Kenny Brack- one of our own

[BobbyB]

Sadly, I heard the news of former CART driver Kenny Brack's crash today at the Texas Motor Speedway during an IRL race. I know this is a CART forum, but I think his time spent in CART justifies posting this about the incident:

Partial quote from the IRL website:

Scheduled for 200 laps, the race ended five laps early after Kenny Brack, in the No. 15 Pioneer/Miller Lite/Dallara/Firestone, and Tomas Scheckter, in the Target Chip Ganassi Racing Panoz G Force/Toyota/Firestone, made contact on the backstretch on lap 188.

Brack’s car became airborne and flipped violently in Turn 3. Brack was awake and alert when he was airlifted to Dallas Parkland Hospital.

Brack is in serious and stable condition at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, said Dr. Henry Bock, director of medical services for the Indy Racing League.

Brack suffered a fractured right femur, a fractured sternum and lumbar and fractures to both ankles in the accident.

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Best of luck to you Kenny

[Dov]

Let's all pray that Kenny will get well soon!

[brightline]

Best of luck Kenny, I hope his recovery is speedy. When Kenny recovers hopefully he and Rahal's IRL team will come back to CART. I hate to see nasty crashes like that, he is lucky to be alive. Once again I wish Kenny the most speedy of recoveries.

[Andrew Kitson]

Wishing you all the best Kenny for a speedy recovery.

[oily oaf]

I saw the wreck on TV and it was the worst I can remember seeing, how Kenny made it out of there I,ll never know.
Its incidents like this one that should make the motor racing community draw close and forget the petty squabbles that have blighted the past and realise what is at stake when these fellas climb into a race car whatever series they drive in.
Get well soon Kenny

[KC]

I think most of us agree that TExas Moptor Speedway is too fast with too much banking for any open wheel cars. That place is a driver death waiting to happen. This is nto a rant against the IRL either, that place is too dangerous for open wheel racers.

[3state]

I just witnessed the accident. I'm speechless - it's right up there with Mario Andretti's crash at Indianapolis. Let's hope Kenny recovers soon.

[Jordi]

I have not seen the accident, but from what I've heard it must have been massive, so it's a testament of current safety in open-wheel racing.

Get Well Soon Kenny!

[Dov]

Originally posted by KC
I think most of us agree that TExas Moptor Speedway is too fast with too much banking for any open wheel cars. That place is a driver death waiting to happen.

Can the same thing be said about LVMS?

[racerkeke]

Hey, KC, do you think the IRL speeds are finally up that little bit extra so they're into CART "blackout" territory at Texas? As I recall, 10-15 mph slower there was okay.


keke

[Flatspot]

A horrific crash. My best wishes go out to Kenny, his team, and family. The upside is that it appears he will make a full recovery. Kenny Brack . com - Statement

[GP Racer]

Originally posted by oily oaf
I saw the wreck on TV and it was the worst I can remember seeing, how Kenny made it out of there I,ll never know.
Its incidents like this one that should make the motor racing community draw close and forget the petty squabbles that have blighted the past and realise what is at stake when these fellas climb into a race car whatever series they drive in.
Get well soon Kenny

Well said oily!

The worst crash I ever saw, it left everyone speechless, including the announcers.

[gttouring]

i saw it too and holy mother was that terrible, I thought Mario's was bad at Indy during practice, this was horrendous. If he was awake, then i think kenny will pull through. all the best Kenny.
I noted before that while the driver is doing well (i.e. alert) should the race be stopped? it was redflagged with 5 laps to go, probably nothing would have changed, but Gil wins (congrats) and he retires that day so convenient and Toyota wins the championship and the Indy 500? all too easy and convenient i thought. well that observation opinion over.
Best to kenny, hope rehab goes well because your still with us mate

[KC]

No, The IRL cars are not running over 230 mph there. In comparison, the speeds attained at Texas Motor Speedway for the CART cars and the IRL cars are almost identical as the speeds they each run at California Speedway.

California Speedway is a 2 mile D-shaped oval. It has 14 degrees of banking in turns 1 & 2 and 3 & 4. The front stretch is 3100 feet long with 11 degrees of banking and the back straight is 2500 feet long with 3 degrees of banking.

Texas Motor Speedway is a 1.5 mile D-shaped oval. It has 24 degrees of banking in the turns and 5 degrees of banking on the straights. The front straight is 2250 feet long and the back straight is 1330 feet long.

