27 replies to this topic

[ZOOOM]

Have plenty of time on my hands nowadays. Found some old pictures and have been going through them.
Found these... RA Historian has pinpointed the wreck as that of Stan Burnett in the Burnett special at Road America in the Can Am series.
I had been wandering along the path next to the back straightapproaching Canada Corner when something went by at a high rate of knots, about 6-8 feet off the ground.
It arrived at Canada Corner a little worse for wear, having shed almost all the bodyworks and on fire. The corner workers did an amazing job of putting the fire out and as you can see, poor Stan wasn't schorched at all! He walked away and was quickly put on a stretcher. I guess he was ok....
ZOOOM







As you can see, it was an amazing crash and a wonder old Stan survived.
Anyone have anything to add?

[E1pix]

Nothing to add really, other than to say I was at that event and he was very lucky! My God, looking at the wreckage I cannot believe he was unscathed!!!!

Despite the ugly parts, any images of RA are fine by me, Thank You.

[Ray Bell]

Just looking at the sequence of the pics...

It looks like No 3 should be first, then No 1 and then No 2.

Big crash, where's the sheetmetal (floor etc) gone?

[ZOOOM]

Well.... The Doctor, the guy with the bag, doesn't seem too concerned...
ZOOOM

[xj13v12]

And that ladies and gentlemen is why I won't drive tube framed cars. Then again Ken Tyrrell thought all historics should be banned and old cars crushed as they were nothing more than folded tin foil.

[Duc-Man]

I take it this was the Burnett Mk.III. Does anybody have photos of the car before the crash?

This is all I could find.

[JB Miltonian]

I don't see any fire extinguishers, or residue from a fire extinguisher - did they just empty that bucket of sand onto it?

I don't see anything that looks like a roll bar, either.

His luck ran out two years later, in another one of his own cars.

[jm70]

I started to reply that I was there, then after reading the rest of the thread, realized it was 2 years later. Looking at the photo's just makes me shake my head at the people responding. How far we have come.

[S A Dunbar]

A photo and interesting article....

http://www.autoweek..../FREE/812299978

[E1pix]

A photo and interesting article....

http://www.autoweek..../FREE/812299978

Thanks for the link, SA, that is one great article — though sad that so many died in crashes. Regardless, those were the days!

[raceannouncer2003]

Stan with flat tire after collision in the hairpin with John Cordts' McLaren on the first lap of the second heat of the 1968 Westwood Pacific. Photo by Murray Chambers.



Stan's widow, Caryn, with her two sons and grandkids at Pacific Raceways in 1996, when Merrill Faulk debuted the restored Burnett Mk II for Don Jensen to drive. Stan was killed in a testing accident at this track in 1971. Caryn remarried and still lives in the Seattle area.

Vince H.

[cheapracer]

That will buff out ....

And that ladies and gentlemen is why I won't drive tube framed cars.

Silly comment, Nascars hit walls, each other and multiple roll at 200mph with "tube frames".

Blame the competitors who tolerate roll bars/cages being specced then build or drive the rest of the car built with pissy lightweight tubing rather than tell the governing bodies to spec those areas as well.

I just built a tube framed car and I used 40 x 2 mm rather than 25 x 1.5 mm because I like myself.

[ZOOOM]

This photo is the first one I found. I originally thought it was of Stan Burnett's accident.
I then found all the above pictures and scanned them for this thread.
After looking at the picture below, I'd have to say that it is of a diffrent accident at almost the same place. This one was definitely on fire. The pics of Burnett's crash really don't show any result of fire.


SO, what's this crash?

ZOOOM

Edited by ZOOOM, 23 October 2011 - 16:18.

[Duc-Man]

This photo is the first one I found. I originally thought it was of Stan Burnett's accident.
I then found all the above pictures and scanned them for this thread.
After looking at the picture below, I'd have to say that it is of a diffrent accident at almost the same place. This one was definitely on fire. The pics of Burnett's crash really don't show any result of fire.


SO, what's this crash?

ZOOOM

I had a look at the results in Pete Lyons Can-Am book
A lot of cars retired in that race for all kind of technical reasons.
There where two accidents: Stan Burnett in lap 8 and Duane Williamson (McLaren M1C) in lap 13.

[JB Miltonian]

Perhaps your last picture shows the bodywork and fuel cell from Burnett's car?

[E1pix]

This last photo does not look like the woods at Road America to me, are you sure that's where it is? Looks more like Laguna Seca's.

I also assume in a case like this that camera settings wouldn't likely have been adjusted and thus the images should "match" — unless they'd been stored differently or were from different events as suggested. The film type and color rendering look very different as well, in ways beyond mere exposure — unless they weren't scanned and/or corrected with the same settings. The aspect ratios do not match either, the first shot is "taller" in shape than the last one compared to length, suggesting different cameras, prints, and/or slide mounts (I don't know the original format of the scans, with the yellowed borders it seems like they're from prints?). I also see none of the same people within the two scenes.

If you're sure it's at RA, I wonder if it could be the remains of Jerry Hansen's McLaren M10 F5000 car in 1968.... bit again it sure looks like Laguna's foliage.

Edited by E1pix, 23 October 2011 - 18:49.

