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The following post was made by Jake of Corvette Concepts on the C5NET. I was waiting for him to make the first post.
I was not hiding this but I felt it was up to him so it would not look like I was bashing him or his son.
Hi this is Jake from Corvette Concepts!
As some of you may remember, a couple of weeks ago I posted regarding Florida
Drag Racing. We did go to the Desoto Memorial Dragway in Bradenton on March
3rd. A turnout of around 35 to 40 cars promised to make for a great day. I
had barely arrived on the scene with my 99 FRC to do some testing and help a
few folks improve their drag skills. We had brought out Tom Fuerherm's
suddenly fast 200 Nassau Blue FRC. My son, Brian would be the driver of this
car. The week prior, Brian had driven the car to a 12.2 Quarter....it's a
head & cam car...like a said...pretty rapid. Cars began pulling out to the
launch pad almost immediately. I was giving last minute advice to Sara, Buzz
& Jackie Nielson's daughter prior to her going out to drive their 2000 Yellow
Roadster. Brain and Tom had gone out to test the Blue car against Tom's
Silver Z06 just moments earlier. I was interrupted by Kathy, Tom's
girlfriend, with the news that there had been an accident and she said it may
involve our cars. After a rocket ride through the pit area out to the return
apron, I arrived to see the blue car sitting on the track pointing in the
right direction, but totally askew on the suspension.....Brian had just
stepped from the cockpit. He appeared shaken, but not seriously injured.
Brian reported that as he was just going over the finish line, the front end
appeared to bobble and get lose...the motor then revved and the car went
sideways.........he crossed from the left over to the right side of the
track, trying to correct the direction to no avail....the car had become
airborne and little could be done to correct it. The car smacked the wall
with the rear quarter...proceeded to climb up onto the wall for a distance,
ripping the Corsa system off the car....along with scraping the rear
fasica....and destroying the driver's quarter panel...he then came off the
wall and the car went into another spin...this time hitting the front
driver's corner on the wall......the car came to rest as abruptly as it lost
contact with the earth.....witnesses say that the car was really up there and
feared it would flip over the wall.....Brian kept the car pointed the right
direction to the best of his abilities...when it did stop, he was still
driving....he had the clutch in and he had to shut the motor off....
How could this have happened? Tom had had someone install a front air
spoiler, along with a small rear spoiler which I'm sure played no part in
this mess. After installing the front spoiler, Tom proceeded to lower the
car...but just the rear end as he has a hump at the end of his driveway and
he feared he would destroy the spoiler if he scraped it. This gave the car
an elevated nose and a lowered rear. The day we were at the track was the
day prior to a major storm front coming through..... the winds had changed
and were coming head on at us...at about 40 MPH....that combined with a speed
of 110 to 120 MPH, you now have Nascar speeds...in excess of 150 MPH....the
extended front spoiler added more lift...the raised nose allowed for more air
to get under the car......a recipe for disaster.
I am reporting this information so that you all fully understand that the
cars we are driving are capable of very substantial speeds....speeds meant
for race tracks, not for the street....use caution when you get these things
rolling....things can happen. We routinely drive C5's in excess of 100 MPH,
weekly if not daily......Brian does a great deal of the testing....he's an
experienced driver....he can take just about anyone's car and beat the
owner's quarter mile time with their own car.....If you are modifying your
car, use caution when you alter the ride height....be sure to keep it on a
level plane.
As we prepare to rebuild Tom's car, I can only thank God I have Brian beside
me to assist in the work......things could be a lot worse.
Best Regards,
Jake-Corvette Concepts
PS By the way...the time the Brian turned in the blue car was the fastest
Corvette of the day with a 12.6 ............sideways through the finish line.
_________________
Tom
Quicksilver/Red Z06
Corsa Indy, B&M Ripper, Corvette Concepts Ram Air
2000 FRC Mongoose 400
2000 FRC Mongoose 460 (on the injured list)
www.c5frc.com
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I was not hiding this but I felt it was up to him so it would not look like I was bashing him or his son.
