Rider Down!

[burns]

I have heard that a rider was at Jennings GP and went off the track and into the woods. This rider was in the wood for like 45mins dieing. He passed away today from what I was told. The conner worker did not see him go off the track. He was left in the wood for 1 1/2 sections. From what I have learned his friend went to check with the officals and the told him to go check around.
This is what I copied from another forum
Quote
I dont know how many of you have ever met Cavan Tubbs but if you have ever been blessed enough then you know how great of a guy he is. Cavan being one of the greatest guys and best friends friends that I have ever known has touched many peoples lives and made positive changes in not only my life but everyone that he has be-friended.

This weekend at Jennings Gp Tubbs went down and has sustained some very serious injuries. I am asking that all of you send prayers and best wishes to tubbs and his family and friends.

Tubbs, recently married to Lauren Henderson, some of you might know her as the voice behind the national anthem at some of the WERA races during the 2004 season. He is Navy officer and left us for a short time to follow his career in California. Just recently he and Lauren moved back to Jacksonville Florida and Married.

I recieved a phone call today that made my stomach drop. So far what I know after speaking to Lauren is that he is in critical condition with a fractured neck, broken back and severe head trauma. He was taken to radiology a couple of hours ago due to some internal bleeding that they could not pin point. Tubbs is currently in a coma and fighting to stay with us in Gainesville.

I will be setting up a paypal donations account to help with his medical bills and such. I have seen the magic of prayer several times from the WERA family and I know with all of your support and prayers and his stubborness, he will pull through!

PLEASE PRAY FOR HIM AND HIS FAMILY.


__________________

[Mike]

fuuuuuck... that's terrible... 45 minutes...


http://www.jenningsgp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5915

[CT954RIDER]

He was pitted next to me . He went off in the woods durring the Expert session. His friend told the staff that he had not returned after the session and staff told him to go and look around the paddock. They then sent out the intermediate riders and completed a full session. Still no word from Cavan. Finally after the friend reported to the staff the he was not in the paddock and did not come in after the intermediate session . the Novice session had already begun. Then After about 4 laps in the novice session the red flag was throwne. cornerworkers began combing the track and found some down trees at the exit of turn 5. they searched the path through the woods and found him and his bike. he was then taken from turn 5 to turn 11 where the hellicopter could land and take him to gainsville. He was riding a older f3.

[jason 41]

I was there, It was kinda hard to go out on the track after that, I love the jennings staff, there like our little track family, BUT somebody droped the ball on that one.

[mandingo]

It was an accident, no one dropped the ball. It's a race track and you always have to expect the unexpected. Many of people have died on race tracks, it's a chance you take. Just say a prayer for the family. Let's not start pointing fingers just yet. Iknow just about every staff member at JGP and i assure you they are not feeling too good right now. Imagine being the guy/girl in the corner that it happened and not seeing until it was too late. ponder that.

[CT954RIDER]

truely a sad day

[mccutch2u]

not to criticize the staff down there but people go to the track because it is suppose to be a safer place to ride in all honesty you should never miss a rider going off the track even if it means that you have more corner workers which from what i understand they did put more people out after that.................also when i was there last time a guy in front of me hit the apex marker and it landed in the middle of the track i then pulled in to let the guy know and three laps later it was still in the middle of the track then later on the same thing happend but this time it was a part of someones bike ..................if someone tells you there is something in the track then if you have to stop the session to get then so be it ..............i understand that it may upset someone that the session was interuppted but if that is what it takes then so be it.............and i do believe that they try there ass off to keep it safe out there i also think that there should be 2 people in each corner station at all times so that someone can be looking in both directions

[mandingo]

As far as stuff on the track, that's what the debris flag is for. A corner worker will not go on the track while the session is going and they will not stop the session unless they feel it's too dangerous, they will just use the debris flag. As far as two people in the corner, well that would be nice but may also be difficult because then they start to entertain each other talking and don't pay attention anyways. So as you can see it's a touchy subject, unfortunitely. We can "what if" all day but riding on the track is just dangerous. Also, this guy was an accomplished racer and to go off the track there is wierd and there is plenty of run off room. myself and matt have both gone off there, Matt went off there at over 90mph! I think he may have had some sort of mechanical failure.

[Mike]

It wouldn't be hard or expensive to set up a system to guard the perimeter of the track. I know it may sound funny at first, but similar methods used by the military to warn of a perimeter breach (trip wires, sensors, etc) could be used to warn of somone going off the track, and especially reaching the woodline.

Possible ideas, some of which could be combined for redundancy:

- run bright, high-visibility tape (a-la "police line do not cross") along the woodline at all the short run-off locations; broken tape = rider went off

- run lengths of thin electrical wire or wire or string, under low tension (physically), to either trip a sensor at the closest corner worker's location, or send up a flare, or set off one of those portable air horns, etc, along the same critical locations

- do the same as above, but also using an intermediate tape/wire barrier strung up between stakes close to the track, in between the pavement and the woodline, so as to provide a primary warning layer

This might even help warn of wild game (deer etc) wandering onto the track

[SUM650]

I agree with both of you Chris and Mike. I like the staff at Jennings just as much as the next guy, however there was some neglect on someone's part. Maybe it's not the corner workers fault, but someone has to take some blame here. If the story happened the way I read it, then to me the track definitely dropped the ball here several times. I'm sure that Jennings will analyze what went wrong and how. Like Mike said, hopefully they will either have more corner workers, a better alert system or even a physical warning system in place. This shouldn't have happened and hopefully Jennings will make sure that it doesn't again. Now having said that, I know that the Jennings staff has every rider’s safety at mind. They have saved countless lives by being well alert and well trained.