Track Tac

AKRA Official Statement

IMHO this was just a terrible accident. Nothing more,I agree with a lot of the post about respect and Jr drivers. I see no need to go changing rules and costing the racer extra engine expense. I've seen cases where Jr drivers have jumped in the faces of grown men not realizing who their messing with until the helmet comes off. We all know the dangers of racing every time we put a helmet on. We can never eliminate all the dangers and I don't know anyone who wants to go slower, especially kids. Let keep praying for this young man. But I don't know of any rule change that could have prevented this accident.
 
I think just an unrestricted class for the 15-17 year olds would be a good thing, let them develop into the speed a little before jumping from 15 years old rite into the laps of the 20 year olds that have more experience. Maybe a good idea I suppose.
 
The clones can and do beat an animal! Watched it a bunch of times!!!
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Then why don't they let them run together? Just have a class 190 to 212 cc.

But that really isn't the point of the thread is it. Apparently the racing community (according to the author) believes the Junior was going too fast and got hurt in a wreck because of the speed. It is unclear if he was racing with an older group. There are a lot of questions unanswered.

Was the driver in an older age group?
Was the engine restricted or not?
Was there antagonistic driving behavior?
Was there retaliation that led to the crash?
Was it the drivers inabilities that led to the crash?
Was it really the speed that caused the crash and injuries?
Or was it just a racing incident that we all accept every time we strap on a helmet?

Maybe slowing down the motors wouldn't have stopped the crash in the first place.

DK
 
Don K said:
Then why don't they let them run together? Just have a class 190 to 212 cc.

But that really isn't the point of the thread is it. Apparently the racing community (according to the author) believes the Junior was going too fast and got hurt in a wreck because of the speed. It is unclear if he was racing with an older group. There are a lot of questions unanswered.

Was the driver in an older age group?
Was the engine restricted or not?
Was there antagonistic driving behavior?
Was there retaliation that led to the crash?
Was it the drivers inabilities that led to the crash?
Was it really the speed that caused the crash and injuries?
Or was it just a racing incident that we all accept every time we strap on a helmet?

Maybe slowing down the motors wouldn't have stopped the crash in the first place.

DK
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I have seen them run together with no plates in sr division and with plates in jr divisions. Jr divisions the plates were adjusted to equal out the hp difference.
 
Again, that has nothing to do with the original post.

Was it this one incident that prompted Bill McCutcheon's post or has this been building for a while? Are there others that feel like he does?

DK
 
Captain11 said:
That's good Cam but I have seen a lot of kids with no respect. They don't need to worry about feeding there family on Monday.
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That's true Cap. I've seen it for my self, some of these kids 15 and 16 running in adults class and don't even care one bit. I'm lucky with my son here in the south where people knows my son and has respect for him just as he has respect for them.

GKK bound this weekend for the Mid Atlantic Maxxis Race
 
"We will continue to monitor these concerns and implement appropriate regulations where and when needed. There are other areas beyond age and restrictor plates that need to be revisited, the number of classes in a given race day( kids don’t need to be racing at 3am), stricter control by race officials, better and more effective pre tech at events just to name a few. Below are two options that we would suggest utilizing in the interim to help insure the safety of your Junior/All drivers while we review any needed changes for the future.

Option One:
The Jr. 3 class should run the Purple Plate (the current Jr.2 plate). (.500”)
The Jr. 2 class should run the Green Plate (the current Jr. 1 plate). (.425”)
The Jr. 1 class should run the Red Plate. (.375”)

Option Two:
Implement gear rules in the classes to give additional control over the speed of the kart and driver."

