Me = 0 / vir tire wall = 1
 

So, according to eyewitnesses, I started losing a little oil about ½ way down the front stretch at VIR. Then at about 120mph, and 20 yards before the braking zone, something gave way. I am assuming it was either a fitting or a hose rupturing on my oil cooler, we will have to figure that out once I get it taken apart. Overall though, the damage looks fairly light, and I’m very lucky I hit on the front quarter rather than a rear one.

When I hit the brakes to slow, the car immediately went into an instant spin from the oil on the back tires and I slid about 150 yards into the tire wall. I think I was probably going about 10mph when I hit.

Fortunately, no damage to the headlight. Need a new bumper and fender, and I think the door and hood dents can be repaired and then all 4 things repainted.

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/820/crash4.jpg

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/167/crash3.jpg

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/8746/crash2ty.jpg

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/4875/crash1z.jpg

i think i wanna cry....

For 100mph that does not look that bad, glad to hear you are fine.

So sorry to see those pictures. I guess going from 120 to 10 before the collision is really a good/lucky timing thing.

I'd like to see the verdict on the cause.

If you need a spare black hood I have one.


Take care

I'm very sorry about your crash, but at least you're okay and the damage is bad considering what it could have been.

I definitely would like to see what caused this though.

Sorry Mike.

Remind us what oil cooler you went with...kit or DIY?

NOT THE BEAST!! Glad ur alright boss, sure you did some serious driving to get urself to a speed that kept the damage and injuries minimal. She'll be fine, and you'll be back at it soon.

Wow, that sucks, Mike! You were very lucky, though... I can think of a few places at VIR where you would have hit at more than 10 mph if that happened!

It was a long scary spin. They always say both feet in and look where you want to go, so I looked at the farthest clear area I could see a d luckily got it to go there somehow, although I really was more of a passenger at that point.

It's the modshack diy cooler

Glad to hear you are ok! I hope your ride is fixed soon!

Hopethe new stillen bumper is out soon! Either that or maybe the nismo. Gotta make an opportunity out of it

As I can see , there has been 3 reported problems with oil cooler offered from company or DIY
if I'm right it was Travisjb who lost his engine then another guy couple weeks ago with a well known company who made the oil cooler kit , now Mike

I'm glad you came out OK and no injuries reported !

Mike, that sucks. But, I do think the score is VIR = 2, 370z drivers = 0. I'm glad you trailered it. This is another reason why I would caution others to track your DD. **** happens, and you need to be prepared to right the car off. Fortunately for you, it happened at a turn with lots of runoff, but there are many others there where that could have been very bad. I remember my first race there, 10 years ago, I spun at the last turn before the straight, and spun probably 100 yards off drivers left and never hit anything, but did get stuck in the mud, in my racecar. 5 laps later, another car spun off and hit me (100yds off track). **** happens.

Well, don't run at 10/10ths and buy track day insurance if you are going to run your DD! That's what I plan on doing.

sad to hear that man, seeing it on sunday was nice before the wall

Glad to see you are ok Mike! The car doesn't look too bad, all things considered

man that sucks.

Yep, I never run 10/10 but i do accept the risk and self insure. Very few organizations meet the requiremnts for track insurance, def wasn't available for today's event with forged. Fortunately for me it's not my only dd and is pretty much my dedicated track car. I bought this because I didn't want something to happen to the C6 on track with as much as I have in it. Now I have to run my corvette at barber in 2 weeks since it's too late for a refund. Glad I didn't sell those track wheels.

On another note, I just heard that after I left, an R34 had a much worse experience than me.

Your missing it. Don't need to run 10/10ths. **** happens at 7/10ths too.

Hope it wasn't from any oil you left behind.. ;)

Glad you're ok!

Not missing it. I meant not run at 10/10ths to prevent yourself from going in over your head and causing something.

Obviously you can't control the other variables, so that's where the insurance comes in!

Hey, now that it's not perfect anymore, time for full race car build?

That is so true. I was only on my 2nd lap after a short 15 min all hands lead-follow. I wasn't even going to start pushing it for one more lap.

Damn, not happy to see that Mike.. Luckily it doesn't look bad. Knock on wood I hope that doesnt happen to anyone else here.

It was. Oil let go, soaked the underside and rear tires right before I ht the brakes. Fronts caught, rears didn't, and it was over

Not quite enough for that, yet!!!

Comtemplating getting a full wrap instead of repaint though, especially if I can repair everything myself

Mike, have you ever been to a SCCA race? Noticed you had a few cars, I bet you would have some serious fun with a race car.

I was talking about the R34, if they didn't clean your oil up and he crashed because of that.

no totally different place.

Thanks for the thoughts guys!


speedworks, never have done a real race. I think I'm not quite at that level yet, but I was thinking about doing the bmw clubs race school at barber in april. Its only an extra 50 and I could learn something. Of course, everything is on hold at the moment.

Sorry to hear that Mike, glad to hear you're ok and that it wasn't worse..

I plan on pulling the bumper and fender tomorrow, fixing the mechanicals and then deciding a course of action.

Since I like to keep it nice looking I have a clear bra. Clear bra = 600
When I got the front end on my 350z repainted, with no body work, it was about 2000.
I have one less fender to paint.

A wrap is about 2000.

I might do all the body repairs myself, and then just get the whole car wrapped in flat black with some of my business logos on it. It might be the most economical way to go now, look the coolest, and pave the way for when it eventually becomes an all out track/race car.

Have to see what the paintless dent repair place, body shop and vinyl shops say, and then evaluate my options. First thing though is fixing the oil problem.

I looked into trackday insurance with one company. They quoted $1800/6mo and a $3000 deductible. Ha!

And I've been doing this for six years and this is my first Incident. 1800x2x6=21600.

Yeah, pricey. I did it for one weekend and my quote was 225ish with a 1500 deductible. Better than paying for the entire thing out of pocket.

$$ = nice race car

Damn Mike ... I am so sorry to hear that. I am assuming you will have everything up and running for Z Dayz right?

Ouch.....sorry to see Mike. Look forward to your report on the cause..

Who did you use? I couldn't find anyone who would just cover a day to two here or there.

Mike, you almost bought yourself another Z with the insurance alone!

10I got quotes from these guys HPDE Insurance Program and another company I can't quite remember. I haven't actually purchased a policy yet, just getting a feel for the cost.

Have to double check to see if that rate is on a per-day or per-event basis... I'll give them a call tomorrow.

There is a 5% deductible on every claim (minimum of $1500), so for all claims under $30k your deductible is $1500 and above that it's 5% of the claim.

Most definitely!

This won't stop me, only slow me down and make me better!!!!! I am really thinking the wrap will be the way to go, now I am thinking about designs.

Flat black with gloss black 'thepowdercoater.com' logos, probably.