50 replies to this topic

[Chris G.]

Apparently talking for the "first time" ...... a pretty graphic story about Jason Priestley's crash and recovery. He definitely went through some hell. "They tell me that when they were pulling me out of the car and they pulled my helmet off, my nose was pushed so far up into my forehead, they could actually see into my sinuses. And look into my head,"

ABC News Story

Admits that he probably could never engage in that level of racing again.

[sschinning]

Originally posted by Chris G.
They tell me that when they were pulling me out of the car and they pulled my helmet off, my nose was pushed so far up into my forehead, they could actually see into my sinuses. And look into my head,"

Anyone got pictures of this one

At least he learned one valuable lesson:
Being a pretty-boy in a weenie-girlie-teenie tv-show doesn't make you man enough to steer to the left every now and then.....

[fifi]

i guess for some drivers having a crash like he did is a bit off putting

part of me doesnt blame him as you would realise a lot especially if like him it wasnt your main job and was only doing as a hobby i guess
whereas drivers who have been doing it ages wouldnt hesitate getting back behind the wheel

[Ricardo F1]

Originally posted by Chris G.


Admits that he probably could never engage in that level of racing again.

Some might argue he should never have tried in the first place. Glad to see him getting better though.

[RiverRunner]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ricardo F1


Some might argue he should never have tried in the first place.

Like me ;)


Glad to see him getting better though.

Ditto

[Ross Stonefeld]

The mind boggles. Priestley is about as talented and rated a driver as he is an actor. But I guess when you combine the two you get *something*

[daSilvium]

If he was issued with a licence to drive in that championship, then implicit in that is that he was considered competent enough to compete and not unnecessarily endanger anyone else or himself.

I do think it's easy to take a little pot shot at a movie-actor-turned-driver and It is entirely possible he is talentless, but i think you have to trust whatever criteria the USA governing body has on qualifications to drive in a series.

Guy had a bad crash and whoever you are, whether you're Senna or Yoong or Priestley, crashes hurt the less talented just the same as the more talented, so good luck to the guy really.

He could probably just sit on a beach and live off his money in the Bank, but at least he is pursuing something he wants to do in his life.

[indycarjunkie]

I've always thought of race car drivers as daredevils. Once they get in an accident and then become more aware of the danger of racing (that is they become affraid of another accident), they will never be the same again. Its best they retire when they loose their "edge".

[ffiloseta]

I have always thought of Priestley as an... I don't know, sissy boy, maybe ? But even though I still think he doesn't really belong to racing, I admit I admire him for his cojones. After all, he crashed driving a car that a good 98% percent of us here won't be able to drive in our lifetimes. So, good for him !

[douglasfir]

i have been trying to watch it, but i can't stand that stain known as barbara walters.

C'mon snipers where are ya?!.

[The First MH]

Originally posted by daSilvium
If he was issued with a licence to drive in that championship, then implicit in that is that he was considered competent enough to compete and not unnecessarily endanger anyone else or himself.

I do think it's easy to take a little pot shot at a movie-actor-turned-driver and It is entirely possible he is talentless, but i think you have to trust whatever criteria the USA governing body has on qualifications to drive in a series.

Guy had a bad crash and whoever you are, whether you're Senna or Yoong or Priestley, crashes hurt the less talented just the same as the more talented, so good luck to the guy really.

He could probably just sit on a beach and live off his money in the Bank, but at least he is pursuing something he wants to do in his life.

well put

[jondoe955]

Two comments -
JP (there - he is now officially a real racer because I gave him ... initials ;) ) isn't new to racing. Anybody know when he started racing professionally? Ross may have a valid point that he was over his head in that class, but iirc he did pretty well in other series. (IMSA?) So how much was talent - and how much machinery that his name and money could muster? And that is a debatable question you could ask of most other racers.

