Iowa track unsafe?

[weggieman]

Riders should never have been put on that track as it was! I watched it the other night and was horrified at that turn with no protection. To me it bordered on criminal and the riders should have walked out. It was a bullshit deal.That's all I'm saying, no discussion.

[spyderchick]

Gordy, what do you know? You have only been involved in racing since the wheel was invented!

Seriously, Iowa was no laughing matter, and could have ended the careers of some damn fine racers.

[tzracer]

Could have ended more than just their careers.

[spyderchick]

Yeah, but I try not to think about that too hard.

[weggieman]

What little I do know, knows I wouldn't have put a team on that track.

And I would have walked out, as I believe one team had the balls to do.

[251am]

  It's an unsafe track; but you had racers railing against the folks complaining about safety, calling them "whiners" and worse. One even made press releases admonishing the quitters for trying to let down the Iowa community surrounding the track.

  You had a racer saying the most dangerous corner on the track is WFO with a knee down at around 140. While Edmonson was quoted as saying that was an 80 mph corner. I'm sure it could be an 80 mph corner if you weren't planning on a podium or you wanted to get asspacked. Protect the profits and not the racers' safety. As profit margins are more closely magnified the less safety there is involved. Unless, of course, you're in the hands of the Midwest Safety Crew.       

[Burt Munro]

You bring up a good point Todd.  Who did they get to work the corners for that race?

I doubt that it was anyone who had worked motorcycles before.  Especially since it was a combined race weekend - cars & bikes.  If it was someone with bike experience it would be interesting to hear their take on this.  Every cornerworker I've ever known is as much of an advocate for racer safety as the riders themselves.

[weggieman]

There's a resaon for that..........it's not fun dealing with broken bodies.

So go ahead and call me a whiner but I'd rather be safe than sorry. How does the old saying go? "You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em". It's a gamble out there in every race, no matter how good you are. Why take chances on a bad track? Edmondson is not out there racing. All he has on the line is money, not his body.