[fairlane_68]

This is a crash involving a T2 350Z at Mid-Ohio this past weekend. He had some kind of brake failure, but managed to slow from about 135 to around 95 before he went off the track. What's amazing is that he walked away. I don't know Jeff, but I know a couple of guys who race with him.

Picasa Web Albums - Jeff - Mid-Ohio Sept...

[buddyantunez1]

that looked pretty intense. the front and rear are bashed in pretty good but the driver compartment isnt that bad. +1 for roll cages and proper protection.

[fairlane_68]

Here's some of Jeff's post crash analysis:

Yes, i had a hans on. That's what probably gave me the bruise on my forehead. Hans stopped my helmet but my head smashed into the inside of my helmet. I had a racetech seat with wings and head bolsters. Did not have a net on the right. Had a 5 point harness (2 groin belts combine into one buckle). Car never really had a hard impact. Just kept on doing cartwheels over a long distance dissipating the energy. Looking at the in car video looks like instinct took over and i tried turning at the end of the straight so i started flipping almost before i left the concrete. Should of gone off straight into china beach and hopefully had the gravel slow me down b/f hitting tire wall. Thing that bothers me the most is not knowing what happened to the brakes. Childs is conducting a csi investigation. My data showed a 1.2 G slowdown at the 400 mark just like always but only for a split second. Pedal felt good. Then my G's gradually dropped to 0. I remember lifting and pushing in the pedal again and the data showed my G's came back up to .7 then quickly dropped back down to 0 before i turned the car and flipped. I don't ever remember the pedal just hitting the floor. Brake fluid reservoir was still filled after the crash. Looking at the in car video, the car really shimmied at initial braking, almost looking like the rear brakes were working but not the front. Only evidence we have so far is on the front left wheel, the rotor had a weird discoloration and was completely scoured and gouged as if the caliper was stuck. I don't see how this happend though b/f the crash though b/c the car was pretty dead on straight, not drifting to the left as you would expect so maybe it somehow got scoured after the crash. Car does have ABS but I don't think it ever activated. Braking was totally fine going down the keyhole just prior.

Two things that come in handy...in-car cameras, and telemetry/datalogger. Doesn't do much good to prevent a crash, but it helps to figure out what went wrong. So far, it's been the biggest crash at Mid-O for club/amatuer racing. If you're gonna race, safety gear should be at the top of the list, and spare no expense. I've reconsidered quite a bit after seeing that. Things like, I'll be building my own roll cage instead of buying a "kit." And I'll be using a HANS also, something I hadn't previously considered.

[Breakout]

well that breaks my heart

[03_StangGuy]

ouch!