Also, this is the second 'crash' story on national TV in two days. Yesterday was about the NASCAR guy who hit an open gate in the wall and tore the car in two down the driveshaft - then as he was spinning someone else came along and tore the rear off the car. The guy crawled out unhurt. I was expecting a NASCAR puff piece, but they didn't belabor the point too much of 'how safe our cars are blahblahblah'. And it was so well documented they had every camera angle except for an incar.

So they show the miracle hillbilly and the daring pretty boy - both interesting stories. But they are nothein, NOTHING compared to the story they aren't showing - Zinardi. You can't feel any more inspired than when you hear him talk about his family and recovery in such an upbeat manner. All he needs is the hoakie 'touched by an angel' glow-from-above when he speaks. He had some name recognition in this country. Maybe they fear the 'ferrin' accent - tho he sounds like James Earl Jones compared to the NASCAR guy!
Three men who shouldn't be alive today. I don't blame JP if he never races again, anymore than I would MS for not running the Indy500, tho I'm sure he wouldn't have hesitated that insanity when he was younger and (very much) poorer. Mr. NAS didn't get hurt, and you know he will be back whenever they can find a real sponsor and afford another car. The TV time may help. But none of us ever doubted Alex would not be doing some sort of racing.
What a man, what a story, what a waste of not telling it in prime time.

And for those who would rather not see JP in a car again, careful what you wish for. If he ain't in the car - he could be back in the announcer booth.

[DoS]

Originally posted by sschinning


Anyone got pictures of this one

At least he learned one valuable lesson:
Being a pretty-boy in a weenie-girlie-teenie tv-show doesn't make you man enough to steer to the left every now and then.....

What's your porblem dude ? The guy obviously loved racing. Are you jealous cause his a pretty boy with money/success ??

[sschinning]

Originally posted by DoS

Are you jealous cause his a pretty boy with money/success ??

Yep

[DoS]

Originally posted by sschinning

Yep

heh, in that case...don't worry, its only human ;)

[Nasty McBastard]

Originally posted by jondoe955

But they are nothein, NOTHING compared to the story they aren't showing - Zinardi. You can't feel any more inspired than when you hear him talk about his family and recovery in such an upbeat manner.

indeed.

i never liked him as a racer, and hell, to be honest, i never really liked him as a guy. but thats all changed.

hes got more guts that most people, and the whole zanardi story over the last year or so is pretty inspiring.

id like to think that in the same situation id have a similar attitude, but id probably just be mighty pissed off and feeling all sorry for myself.

hes a better man than me.

[Viss1]

Actually, some of the movies Priestley did after 90210 were surprisingly good. He took a few indie/low-budget roles and did a good job with most of them.

I suggest that if any of us had been competing in small series for a decade and were then given the opportunity to drive in a IRL race, we wouldn't hesitate to take it.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Well of course we all would want to, but whether we should is a different question. Im not mad at Priestley for wanting to play race driver, im mad because he actually does it.

[Schuting Star]

I don't think he's good enough to be out there. It's his decision and his right to do so though. Glad he's improving.

[Ross Stonefeld]

I disagree. the IPS is supposedely a pro series. I think the professional, qualified, talented drivers deserve to be protected from wankers like Priestley. I have no problem with actor-drivers, but at least someone like Paul Newman knows his limitations. At the end of the day though the responsibility falls on the series to regulate their entrants

[SeanValen]

I saw him guest star on his buddy Dylan from 90120(Luke Perry) new show Jermiah, good performance as a bad guy in that episode, must of been filmed sometime just before his crash.

[Lateralus42]

Jimmy Kimmel really ripped into Priestley last night, I kind of feel sorry for the guy.

[Schuting Star]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
I disagree....At the end of the day though the responsibility falls on the series to regulate their entrants

Yes, I would have to agree with that.

[masterhit]

Yeah, I agree with Ross. The sad fact is that Priestley isn't good enough to be in there in the first place. Hate to say it, but a guy like that is gonna wreck himself whether it is on a race track or not. You certainly don't let someone who confesses to being probably alcoholic drive a race car and risk other people's lives. That includes Little Al by the way, can't let celebrities get special treatment.

