Got into a wreck yesterday where I was sent through the barricades and my kart (didn’t flip) but it did do a sideways cartwheel before slamming into the dirt. The track workers said they thought for sure I was injuried, but I faired okay as it landed on its wheels. My kart on the other hand, well I still need to assess the damage there.
During yesterdays incident, he wrecked another guy, but after contact, he lost control, got sideways, came into me, just as another (unbeknowenced) racer hit the back end of me. Between the two I got “sent."
So here is the long and short of it. Being new to the sport, I’ve been involved in few racing wrecks but nothing malicious, just a handful of accidents that were incident. (Mistakes)
But the individual who wrecked me yesterday, happen to be the same guy who wrecked me a year ago during my first race. Both of these wrecks I’ve sustained more damage to my kart than anything else combined. After the first incident, I had alot of people come up and tell me that guy is known for being a “wrecking ball.” People have approached him int he past but his racing behavior doesn’t change from what I’ve been told; as I am not the only person who has been affected by this individuals behavior on track.
But then after yesterdays incident, I learned he has been wrecking into people almost everytime he races (that’s the rumor), I don’t frequent that track enough to know for sure.
My feeling is if this guy is this well known, but still allowed to race; would I be wasting my breath? So what would be the best course of action moving forward? (if any) Have you folks felt with something like this?
Sorry to hear of your unfortunate run-in with a hack!
I doubt a one-on-one conversation will help or change anything.
Personally, I would consult with the track authorities. If this is the driver’s MO then I would think they have an interest in taking action. If they do nothing it will likely drive people away. With a cool head have a conversation and if they don’t seem willing to address it then you have a choice, don’t race in this guys class or at this guys track.
We all accept a certain amount of risk in racing but a driver that purposely crashes others is uncalled for and should be addressed.
Sorry to hear, that sucks. Give him a stern talking to and point out that he’s building quite the reputation for himself and costing a lot of people money.
Is it ignorance and lack of skill or malicious? If it’s malicious, I’d try and throw the first blow next time you got to him on-track. If it’s ignorance and lack of skill, maybe he just needs to be pointed to the error of his ways and given a wide berth on-track.
Put in a call to the race director, told him I’d call him this week. From the rumor mill, this guy is pretty well known for this kind of behavior, but then he just says “I’m sorry” but unfortunately the beahvior continues. Track is under new Mgmt, so I’m going to give them a shot. Just wasn’t sure how to proceed.
Yeah, I don’t know guys, I disagree. Retaliation is never the answer. There’s rules in place to stop a lot of this from happening. Also, your local track should have a governing body that is in place to assist with these types of conflicts. You have stewards who issue the flags and penalties and an executive committee that should have some form of constitution to abide by for these kinds of matters.
My best suggestion is to have a talk wit the stewards and race organizers first, let them know about your concerns and that you’d ideally like to handle this without their involvement first. But if they know about the talk first then they can watch from afar and ensure that it goes smoothly… or they can suggest that they handle it for you… I’m sure that your body and kart are battered from this impact, repairs cost money and it was completely unnecessary, especially since it’s a local race and not nationals.
If your talk with the guy goes ugly or tempers flare, you’ll be thankful that you brought it to the stewards first. If this guy has such a history in being overly aggressive then it won’t be the first time the stewards are on to him. That kind of racing only makes their insurance payments go up and drives away new drivers. It’s in everybody’s best interest for clean racing to be the only kind of racing.
Again, don’t retaliate. If you find yourself in the same situation again with the same driver… either give him some more room or back off completely. Again, it’s club based racing, I’m sure a couple of season points aren’t worth all the frustration, repairs, or calling your day short. Switch to chasing tenths instead of the trophies.
Most of all, in every step of the process… keep your cool. The second you lose your cool, you lose your argument.
