The VisionAire 500K is an Indy Racing League race held at Charlotte Motor Speedway from 1997 to 1999. During the 1999 event, three spectators died when debris from a crash on the track broke into the stands. The race was stopped and canceled, and the event was removed from the Indy Racing League schedule.
Video VisionAire 500K
Riwayat ras
The first open wheel races were at the first Charlotte Speedway built at Pineville in 1924. This is where indy races are held.
USAC
In 1980, USAC announced plans for a 500 km event at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the first Indy car event at the facility. However, the plan was canceled when USAC signed a joint sanctioning effort with the CART, and the 1980 calendar was reorganized.
Indy Racing League
In 1996, Indy Racing League was tested at the facility, with plans to add it to the schedule in 1997. The first test sees speed in the 207 mph range, already an unofficial track record. Immediately after the exam, the night race was added to the IRL schedule starting in 1997.
The first two runnings are considered to be very successful with Buddy Lazier and Kenny BrÃÆ'¤ck winning the mid-summer Saturday night race 500 kilometers (208 laps). Crowds are strong, and CBS does race on tape delay. At that time, IRL sought to expand its schedule geographically, especially in traditional "NASCAR Country". The early success of the event was seen as an opportunity to expand the presence of the league in the South, and it was also validated that IRL machines are suitable for fast and high-rise "medium" oval tracks.
1999 fatal accident
In 1999, the race was moved from July to the first weekend in May, the last race before the Indianapolis 500. With an estimated audience of 50,000, the track opens additional sections of the track to accommodate additional audiences. As reported on radio broadcasts, parts of Turn 1 and Turn 4, and the first eight lines of all open grandstands are closed for spectators for security reasons. At 08.50, during a round of 61 races, Stan Wattles suffered a suspension failure that fired his car against the wall, shifting the two right wheels from the car. John Paul Car, Jr. then hit the debris and the contact sends the right rear wheel and assembling the Wattles tire over the fence catcher. Three audiences around the part that had been opened for the overflowing people were killed by the flying debris of tires. Scott Harrington spun to miss the debris field and the accident is often described as a 3 car accident, but the Harrington car does not make contact with the wall or other car and is not damaged.
Buddy Lazier leads the race at the time of warning. He pitted a few laps later to change the tire because of a puncture, at which point Greg Ray took over the lead. Gravity situations in the stands soon became apparent, and in lap 79 after 25 minutes under yellow, the race officials issued a red flag. The cancellation of the race was soon announced by Humpy Wheeler, President and General Motors Manager, Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Since the race has not reached half the distance (which will make it official) VisionAire 500k 1999 is officially listed as canceled, and all stats are scraped from official records. Viewers are offered a refund of tickets, and participants are reimbursed for entry fees and selected travel expenses. The League did not recognize the race in its historical archive, and eliminated the event in a count for the 100th race celebration in 2004. The incident, and the earlier incident in July 1998 in the Champ Car race in Michigan that also killed three spectators, led to new regulations requiring The car has tethers attached to the wheel hub in an attempt to prevent such incidents from happening again. New fence catches are also found, curled so that debris can not sail easily into the stands.
Controversy
Two weeks after the incident, the controversy boiled at Indianapolis 500 1999 after Sports Illustrated published an article by Ed Hinton, entitled "Fatal Attractions: More deaths fans put the focus on the need for safety innovation" on May 10th issue. This article discusses the proposed tragedies and safety improvements discussed thereafter. The magazine editor in New York published the article along with an AP photo taken at the scene. The photo featured a security guard standing next to two bodies in the stands covered with bloody sheets, and blood covered the stairs. The photo drew the ire of president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway Tony George, and they withdrew Hinton's credibility for the 1999 Indy 500. After a few days, the credentials were returned, when it was determined that Hinton was unaware of the photos published along with his articles, and when the issue of freedom of speech/censorship raised.
Later in the year, a series of brief bombings took place in Lowe stores in North Carolina, injuring three, and prompting some to think there might be links to relatives of one of the victims. When George Rocha was arrested for bombing, he claimed that he was angry about the accidents on the speedway, but he later admitted that it was retaliation for being caught shoplifting and extortion attempts.
Maps VisionAire 500K
Previous winner
References
External links
- Champ Car Stats: Charlotte Motor Speedway
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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