The dangerous part comes from the fact that the extra ten degrees of banking allows open wheel cars to run flat out around the circuit. If you take a 1/2 mile out of the track and keep 3580 feet of straight the corners are very tight, but the banking does not force a driver to slow down to negotiate the corner. So, if there is contact or the car loses traction it happens suddenly and the driver immediately hits the wall at close to perpendicular angles and with immense force.

With much wider corners at Fontana the driver has more time to scrub off speed and maybe even change the angle of impact with the outside wall and reduce the force of the crash.

Texas Motor Speedway was designed with NASCAR stock cars in mind travelling at less than 200 mph and the fact that their weight slows them down in the turns. The open wheel cars are much faster than a stock car and their margin of safety gets geometrically smaller as the speed goes up.

I had a chance to go to Texas when the CART cars were going to race there. A friend of mine has PSL's and offered me the tickets at the discount rate, I passed on them because I didn't want to see one of the CART drivers go out of the park. That is what is going to happen there eventually if the open wheel cars keep racing on that stock car bullring.

[gaines]

This is why I have such a tough time excepting an all oval open wheel series. It's just too dangerous. Props to the IRL, like them or not, for the safety of their designs and the quickness of their medical staff. Those IRL cars are amazingly able to take unbelievable jolts and keep the driver alive. The only question is what happens if Kenny's shell flips end over end instead of on it's side? I think only God spared Kenny.
Over the years I've just excepted the fact that the IRL and CART are going to be two entirely different series that never work together again. That being said I've learned to except the IRL's style of oval racing and tried to enjoy it for what it is instead of being so negative all the time but in the back of my mind the speeds on these high banked tracks built for NASCAR are just too scary. These guys are my high speed heroes, I don't want to see them buried before their time. Death happens in racing but these high banked ovals seem to be too much of an invite to disaster in my opinion.

[dirtfan]

gt... how come guys like you always see a conspiracy? They stopped the race because the crash took out the catch fence, leaving the track unsafe.
Hitting thr fence instead of the wall probably saved his life.
Looks like his head hit the ground. I think CART and IRL should mandate a more NHRA-like roll cage, looking at some of the top fuel crashes, these appear to protect the driver better.

[gttouring]

No Dirtfan- I am not 'one of those guys' into conspiracy. Time and Time again IRL pulls some wierd **** is all, like a debris yellow for as Paul pAge said 'metal on the track'
Metal? from where? I like how NASCAR at least shows the offending piece of debris, which i admit IRL has done in the past but this title deciding race had the first yellow go at the onset of pit window #1, and then red flag the race as you said the track was unsafe, so I stand corrected on the red flag. It is better to take the time to save the driver and call the race as it stood, then risk more mayhem and injury. That said, I am an IRL fan and a Champcar fan, but i also am very sceptical of the motivations and Methods of any organizing body which seems to have the Chips fall in the right place...(no pun intended)
I think texas is one of the best places to race at, although a new crash structure may be better for the cars, dare i say IRL should go tube frame, and monocoque?
Of course Top Fuel crash have a direction and less yaw involved in the wrecks, as IRL and CART on ovals have 2 vectors i expect a spinning motion on all but the front straight, and the crashes will be more violent as it has somenay other forces acting n Car movement.
I think IRL should go the Silver crown way, with Front engines to make a more direct USAC link, but that is just me. Like Supermodifieds. but as i said Dirtfan- I stand corrected in my redflag conspiracy threory as it is clear, continuing would be unsafe at that race.

[macdaddy]

I appreciate the discussion going on, but the thread here is really about Brack and his injuries. So let's try to not stray too far off-topic here, keeping in mind the current "hot-topic" which asks that all discussions remain in their relevant forum.

[Jordi]

So, after all, Bräck is left with a fracture at the C4 spinal vertebra, sternum, right femur and both ankles broken. Hopefully Kenny will make a full recovery though I'm sure it's too early to tell.

Having seen the crash, it's lucky that the cars speared towards the outside instead of the inside wall. As far as I know, there is no retaining fence on the inside, just the light posts for night racing. I don't want to think what would have happened with a 220 mph missile flying towards the infield.

[gttouring]

I hope brack has feeling in his legs, this is awful, a C4 break is bad. i know the Hans devicee helped some but don't drivers wear collars any more? I always do, and frankly i don't see why you wouldn't, i am sure they can fit it around the hans device. from what I have seen only endurance racers have real padded seats, why not in Indy?

[camcartfan]

It actually reminded me of the Jeff Krosnoff crash. Luckily, Kenny did not suffer the same fate. Get well soon!

[johanv]

He has feeling in his legs and arms, thats what ive read atleast.