Drive around the clown. There’s a guy here on the SWS in Dubai notorious for just t-boning you outta the way. After he’d done it to me twice I got wise, now whenever I know he’s behind me I wait to turn in until he’s made his t bone move which always always sends him massively wide then I just scoot up the inside howling with an evil laugh
I agree. It just causes more problems. Retaliation leads to escalation and then every weekend turns into a stress-fest, with someone DNF.
At the end of the day we are here to play, not fight. If someone wants to be a bully just let them do their thing with someone else and eventually they will be racing alone.
Usually this kind of driving is due to a misperception of what racing is. I remember a lad in our rental series that was a huge nascar fan and really thought that dooring folks was normal and accepted. Meanwhile everyone was like “groan”.
I guess there will be some who are just plain miserable fucks who want to spread misery wherever they go, like the Peter Pan of cancer or something. Fortunately these psychopaths are a distinct minority.
@tjkoyen I think there’s a difference between what you did career wise and the folks like us (club). It seems like you pros expect the hammer from your fellow racer, if you get selfish. Not sure that’s the case with us club racers. I think mostly we are just looking for a finish. Would you advise a club guy to be retaliatory?
Now this is sooo much more gratifying than punting a fucker.
Somehow I got turned into some kind of vigilante crash monster in this thread.
As I said in my original post, talk to him first and figure out why the behavior is happening. Is he just out-of-control from lack of skill? Or is he an asshole and likes to wreck others purposefully? First talk to him or the race director, and if it’s honest mistakes and poor skill on his part, but not purposeful, then give him space on-track and be aware of him when you’re racing.
THEN if it’s determined he’s malicious and just a dirty driver, start getting him before he gets you.
One of my big lessons is always to gather as much information as possible on the drivers you are racing against. @IRQVET you now know this guy is a menace, so approach him with caution. If you come up on him and need to overtake, maybe you do it in a spot where it’s lower risk with less chance of contact. Or pick a spot on the track to pass him where you know you can get a gap immediately to eliminate any kind of retaliation, accidental or not. Say you’re better on the straights than him. Get by him just before the longest straight, so you can power away and get clear of any threat before the next corner.
lots of options. personally, i would probably talk to the race officials first. that’s usually the recommended route FROM our race officials. they don’t want the arguing at the scales, etc. with that being said, if my brain can’t come up with a reasonable explanation for the other driver busting me up, i’d probably approach them and see what their story was, and take it from there.
club racing/my own kart, i don’t think i’d risk any retaliation, as i may smash up my own stuff, but i won’t be cutting the wrecking ball any slack, either. you never really forget much about significant on track interactions with other drivers, so you just tend to watch and be more prepared for the negative when you get around each other on track. indoor, or just rental in general, light them up. i have a long fuse, but i have 100% lit some knuckleheads up on an outdoor/indoor rental track.
the good thing about the wrecking balls, they usually aren’t that fast, so unless it’s a pea-pick, you’ll probably qualify faster than them. not always, but most of the time.
I still think about when I’m gonna get my former teammate back for helping the outside row jump the start when I was on pole, then blocking me for 3 laps back in 2019
That aside, I find it kind of strange how comfortable drivers are telling me, the race director, “I’m getting him back” after an incident, as if I’m not going to note that.
I still think about when I’m gonna get my former teammate back for helping the outside row jump the start when I was on pole, then blocking me for 3 laps back in 2019
I’ve had fairly good results from telling someone I didn’t like what they did. I think that’s a good first step at the club level.
I’d talk to the track owners or race director, if it really is a concurring incident than I would think they would do something about it if you brought it up. If they don’t, try and race around him.
Best of luck though, I hope this can get fixed. Really sucks that you have damage and lost $$$ due to someone else.
Yeah, I don’t know guys, I disagree. Retaliation is never the answer. There’s rules in place to stop a lot of this from happening. Also, your local track should have a governing body that is in place to assist with these types of conflicts. You have stewards who issue the flags and penalties and an executive committee that should have some form of constitution to abide by for these kinds of matters.
