I just saw this on our other board. Hopefully all our Moparts guys are safe down there.
http://anra.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=talkdg&action=display&thread=1575

They run this race every year in memory of his brother now tragedy has struck them again.
http://www.socalprogas.com/archives/06season/race4.html

GBob and I are here and according to a witness that we talked to said that unfortunately the car wasn't on stands. Very sad....... the car went about three pit rows before it hit a trailer and caught fire. If there is any good news to this story, it's that all the JR dragsters pitted around him were at the starting line ready to race and NO one else was injured. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family of the deceased racer.

Not good....not good at all. What a bum deal.

omg thats really sad

Rickster

Very sad. Be safe out there guys.

Just got back from the track. Track was on lock down for about 4 hours while the authorities did their accident investigation. They ended up not running today at all.

Not a good thing at all. But VERY lucky that all the jr dragster folks were at the starting line just beginning their first time trials.

Condolences and prayers for the Marcum family.

Such a shame... RIP

Very sad RIP

Just Horrible....

If I interpret the story correctly, it's just the kind of thing that makes me double & triple check tire clearance and stability if for some reason I run the car in gear. Generally though, I just drive it around to warm everything up.
Please, everybody, use jack stands. And for that matter, try to never stand in front of, or behind, a running car.

this is tragic for sure and i'm absolutely NOT in any way trying to mar this individual's reputation or monday morning quarterback. that said i just can't understand why some racers insist in doing things like this in a crowded area. i see TOO many people standing on the rev limiters/brake and all sorts of similar conduct when the car is not in a position to safely do so. how many times have you seen someone rapping the throttle on a auto trans car while STANDING in front of it? people become complacent when working around these cars and things happen. there's a ton of energy present when you're standing on the throttle with the brake engaged. iirc i heard a story some time ago where someone's son was doing the same thing in a dragster. story has it the engine flashed past the shift point causing the shifter to kick into high gear, the car took off and ran under a trailer with obvious dire and terrible results.

sorry for the rant but accidents are one thing...negligence is another

wow,what a bad choice this guy made,and it cost him his life,i cant believe they would have junior dragsters there at the same time,the big cars are there.thank god the kids were at the starting line.hopefully racers will learn from this tragic loss.dont cut corners,you just dont know what could happen.prayers to his family.

The days of the junior's separated from the big cars are long gone.

RIP, its kinda ironic I just got my new issue of National Dragster with the sportsman coverage from Sonoma and the guy that died this past weekend owns the car that won Super Gas and the driver dedicated his win to the car owners late brother.