As a parent, I see many kids in flat karts that are over confident and tend to be this way because their parent/ sibling/ friends are pushing them beyond their abilities at the time. To grow as a driver you must push yourself, but when others influence that in an accelerated fashion things can get out of control quickly for someone without many many years experience (not always a kid). As a parent we must take action in a positive way to look out for our's and other's children when they are racing. Many times this may mean going to race officials and suggesting that they not let someone run with a particular class if there seems to be concern. Other times this may mean that you load up and go home in one piece rather than take a chance putting your kid (or yourself) on the track with someone else that does not have a healthy respect for fellow racers. More often than not those kids that drive aggressively are the ones in the back seat of the family SUV seeing their parent brake check the car behind them for following closer than they want. I'll admit to throwing a finger up at someone from time to time, but putting my life or another ones life in danger on the highway or the track is not something I will ever do intentionally. My main point is that parents need to be more responsible when it comes to what class their child is running.
I have not seen a video or read an explanation of the events that lead to Ward's accident so please don't read this as an attack towards his parents at all. Implementing a gear rule for these classes seems to be a quick test to see if slowing the karts down for the young ones will help events like this from happening. Taking a look at safety equipment better, even at the local Saturday night races is something I would like to see more of in the karting world as well.
 
No matter how much safety precautions are taken there WILL ALWAYS be complex situations that presents itself with injury or death. We seem to forget that for the most part we as kart racers are a fairly safe sport. We all assume the possible risk everytime we enter a gate. Anything can go bad not matter the amount of safety precautions
 
Has anyone forgotten the Jr.Unrestricted days? Junior drivers, unrestricted @ 305lbs vs Stock lite @ 310lbs. Speeds were different back then but the wrecks werent. Bone head moves create big problems. Please don't take that to mean I think what happend to Mr.Ward was anyones fault, I wasn't there. But it's obvious the TOTAL lack of respect for other drivers is what causes a lot of issues. You can flip and get seriously hurt with or without plates. The "Sportsmanship" of racing is rare - Occasionaly you see adults and kids shake hands after a hard race..Anyhow, think between tracks providing plenty of run off room, corner workers who actually KNOW what to look for, race-ceivers being mandatory there can be some significant gains. But like others have said, racing is dangerous, wrecks are inevitable.
 
would it be too arrogant of me to point out the obvious? the size and shapes of the tracks. is it necessary to run on 1/5 - 1/4 mi tracks that are basically circles with no lifting. seems to me to be a recipe for disaster, especially in the junior classes, why cant there be more smaller tracks with tighter corners that maybe require some level of throttle and brake usage? there are TOO MANY kids racing karts these days that know one thing and one thing only, don't lift till you see the checker.

sincerely glad to hear that the young man hurt recently in Georgia is on the mend, I think I even read he got released from the hospital today, which is the best news anyone could have hoped for! : )
 
Yes age does tend to equal critical thinking . In most cases, having the adult classes limited to 18 and over may help with the 40 min heat race, with 22 cautions. Our country doesn't consider you an adult until your 18,so may be something to consider.
And YES the jr. class is running way to fast, at times at certain tracks we don't race because of the danger at these speeds.
 
I'll put in my two cents here. Accidents happen no matter what you do. If you decide you want to race anything that moves you take the risk of getting hurt or dying, you add in even one person racing with you those odds increase. This last season I seen a kid in a geared down flathead hit plow threw a tire barrier and smacked a tree. And she was all by herself on the track and wasn't even going 15 mph. It tossed her out of the kart. So if we're going to think choking down the motors or gearing them down will help that's funny. You want the drivers to stop running like idiots dont put money on the classes. My son races clone 330 and has respect for other drivers. And it's not the kids it's everyone that races for the most part. As soon as you put 500 to win on a race everyone drives like a moron breaking 1500 dollars worth of stuff for that $500. Good example go watch burris national race for the pro clone 330 and 375. It has nothing to do with younger drivers. There were drivers pushing others right off the track, dive bombing, abd punting with not a one caution or even a black flag. Everyone was watching the first three up front and not the bashing on the rest of the track. And for the guy that posted that they need to have a age limit on the adult class because some drivers decide to act like a child and start smacking or cussing other drivers instead of talking to them with respect. I don't care how old any driver is if you decide to act this way you deserve to at least get kicked off the track if not go to jail.
 
