy_Sticks]

Well I said I would appologies if needs be, so here it is!

I am incredibliy sorry for the lack of judgement on my part about saying I don't care. That was meant to be a sarcastic answer. I am sorry if nobody got the purpose of what I was trying to say.

Hell, I get beaten up on here for caring to much about lives of others, now I am getting beaten up for the opposite! As the Yanks say, - Go Figure!

But that comment about not caring was a sarcastic answer.

I just don't know what you folks expect me to feel.

I am disabled by the way.

I am one of the most caring people out there. (I work at ASDA Crawley as a Greeter if anybody wants to blast me!)

I just sometimes wonder if people on here really do care.

 

[sharkman]

Yes, tracks are dangerous places. And we take every reasonable precaution for our safety.

When an individual exhibits poor judgement to the extreme that was displayed on Saturday, sanctioning bodies and or track owners or their insurance companies, or somebody... anybody... ought to step in and prevent this individual from killing more people.

get a grip dumbass you are a complete idiot for even posting this garbage, I have been quiet untill now, this is sad and we all are heartbroken, Troy is a great human being, pray for Him and the Families involved and crawl back under your rock.

 

[twok4hd]

(I work at ASDA Crawley as a Greeter if anybody wants to blast me!)

Is that your countries version of a Walmart?

 

[Speedy_Sticks]

Yes, sad but true!

Unlike the US greeters, we have more of a stiff-upper-lip in pomoting our products, I like them to tell me what they are after, rather them being told what they should have!

 

[MoparBilly]

On Thursday, the 14th of June, I took my truck, trailer, and racecar to work with me, because I was leaving for the Denver Divisional from work at noon.
My Boss is a younger guy who is in love with my car, and he started on me early in the day to unload it and let them wash it in our wash bay. I relented, and as I prepared to load it on lunch break, all the mechanics gathered around chanting "Burn out!!" I relented, doing a nice, smoky 2 gear burnout, for 20 feet of washbay and a good half of the 55 foot concrete pad in front. Then loaded up to the cheers of my co-workers and headed to Denver! My boss slapped me on the back, "That's cool, we'll remember this for the rest of our lives."

I returned on Monday to this...and suddenly what seemed like a perfectly sane act of showmanship and team building, now seems foolhardy, risky, and negligent! I can't even imagine the consequences of hurting one of my co-workers, let alone maiming and killing innocent by-standers.

I feel absolutely horrible for Troy, but in the end, he is reponsible for the tragedy...He was the one person most qualified to determine what the conditions warranted, the one with the most experience in handling a Pro-Mod Racecar, the one who decided how long and how hard to do the burnout, and ultimately, the one who lost control. Troy's own website described him as "A professional racer with over a 1000 exhibition burnouts to his credit". Such a statement certainly makes him more qualified to say what proper spectator containment is than a Promoter or small town Sheriff.

The title of Professional is a heavy burden, as a CDL Driver, I know that all to well..when I get behind the wheel of an 80'000 lb rig, I understand the potential for destruction in my charge, and I fully accept the responsibility I have to watch out for the amatuer drivers I share the road with everyday who have no Idea how much peril they face when they lane change 20 feet in front of a Semi running 65mph.
I'm not condemning Troy as a human being, or as a fellow drag racer, and it sickens me to see him demonized in the regular media, but there is no spin that can possibly be put on the deaths of 7 people, the racing community has to understand that.

 

[willy]

Excellent post, Billy.

 

[sharkman]

Three weeks ago Tammy and I were travelling down I-20 in the worst rain I have seen in years in East Texas, I was reduced to 35mph or slower to maintain control, SOME of the trucks were blowing by us at 65 like nothing was happening, then they started hydroplaning and three were jackknifed, one accross the median thru the cable barrier and into oncoming traffic, the highway was shut down and several lost thier lives, it was on the news in East Texas but otherwise not a blip on the radar screen of National events that day. These were "Professional Drivers" who used bad judgement, this is an unfortunate accident, I pray for the Families and for Troy, lets keep them in our hearts and think positive.