That's one of the few times were I disagreed with what the author Dr Mike Lawrence wrote in one his articles - he thought a drivers personal drug habits were his own business. Sadly no, they are paid a very big professional wage these days, and there are other drivers to consider.

Nonetheless the question still has to be asked - why did the circuit officials allow the race to go ahead, knowing that there was a danger zone? Warning the drivers to avoid the concrete dust patch reminds me of the officials at Spa in the '60s (?) asking the drivers to avoid the parts of the armco which were broken. And that led to death.

[Viss1]

Originally posted by masterhit
You certainly don't let someone who confesses to being probably alcoholic drive a race car and risk other people's lives.

I suggest that a typical F1 grid up to the early- to mid-'80s was comprised largely of people who fit the definition "alcoholic."

And do we know for a fact that Preistley was worse than the back half of an IRL grid?

[tony]

This posts really shows the arrogance of some F1 fans. A driver in another series is in a horrific crash and many are poking fun of him.

Motor racing by its nature is a sport available only to the rich. He has enough money to do it. So why should he be ridiculed for this? He is doing something he loves.

[DoS]

Originally posted by tony
This posts really shows the arrogance of some F1 fans. A driver in another series is in a horrific crash and many are poking fun of him.

Motor racing by its nature is a sport available only to the rich. He has enough money to do it. So why should he be ridiculed for this? He is doing something he loves.

I find hard to believe some of the stuff they are writing. JP has been racing a long time before trying to compete in that series. Hell, can any1 rembember what was Kimis experience before he entered F1

[RiverRunner]

I think there is an okd pilots saying about crashes along the lines of:
He didn't run out of luck, he ran out of skill.
This may also apply to Jason's case.
There have been a number of actor/drivers, amongst them Steve McQueen, Paul Newman and James Garner. All raced at a time when running at Indy could have been an option for them, they were smart enough however to not try it and within certain lower formulas found success.
I have no issues with Jason one way or another, but just the feeling he bit off more than he could chew.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Originally posted by DoS




I find hard to believe some of the stuff they are writing. JP has been racing a long time before trying to compete in that series. Hell, can any1 rembember what was Kimis experience before he entered F1

Kimi had almost 15 years of top level ultra competitive single seater experience befofre he sat in an F1 car.

[masterhit]

I wish Jason Priestly well in his recovery and what I said regarding his driving may have been wrong and acting too judgemental. I was genuinely upset when i was writing about it, it was not meant to sound like I was having a go at him.

Raeding it again, I realise that this anger caused me to look for blame.

I have to say that I don't see why the race went on, when the circuit officials knew that it was dangerous to have temporary fixes to the track surface in the first place. Time after time in a race event, a car goes high, through understeering, change in tyre pressures etc. But do not read that as "IRL bashing". I was talking about safety, not the entire racing series.

Just by saying that this particular race should not have went ahead under the circumstances does not mean that I think that IRL is a worse series than any other, or make someone an IRL basher.

I stand by my comment about alcoholic drivers. That is my right as a human being. It certainly does not mean that I am right, or even that it is a well thought out idea, but this is a forum for off the cuff opinions and at least I was honest and it's just an opinion.

[Ricardo F1]

Originally posted by tony
This posts really shows the arrogance of some F1 fans. A driver in another series is in a horrific crash and many are poking fun of him.

Motor racing by its nature is a sport available only to the rich. He has enough money to do it. So why should he be ridiculed for this? He is doing something he loves.

I don't see much poking fun at him, just people suggesting that he had no right being in that car in the first place. If I had money to race an F1 or Indy Lights car should I be allowed to? I don't think so, and I'd love to, and I've done more karting than Jason Priestly ever did. Nobody is trying to say he shouldn't be allowed to do something he loves, he just shouldn't have been doing it at that level.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Originally posted by masterhit
I have to say that I don't see why the race went on, when the circuit officials knew that it was dangerous to have temporary fixes to the track surface in the first place. Time after time in a race event, a car goes high, through understeering, change in tyre pressures etc. But do not read that as "IRL bashing". I was talking about safety, not the entire racing series.

