Mercury in the frame rails?

[DeMan951]

I was listening to Speed 51's recap of the snowball derby and they were interviewing Kyle Busch and they asked him why he didn't do any doughnuts after the race. He replied that Ricky Brooks told them in the drivers meeting that there would be no burnouts until after tech took place. They asked him why and he went on to say that Ricky Brooks had heard rumors of teams putting Mercury in their roll bars and using a shutoff device to trap the weight on the left side once the car rolled out into the banking. So by not allowing doughnuts, and also not allowing a polish victory lap they would not be able to flip the switch back and let the weight evenly distribute through out the frame rails. Now I had heard rumors of a Florida racer doing this a long time ago but never knew if it was a true story or fabricated one. Maybe one of you can shed the light on it, and if it is even possible? I will withhold the drivers name in case it was just a rumor since he is still racing.

[AB195]

Randy Foxx, in the mid-80's, was involved in an accident in turn 3 wall at Orlando Speedworld, Florida Pro Series. Mercury drained down the banking, the red flag was thrown, cars ordered into the pits, all racing was done for the night, fans ordered to leave the grounds, and haz-mat was called in.
Randy was banned for life from ever racing again in Florida.

[Frasson118]

Not exactly true... Randy Fox HAS raced again in Florida.

The dangers of mercury, as told in SCR Magazine (after Jim Bown was caught with it in California), is that the mercury isn't all that toxic in it's liquid form. If it gets into vapor form such as landing on hot exhaust headers, is EXTREMELY toxic. If I remember the amounts correctly, they said that 1 teaspoon of vaporized mercury could, if the wind direstion was just so, that it can kill an entire grandstands worth of people, let alone the driver.

I will instantly condemn a racer for life, if they are willing to risk MY life as a fan, just for an unfair advantage on the track. As for the Fox deal at OSW, it wasn't announced what the problem was, only that the race was OVER, and for everyone to leave the grounds immediately.

Fox, as far as I know, has always maintained that he didn't know about the mercury in his car... that it came that way as a used car. Not sure I believe it, but am willing to give a little bit of doubt in his favor.

[ronabneysr]

i wonder if they ever had a reality tv show about cheating

which i would never ever want to see but to even listen to some of stuff on this board .

if you think nascar has caught some wild stuff can you ever dream of some of the things that really do go on at local saturday night local tracks

[Andy S]

if you think nascar has caught some wild stuff can you ever dream of some of the things that really do go on at local saturday night local tracks

I was watching Speed Channel the other night and they were talking about the new NASCAR Hall of Fame museum displays, and one of them will be a recreation of a tech inspection. Part of this is going to be a display of some of the strange illegal bits they've discovered on the cars in tech over the years, which sounds like a pretty cool exhibit to me!

[DeMan951]

Thank you, that is who I was talking about, I just wasn't sure if it was correct or not. I guess Randy was just years ahead of his time and either the ban wasn't enforced, or that statement is incorrect since I have seen him race at CCMP a few times. I am surprised he wasn't prosecuted for endangering so many lives.

[Jane]

It was true and my family and I were there that night. No one realized he was dropping the mercury until the car had been towed to the pits. Orlando had to replace the track after that and do alot of work. And Randy did say he did not know about the mercury but it did happen.

I don't recall him being banned from racing in Florida but I do know he never came back to Orlando or New Smyrna after that. I remember everyone looking at their shoes since cars and people had walked in it after it being towed to the pits. But it did happen for sure and Robert did have to repave the track after that.

[Edm]

Heres an article from 2002. http://www.karnac.com/FLAnews2002/103585303920823.shtml

I have heard about the mercury in the past but I didn't know the details. Didn't they make the responsible party pay for the clean up and repaving?

[ronabneysr]

i ain't taking up for any one but once i bought a race car

complete car and trust me i swear i did not know that the heads had been portand polished and had them high dollar 202 valves in it

and when i turned around after winning the race and drivers side side was sitting on high side as i carried the flag around the track the left side weight went from 60 % to 54 % AND I WOULD NEVER BELIEVE THAT 20 LBS FLYWHEEL WAS ALLUNIUM MAN YOU GOT TO BE CARE FULL WHO YOU BUY YOUR RACE CAR FROM CAUSE SOME PEOPLE JUST DON'T PLAY FAIR

[Frasson118]

As for prosecution, I think that the actual car owner, Clarence Olding was prosecuted... or at least held responsible for the cost of the environmental cleanup.

[carolwicks]

about Randy

The truth is that Randy paid Robert Hart $10,000.00 to clean up the mercury. He has never been barred by any track.

carolwicks aka OZ

[DeMan951]

I just found this on google from the Ledger dated May 9th 1997. So I guess this happened in the 90's not 80's.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?ni...g=6812,7819149

[Speedweeks junkie]

I was there that night as well. They just threw the Red flag with about like 20 laps to go or so, and law officers ushered everyone in the stands out. They did not announce why, and everyone was pissed. lol

[OLD STYLE RACER 2]

I was at Speedworld that night for my 1 and only visit. I was handing out fliers for Ocala Speedway for a special race we were having. And YES he was banned, from Ocala Speedway atleast. It was only for the rest of the season the way it turned but he was banned.

[Todd McCreary]

wasn't it Darrell Waltrip who used to load the right frame rail with lead shot and then as they were turning warmup laps prior to the green he'd open a trap door and eject it all onto the track?