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I haven't seen any video or nor was I there, so I really don't know what happened. First off I hope and pray that the young man is ok. I would like to say a few year's ago I was helping at my local track by flagging corner #3. I'm here to tell you that some young drivers DO NOT know what a caution or red flag mean. They do not slow down or even pay attention to the flagman. I feel that young drivers getting started should have some sort of test requiring them to know the meaning of each flag, not just green. I see way too often the parent telling the kid to go at all cost don't lift, that's wrong.
Why are promoters putting money in the classes for jr's, which encourages this all out approach, when they should be developing their driving skill's, like looking more that the kart in front of them.
We had a local track many years ago that would open during the week, and have controlled practice. Maybe this is something that could happen all over. Take a young driver out and TEACH them.
The only other thing I don't understand is why are they Jr. pro classes?

Alan
 
The biggest problem i see with kids as well as adults is improper fitting safety equipment. I see way too many kids with helmets that dont fit. The helmets I see alot of kids wearing are way too big. Even though the helmet is in spec. It may not fit. With there being too many classes offered on race day and with racers attitudes of finishing the race day in a certain time or the track gets bashed on social media. The tracks dont have time to properly do saftey equipment checks.
 
Let's get a good pre tech on the karts and safety gear starting with the recon nerf bars they are not safe and are illegal per AKRA and WKA rule
 
billmcfast said:
From the Office of AKRA
2/25/2016​

This statement is in response to the most recent events and the heightened level of awareness for the need to implement more stringent safety measures. Because of a situation/accident that occurred this past weekend at a speedway dirt event in Georgia we are making the following statements. First and foremost we want to join with all racers in praying for a complete and speedy recovery for Andy Ward. We will certainly have the entire Ward family in our continued thoughts and prayers.

At this point it appears that the primary concern of the racers and the racing community is the need the slow our Junior drivers down, we at AKRA share in that concern. We have always supported our associated tracks in their efforts that pertain to safety issues at their facilities. With respect to the current class structures as to ages, weights, mandated small pipe with silencer, and size of required Restrictor plates for each applicable class we have always instructed our tracks to stand firm on these requirements. These requirements are the maximum requirements for each of these groups. We have never nor will we ever encourage our tracks to allow racers to move up to higher age bracket of competition as to their respective age group if they do not comply. However, we have always supported our tracks when they chose to impose more stringent restrictions on their racers if they felt the need to slow their racers down due to track conditions or track configuration. Again these class brackets are the minimum restrictions placed on each category. We have and will always encourage our tracks to impose additional restrictions on the racers when track conditions and track configurations mandate the need for the safety of their racers.

We will continue to monitor these concerns and implement appropriate regulations where and when needed. There are other areas beyond age and restrictor plates that need to be revisited, the number of classes in a given race day( kids don’t need to be racing at 3am), stricter control by race officials, better and more effective pre tech at events just to name a few. Below are two options that we would suggest utilizing in the interim to help insure the safety of your Junior/All drivers while we review any needed changes for the future.

Option One:
The Jr. 3 class should run the Purple Plate (the current Jr.2 plate). (.500”)
The Jr. 2 class should run the Green Plate (the current Jr. 1 plate). (.425”)
The Jr. 1 class should run the Red Plate. (.375”)

Option Two:
Implement gear rules in the classes to give additional control over the speed of the kart and driver.

Respectively,

Bill McCutcheon
AKRA, Inc
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No change to plates is needed IMHO
The most recent incident was more about improper safety equipment than anything else.
The exact same thing could occur in any plate or adult class.
We all understand the potential danger associated with this sport. We count on others to race with respect, b/c not to could endanger not only others, but themselves as well.

The track where the incident occurred just announced they are making NO changes to their plate classes.
 
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