Just by saying that this particular race should not have went ahead under the circumstances does not mean that I think that IRL is a worse series than any other, or make someone an IRL basher.

The track was completely fine. It had some oil dry powder on it I think fro man engine blowup during IRL warmup, but Priestley didnt seem to care

[masterhit]

I still don't get it. There have been yellow flags for smaller things than oil on the track. To race under those conditions... Too dangerous.

[Ross Stonefeld]

He crashed in the warmup because he ignored the warnings of where there was oil dry still on the track.

[FlatFoot]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld



The track was completely fine. It had some oil dry powder on it I think fro man engine blowup during IRL warmup, but Priestley didnt seem to care

In the BW interview he said he got pushed slightly offline (and into the oil-dry) by someone that changed their line in front of him. I think he also said he barely remembers anything about the accident?!

[masterhit]

Originally posted by FlatFoot


In the BW interview he said he got pushed slightly offline (and into the oil-dry) by someone that changed their line in front of him. I think he also said he barely remembers anything about the accident?!

That's probably the result of concussion. I had serious concussion for three days after getting hit by a car when I was 11 years old, I was signalling to make a right turn on my bicycle into my street just beyond some traffic lights, when some moron accelerated to jump the traffic lights, (he actually admitted this in his court case evidence) knocked me 30 fett into the air. In shielding myself with my hands, I fractured both wrists, suffered a fractured skull, chipped two teeth, am permanently deaf in my right ear and have inner ear balance problems, which were so serious that a specialist said that I may never walk properly again. I can't drink at night, because tiredness, darkness and alcohol combined are the worst things if your inner ear balance is kaput. Your brain is already coping overtime with only one balance sense organ, which gets up and down confused with left and right. The nearest analogy is waves on the water, not a smooth, flat, surface, but up and down back and forth. That feeling when you try to walk in water is what is like all the time, albeit you are cutting through air, not heavy water, but the increased appreciation and feeling of directions, of the x and y axes being so much more important and all intermingled and hard to tell one from the other is the same. All of a sudden, you become aware of gravity, of the bumps in pavements etc, and how our body has to work around it.

Anyway, the point is that it also affected my short term memory - it was months before much came back about the accident at all. Even to this day I can't be sure which were genuine memories that came back, or my imagination trying to fill in the gaps after reading the evidence and speaking to my mates who saw it happen. Crucially, I still remember nothing from the point where I was signalling, no impact, anything. It's all buried away somewhere forever.

[DoS]

Originally posted by masterhit


That's probably the result of concussion. I had serious concussion for three days after getting hit by a car when I was 11 years old, I was signalling to make a right turn on my bicycle into my street just beyond some traffic lights, when some moron accelerated to jump the traffic lights, (he actually admitted this in his court case evidence) knocked me 30 fett into the air. In shielding myself with my hands, I fractured both wrists, suffered a fractured skull, chipped two teeth, am permanently deaf in my right ear and have inner ear balance problems, which were so serious that a specialist said that I may never walk properly again. I can't drink at night, because tiredness, darkness and alcohol combined are the worst things if your inner ear balance is kaput. Your brain is already coping overtime with only one balance sense organ, which gets up and down confused with left and right. The nearest analogy is waves on the water, not a smooth, flat, surface, but up and down back and forth. That feeling when you try to walk in water is what is like all the time, albeit you are cutting through air, not heavy water, but the increased appreciation and feeling of directions, of the x and y axes being so much more important and all intermingled and hard to tell one from the other is the same. All of a sudden, you become aware of gravity, of the bumps in pavements etc, and how our body has to work around it.

Anyway, the point is that it also affected my short term memory - it was months before much came back about the accident at all. Even to this day I can't be sure which were genuine memories that came back, or my imagination trying to fill in the gaps after reading the evidence and speaking to my mates who saw it happen. Crucially, I still remember nothing from the point where I was signalling, no impact, anything. It's all buried away somewhere forever.

