My thoughts and prayers are with Mike, Jared, and their families. Everything I have heard about this tragic accident is second hand from friends who raced on this team, I was not there. The Team was shaking down a relatively new Racecar that was a Race modified Textron XX in preparation for the Baja 1000. Marc Stein with Dave Sykes in the Co-Driver Seat took off from the start and they noticed that the Window nets were tougher than they should be to operate and that big guys in a small cars are very tight. The Car was working well and Marc and Dave turned it over to the second set of drivers who did there section and Cooper Commented that it was his best drive ever that the car was working great and they were having a great race. Mike and Jared got in the vehicle and took off as the third set of drivers, at approximately mile 14 the car sputtered to a stop and in a combination of switching to second fuel pump and trying to start the vehicle it burst into flames. Jared got out of the car quickly and realized Mike was still in the car, in the fire. They are not sure if his knees were trapped under the car steering wheel or that he was struggling to get window net open, but Mike was in the flames. Jared reached in the car and with a Herculean effort ripped Mike through the window net and out of the vehicle. Jared was burned in the process and for sure saved Mikes life. Anyone hurt is awful, but friends hurt is even worse my thoughts and prayers go out to the Ace Motorsports Team in this difficult time.
I am going to ask all of you to support them in there recovery and realize that fire is the scariest part of desert racing as we are on our own to put out the fire and usually have little or no outside help. Please go to the link at the top of the page and show your support for a guy who has lived and breathed off-road for decades. Every bit helps as Mikes Co-Driver Jared does not have insurance.
Now this is not the best time to bring up safety, but we all need to up our game and realize fire is going to get you if you do not prepare! Mike had a new 2 layer suit, but made a poor decision that many of us have made including myself. He decided because of the heat of the day he would wear a single layer suit he owned. I am not putting any blame on Mike as I have made poor decisions in the past. I remember testing a Trophy Truck in Flip Flops and shorts, and my gear was in the back seat of the car.
In Talking with Dave Sykes after the race he is adding Flame out system to any vehicle he races in and going to get himself some new Gear as he has been wearing a Hand me down suit from my Toyo Tires Racing Days that is over 10 years old. We do not tend to think about the bad things when we are doing the fun things, fire is real.
There are many questions I have about how the flame got into the drivers cockpit, but that is for another thread. I could go on and on about what you as a racer need to do to fire proof a vehicle and have learned from experience and several race fires that I am lucky to say were all put out. Getting out quickly is the key, and I have seen many window net systems that are tough to operate in my years of working on Race vehicles. Take note from this Tragic accident if your window nets are quirky, FIX THEM BEFORE THE NEXT RACE!
Mike and Jared please heal! Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your families.