Posted By: B1CUDA
ALL RACERS! PLEASE READ THIS............ - 08/09/09 07:18 PM
It is with a very heavy heart that I advise you of this, but, a friend of mine lost his life yesterday at Fontana Raceway, in an accident that could have been avoided. Ronnie Marcum, 53, was going to test the transbrake on his dragster, in the pits, when everything went horribly wrong.
Ronnie, for reasons we will never know, DID NOT have his rear wheels on Pro Jacks/ Jackstands, and when he went to test the transbrake, the throttle stuck wide open, and the dragster went through the pits at close to 100mph before impacting into a trailer, killing Ronnie instantly.(As I type this, I am still in a state of shock as Ronnie was a racers racer with decades of racing experience) A junior dragster race was being held at the track, and thankfully, the kids were up in the staging lanes when this happened. (Ronnie crashed where several of them were pitted) My friend Jeff, who has two kids that race juniors, witnessed the accident from start to finish, and watched Ronnie die. Jeff was the first one to Ronnie, but, he knew that there was nothing he could do, Ronnie was gone.
Please, please, please take a moment when you are at the track, your shop, or your garage, to make sure that you and others around you are safe.
Ronnie leaves behind two kids, and several devastated friends who just can't believe this happened.....I am one of them.
Ronnie, for reasons we will never know, DID NOT have his rear wheels on Pro Jacks/ Jackstands, and when he went to test the transbrake, the throttle stuck wide open, and the dragster went through the pits at close to 100mph before impacting into a trailer, killing Ronnie instantly.(As I type this, I am still in a state of shock as Ronnie was a racers racer with decades of racing experience) A junior dragster race was being held at the track, and thankfully, the kids were up in the staging lanes when this happened. (Ronnie crashed where several of them were pitted) My friend Jeff, who has two kids that race juniors, witnessed the accident from start to finish, and watched Ronnie die. Jeff was the first one to Ronnie, but, he knew that there was nothing he could do, Ronnie was gone.
Please, please, please take a moment when you are at the track, your shop, or your garage, to make sure that you and others around you are safe.
Ronnie leaves behind two kids, and several devastated friends who just can't believe this happened.....I am one of them.