exiting a smoking/burning car

mooty · #1 04-18-2011, 12:27 AM

whew... what a weekend.
so after a long hiatus, i finally made out to TH for a race weekend and its' actually sunny...

parking: NASA was nightmarishly crowded. very tight spots for trailers. took 30 min to get my box parked.

session 1: battery issue. took tow big diesel truck to jump start it. missed session.

session 2. qualifying. bc i didn't do session 1, i was put at back of qual. i had to pass 3-4 car each lap for 20 min. cannot post good time. P9 to start.

session 3: race. cool, jumped one car on start, passed another by 3/4 of first lap.... sh...t, suddenly no power steering. ok. i can muscle through it. car is good.... side of my eye... white... smoke....... who cares.... oh, it's my car that's smoking... ok.. keep going... more smoke... (no fire). great passing hot pit, may be i should park it. so i pull in... MORE smoke, push seat pack, unbuckle, next off, unhook cool suilt (my has full cage), get the hell out..... pull fire system... heart pounding. fire crew all over the car. confirmed no fire.... turns out serpentine belt shredded causing other issues.

crew was impressed how fast i got my ass out of the car and jumped over the low conc fence with helmet on... bottom line, sh*t happens. learn how to exit your car QUICK.....

FTS · #2 04-18-2011, 10:35 AM

OMG!!! I am so glad you are alright Mooty. I cannot imagine a bigger scare than a fire in the car, thank God it wasn't. How bad is the damage do you know?

I am assuming this is with your SPBOX?

mooty · #3 04-18-2011, 07:27 PM

no, it was my stripper
no fire
just smoke.
as far as i can tell no damage to car, cause was shredded serpentine belt, thus ancillary equipment overheated and causing smoke. will know more end of week. hoping to make race end of april

bman · #4 04-18-2011, 09:23 PM

Scary! Glad to hear it wasn't a fire.

Did the smoke smell like burning rubber? Not that it would prevent me from jumping out, just curious if it had distinct odor.

mooty · #5 04-19-2011, 12:39 AM

no smell

Dell · #6 04-20-2011, 07:58 AM

The saying "where there's smoke, there's fire" is what gets your heart racing during these situation. Glad it wasn't the case!

Scott and I were just talking about fire exit from the car. Stay calm and focused and your muscle memory and practice will take over.

FTS · #7 04-20-2011, 08:43 AM

So true, but to have muscle memory you have to practice such situations, I never have

FTS · #8 04-23-2011, 11:16 AM

What's the update John?

TRAKCAR · #9 04-24-2011, 10:42 AM

Wow, exciting stuff Mooty!

Trackrat · #10 04-24-2011, 01:57 PM

Mooty! Wow, wild stuff! Glad to hear you are ok and car was not fire damaged. Hope you get fixed ASAP.

I was reading the thread on RL about the guy who suffered burns after an oil fire in his Honda. Got to wear fireproof clothing and balaclava! I always do. With that said I am now looking into adding a fire system to my 3RS.

See you next weekend!

mooty · #11 04-24-2011, 06:41 PM

pete, since your RS is track only, fire system is no brainer. i have it on my stripper.
it should be ready next weekend.

PJS · #12 04-25-2011, 07:37 PM

mooty thats it... you must arrive and drive now... dont go stinking up that trailer with your shoddily maintained stripper :-)

(I tease)

Happy for you that it was not worse.

mooty · #13 04-25-2011, 10:53 PM

^ LOL
it's going out again this weekend.

TRAKCAR · #14 04-26-2011, 10:29 PM

Arrive and drive is the future..

PJS · #15 04-26-2011, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRAKCAR

Arrive and drive is the future..

keep telling mooty that