Hi this is Jake from Corvette Concepts!
As some of you may remember, a couple of weeks ago I posted regarding Florida
Drag Racing. We did go to the Desoto Memorial Dragway in Bradenton on March
3rd. A turnout of around 35 to 40 cars promised to make for a great day. I
had barely arrived on the scene with my 99 FRC to do some testing and help a
few folks improve their drag skills. We had brought out Tom Fuerherm's
suddenly fast 200 Nassau Blue FRC. My son, Brian would be the driver of this
car. The week prior, Brian had driven the car to a 12.2 Quarter....it's a
head & cam car...like a said...pretty rapid. Cars began pulling out to the
launch pad almost immediately. I was giving last minute advice to Sara, Buzz
& Jackie Nielson's daughter prior to her going out to drive their 2000 Yellow
Roadster. Brain and Tom had gone out to test the Blue car against Tom's
Silver Z06 just moments earlier. I was interrupted by Kathy, Tom's
girlfriend, with the news that there had been an accident and she said it may
involve our cars. After a rocket ride through the pit area out to the return
apron, I arrived to see the blue car sitting on the track pointing in the
right direction, but totally askew on the suspension.....Brian had just
stepped from the cockpit. He appeared shaken, but not seriously injured.
Brian reported that as he was just going over the finish line, the front end
appeared to bobble and get lose...the motor then revved and the car went
sideways.........he crossed from the left over to the right side of the
track, trying to correct the direction to no avail....the car had become
airborne and little could be done to correct it. The car smacked the wall
with the rear quarter...proceeded to climb up onto the wall for a distance,
ripping the Corsa system off the car....along with scraping the rear
fasica....and destroying the driver's quarter panel...he then came off the
wall and the car went into another spin...this time hitting the front
driver's corner on the wall......the car came to rest as abruptly as it lost
contact with the earth.....witnesses say that the car was really up there and
feared it would flip over the wall.....Brian kept the car pointed the right
direction to the best of his abilities...when it did stop, he was still
driving....he had the clutch in and he had to shut the motor off....
How could this have happened? Tom had had someone install a front air
spoiler, along with a small rear spoiler which I'm sure played no part in
this mess. After installing the front spoiler, Tom proceeded to lower the
car...but just the rear end as he has a hump at the end of his driveway and
he feared he would destroy the spoiler if he scraped it. This gave the car
an elevated nose and a lowered rear. The day we were at the track was the
day prior to a major storm front coming through..... the winds had changed
and were coming head on at us...at about 40 MPH....that combined with a speed
of 110 to 120 MPH, you now have Nascar speeds...in excess of 150 MPH....the
extended front spoiler added more lift...the raised nose allowed for more air
to get under the car......a recipe for disaster.
I am reporting this information so that you all fully understand that the
cars we are driving are capable of very substantial speeds....speeds meant
for race tracks, not for the street....use caution when you get these things
rolling....things can happen. We routinely drive C5's in excess of 100 MPH,
weekly if not daily......Brian does a great deal of the testing....he's an
experienced driver....he can take just about anyone's car and beat the
owner's quarter mile time with their own car.....If you are modifying your
car, use caution when you alter the ride height....be sure to keep it on a
level plane.
As we prepare to rebuild Tom's car, I can only thank God I have Brian beside
me to assist in the work......things could be a lot worse.
Best Regards,
Jake-Corvette Concepts
PS By the way...the time the Brian turned in the blue car was the fastest
Corvette of the day with a 12.6 ............sideways through the finish line.
_________________
Tom
Quicksilver/Red Z06
Corsa Indy, B&M Ripper, Corvette Concepts Ram Air
2000 FRC Mongoose 400
2000 FRC Mongoose 460 (on the injured list)
www.c5frc.com