[ZOOOM]

Definitely not Leguna... never been there.
Yes, the prints are different sizes suggesting the pictures came from different rolls exposed at different times. Yes I'm sure it's Elkhart.
No question in my mind it's at the entrance to Canada corner.

ZOOOM

[RA Historian]

Just thinking out loud here, Zooom, could this perhaps have been the 1965 Road America 500 at the exit of the Carousel? That is the only race in the early days that, to my knowledge at this time, was red flagged due to fire. In the photo you posted it appears to be a red flag situation because the track is blocked with safety vehicle(s) and safety personnel. The topography seems to show that the photo was taken while on elevated ground, which is the inside of this area on the track, and the outside is sparsely vegetated with a lot of gravel, which ties in with the fact that the portion of the track from the Carousel through the kink into Kettle Bottoms was laid out through an old gravel pit.

In the 1965 incident, Clint Lindburg in and Elva Mk V lost it, flipped, and came down on top of Jack Ensley's Apache Special, the cars bursting into flame. Budd Clusseruth stopped his Cheetah, got out, and heroically pulled Lindburg from the flames. Lindburg suffered minor burns, while Ensley had a broken arm. The race was red flagged for quite a while to clean up the mess.

That crash could be the subject of your photo. Of course, if you were not at that race, or were not at this area of the track at that race, forget everything that I said.

Tom

[ZOOOM]

Tom,
One of my other shots from the same batch shows Skip Scots Essix Wire Ford GT in thunder valley. It's wearing # 92. Can you identify THAT race?
It is prolly the race where the crash I can't remember comes from.
ZOOOM

Edited by ZOOOM, 24 October 2011 - 16:46.

[E1pix]

Definitely not Leguna... never been there.
Yes, the prints are different sizes suggesting the pictures came from different rolls exposed at different times. Yes I'm sure it's Elkhart.
No question in my mind it's at the entrance to Canada corner.

ZOOOM

Apologies, Zooom, I'd forgotten from your OP that these were your photos and not family heirlooms or the like. It seems Tom may be on to something in thinking this last image may be near the Carousel, nowhere around Canada Corner has this look in the background (hence my Laguna comment).

I do think it's neat you're identifying your old photos and am happy to help if I can.

Edited by E1pix, 24 October 2011 - 19:27.

[raceannouncer2003]

Tom,
One of my other shots from the same batch shows Skip Scots Essix Wire Ford GT in thunder valley. It's wearing # 92. Can you identify THAT race?
It is prolly the race where the crash I can't remember comes from.
ZOOOM

As Tom says, looks like this one:

http://www.racingspo...1965-09-05.html

Vince H.

[RA Historian]

Tom,
One of my other shots from the same batch shows Skip Scots Essix Wire Ford GT in thunder valley. It's wearing # 92. Can you identify THAT race?
It is prolly the race where the crash I can't remember comes from.
ZOOOM

The Skip Scott/Augie Pabst Essex Wire Ford GT-40 ran in the 1965 RA 500; same race as the Carousel red flag incident involving Lindburg and Ensley.

Hence, I think that you have shot the aftermath of that crash in that race.

Tom

[xj13v12]

That will buff out ....



Silly comment, Nascars hit walls, each other and multiple roll at 200mph with "tube frames".

Blame the competitors who tolerate roll bars/cages being specced then build or drive the rest of the car built with pissy lightweight tubing rather than tell the governing bodies to spec those areas as well.

I just built a tube framed car and I used 40 x 2 mm rather than 25 x 1.5 mm because I like myself.

You misunderstand that my comment relates to Vintage cars. Modern space frame cars are a different matter entirely.

[ZOOOM]

Geez, thanks guys...
I'm going to have to agree with Tom. Now that you have placed it at the carousel it does look like it to me.
The lack of the trees on the inside of the course would seem to be like the area at the top of the hill on the inside of the Carousel...
ZOOOM

Edited by ZOOOM, 25 October 2011 - 18:09.

[RaceShooter]

Well.... The Doctor, the guy with the bag, doesn't seem too concerned...
ZOOOM

The guy with the blue suit & the satchel is Cliff Tufte who administrated Road America for what seemed like an eternity.
How he "looked" was never connected to what he was thinking, he could bargain a snake out of it's skin & I never witnessed a smile from him..
He was a smart & cunning promoter of racing, knew more greats than 6 of God's best friends & was the guiding force that put Elkhart on the map
and made campground owners in Plymouth rich.

[ZOOOM]

Was he carring the days "gate" in the bag?

Welcome, good first post!

ZOOOM

[RA Historian]

The guy with the blue suit & the satchel is Cliff Tufte...

Absolutely not. Most likely a doctor, and given some time I can come up with his name. But emphatically that is not Clif Tufte, for a number of reasons including that he does not look anything like Tufte, he is not wearing a hat and Tufte was never seen without his trademark fedora, and Tufte did not venture out onto the track during events as a rule.
Tom

Edited by RA Historian, 01 November 2011 - 23:56.

[E1pix]

Welcome, RaceShooter!

You're correct about Clif in every detail... except for that guy being him. I don't think I ever saw him without his fedora, and beyond it just doesn't look like him to me.

But Yes, the man was Mr. Road America, and I feel so lucky he existed and built my favorite track!