Race night pit crew accident highlights importance of applying caution to garage-door adjustments

It’s not quite NASCAR but, WOW!! The races in Madison last weekend were quite a thrill. The cars and trucks roared around the half-mile track with ear-shattering, earth-pounding precision. Occasionally, they bumped as they jostled for position. Once or twice, a car spun out. There was even an accident or two as the drive to compete overcame a driver’s ability to maintain control of their super-charged machine.

In the midst of this excitement a small tragedy occurred Friday, Aug. 21. As racers and their pit crews feverishly worked to prepare their cars for heats and qualifying laps, an ambulance appeared astride one of the racer’s pit area. An ambulance is a far-more frequent sight on the track and, seeing it in the pits, those in the other pits began glancing that way with a mix of curiosity and concern.

Slowly, the story drifted through the pits. Many of the cars are towed to the races on flatbed trailers. But, as the level of competition increases, more of the cars arrive in enclosed trailers. These trailers have overhead doors that work the same way that a garage door works back home. That means that they also have heavy duty springs that relieve much of the door’s weight so that it’s easier to raise the door and, constrains the door so it doesn’t slam down too fast when closed.

Adjusting or working with an overhead garage door is a ticklish thing. It takes experience and skill to get the door adjusted just right.

It’s also dangerous working with an overhead garage door. If the springs are released somehow the pent-up tension explodes free with the force that can kill a man. On the other hand, even if it doesn’t kill someone, it could seriously injure someone.

One of the racers in the truck class was, apparently, having trouble with the overhead door on her trailer. As the story went, her father, a member of her pit crew, was adjusting the overhead door when the tension on the spring was released. In a hair’s breadth of a fraction of a second, the spring ripped three of the man’s fingers off his hand.

It was explained that the fingers weren’t cutoff – they were ripped off.

It’s uncomfortable to contemplate the pain the man felt. With any luck, they were able to reattach his fingers. Even if they did, it’s clear that he and his daughter had a very long night.

The racers have a fairly tight community. Even if they occasionally disagree, even loudly, they tend to hold each other in high regard. They have a kind of camaraderie that is often evident among those who face the same perils together.

The races continued, short one racer, that night. But, there was a reverent understanding that the dangers don’t exist only on the track. It’s likely the racers and their crews will all approach adjusting their trailer doors with a little more caution in the future – the same kind of caution folks should apply with the overhead doors on their garages back home.