**** man, this suxs

[masterhit]

LOL, hence I kinda get worked up when safety is taken lightly!

[Mark A]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld


Kimi had almost 15 years of top level ultra competitive single seater experience befofre he sat in an F1 car.

Ross,

How do you work that one out?

Kimi Drove the Sauber in 2001. He first sat in a racing Kart in 1987 (i.e 14 years). He sat in his first Single seater in 1999 for the Formula Renault Winter series. Did the formula Renault series in 2000 and then F1 in 2001. I wouldn't call that experienced.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Thats because you, and the majority of other race fans, dont take karting serious enough. I dont mean that as an insult, but most people just have an idea of karting as a kids game. A Formula Super A kart (the WC of karting) will pull 3gs in the corners and the drivers ive talked to in that series who have gone on to bigger and better things say it doesnt handle like a Formula Ford, or an F3 or an F3000, it feels like an Indycar or an F1. Jenson Button, between his 9th and 10th birthdays, entered 32 kart weekends, with about 3 semis, heat,s and finals per weekend. Thats nearly 100 racesa year for 10 years in really twitchy ultra competitive series. So when thetse guys go through the junior ranks, the first car the yget to thta feels like their kart, is an F1 car.

People said "wow Kimi's only got 23 races!" but ignored he'd been racing for over 10 years before that.

Superbird could explain this better than I can.

[Mark A]

Ross,

I probably know more about karting than most as I used to race 100 Britain as a kid against Coulthard, McNish, Franchitti, etc etc so know how difficult it is (especially with no money)

However, while it may give you an idea of race craft it bears no resemblance to 'proper' racing cars. The differences in power, set-up etc are huge. I feel that he would have been better served with a year in F3 or F3000.

I know someone who almost did a similar move to Kimi a few years earlier, but a certain Mr Schumacher took the place at Benetton instead. He had been racing F Renault but at the same time had done a years testing for Benetton. His differeance would have been car knowledge, the big concern with Kimi was that he wasn't conversant with a car at that level, no matter what people like to compare Karts too.

Any decent driver will learn a car quickly, most people just believe that should be done over time.



As for Jason Preistley (getting back on topic ;) this is something which could happen to anyone, he had done some racing in the past so he wasn't suddenly thrust into a car he had never built up to, but it was probably too soon. Thankfully this doesn't happen too often, but with younger and younger drivers 'skipping' the usual steps to F1, CART etc it may happen again, possibly with worse consequencies.

[superbird]

Mark, if you drove a 100 Britain that's fairly similar in power and grip to todays TKMs isn't it? I'd agree that racecraft would be the only particularly transferable skill between that and an F1 car. I do however think anything above intercontinental level is a completely different proposition and go along with the views of those such as MS who say much the same as Ross does.

[Tomecek]

How is he doing in most recent days?

[ffiloseta]

I recently saw him perform at "8 simple rules for dating my teenage daughter" with John Ritter. He played the part of a big shot driver. He looked quite fat, but that's understandable. His performance? on the lame side, as usual.

[Tomecek]

Originally posted by ffiloseta
I recently saw him perform at "8 simple rules for dating my teenage daughter" with John Ritter. He played the part of a big shot driver. He looked quite fat, but that's understandable. His performance? on the lame side, as usual.

So he is o.k.? He fully recovered from the crash?

[ffiloseta]

He sure looked OK to me. Why don't you google up some info on him?

[ensign14]

Originally posted by ffiloseta
He played the part of a big shot driver. He looked quite fat, but that's understandable. His performance? on the lame side, as usual.

As driver or actor?

[Ross Stonefeld]

I dont know that he ever counted as either

[ffiloseta]

As an actor.

[Viss1]

I'm ashamed to admit I watched the "Beverly Hills 90210 Reunion" a week or two ago. Jason looked absolutely fine. They made reference to the accident, so it must have been taped afterwards. Considering the amount of facial damage he suffered, he must have either made an incredible recovery or had the best plastic surgeon in the world. There was literally no difference to how he looked pre-accident.