My apologies to Group 2 and thank you to everyone that came to my rescue.

[colin_koehler]

Exiting a car while inverted is a new experience for me and one I hope not to repeat.

I want to say THANK YOU to the workers, emergency crew, officials and family and friends. There was a gaggle of people who packed up my rig and trailer and even drove it back to its resting place. If there was anything at all from this that would bring a tear to my eye it would be the generosity and support of folks in Conference. I've received several emails and texts asking about my health and what they can do to get me back on track and the fact that they loaded the car and the trailer and drove it home for me is above and beyond.

Group 2 finished under caution and that was my fault and I'm sorry. I just got it wrong. I'm embarrassed by it because I'm better than that, at least I thought I was. We pay a lot of money for that 30 minutes of racing and I shortened that. It was the anxiousness that this caused to the ones close to me that really kept me awake at night and in all this, that's what I regret most.

Of all the corners at PR I thought would claim my car I never thought it would be T6. Usually when I know I've overcooked it I just commit to the grass, go straight and have no problem but this time the rear was in an oversteer moment I didn't think it was such that it would exceed the width of the track but it did, just the right rear and in an instant I knew the outcome would damage the roof of the car, among other things. The HANS helped with the initial impact but the 2nd impact was the big hit and it removed some of the air from my lungs. When I was out of the car I didn't feel right and I was trying to catch my breath so I laid down to make sure I wasn't actually hurt or exacerbate something that might be hurt. When I realized my body felt fine and I could breath OK I got up and gave a thumbs up to the T6 station. The medics checked me out there and I realized when I looked down my neck hurt quite a bit... That's what earned me a trip to Auburn Medical. As I was recalling the accident to Randy in the Ambulance I was sure that I had rolled multiple times and that the car fell from a "great height" onto the lid. Wrong on both. The one big hit made the other impacts seem, more impactful.

Thankfully the scans and Xrays didn't show any damage as a result of the accident and I'm here typing with a sore back and neck and a bruised ego. I consider myself fortunate.


To all those that helped and those that possess the ability to learn from other's mistakes... For your viewing pleasure:

"If you can read this, roll me over."

 

[robjacobsen]

Glad to here you are just stiff and sore. When we arrived on scene in the safety truck and saw you on your knees behind the car, we were worried. Sore muscles will heal with some time. Thanks for posting the video. very informative. Heal up and get to work on the car. I'm sure it will buff right out.

 

[rick_bostrom]

All I want to say is I am very happy you are well!

 

[Ken Killam]

Other than the initial error that got you there, you did everything right, Colin.

I'm glad you are on the mend and hope you can get back in the saddle soon .

 

[Bonnie]

OH MY GOSH COLIN! What an amazing video. Thanks to the racing gods who sat on your shoulder through that crash! I was telling my new workers at Turn 8 about you earlier as we watched the fantastic race you had with Rick in Group 5 - awesome! It is always heart-stopping to hear "injured driver" over the comm line, never EVER what we want to hear on the corners. I am so grateful you are okay, thanks for letting us know, and for posting that wild ride you took!

 

[Steve Adams]

I knew about the incident from some SM guys paddocked near me, then I heard there might've been an injury, then I heard which car number it was and said, "Oh sh*t, that's Colin!" Glad you're generally okay. Really impressed with how you managed to keep your wits about you after the dust had settled, but also with how you seemed to have the presence of mind during the roll to keep repositioning your hands on the steering wheel.

As they say, cars can be fixed or replaced; people typically less so.

 

[Richard Broadhead]

Well I wasn't there but I'm glad to hear you made it through with minimum aches and pains.

Fantastic series of images of the incident. But, I couldn't help but laugh when it showed the last one inside the car during the roll over.... after the car came to rest you felt it was very important to 'center' the steering wheel so the wheels would be pointed straight! LOLOL.

The second thing is, you were seriously hauling going into 6 with no noticeable lift? You were shockingly fast there buddy. Having worked many, many races (ICSCC, SCCA, Sovren and Performance Driving School) at Turn 7 station I've seen a lot of cars (perhaps one or two per weekend) do exactly what happened to you. Some with similar results some with less damage. Regardless, Turn 6 is a corner that deserves attention (just as tricky as T5) it's up hill so the tendency is to swallow and extra brave pill and push on hard. Not a good idea.

 

[kbsmith1]

Glad you only came out with some soreness. FWIW, This video serves a great training video of how to get out of a car inverted.

 

[colin_koehler]

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

Richard: It was a pretty standard approach for our cars This time the understeer reduced quickly leading to moment of oversteer and the rear tire traveled just beyond the track and that was that. I'll put up the video of the very excellent race from Group 5 and you'll see how we approach the corner and when I set 2 off, it's pretty uneventful.. well until it isn't. It is a corner that deserves respect and I clearly didn't give the respect it deserves.

Straightening the steering wheel: I was going through the getting-out-of-my-car routine in my head just like I do when I park in the paddock and apparently it's a habit to center my steering wheel before detaching it. The OCD was still intact when upside down apparently.

 

[Alberto Fonseca]

Hey Colin, I missed this race but just catching up here and after watching the video just wanted to say I'm glad you're okay.

 

[tony_hauser]

Glad to hear you are OK, Colin, after watching that video. You are a class act and we hope to see you back out there soon.

 

[jrhaile]

SUPER glad you're OK Colin.

 

[KyleKeenan]

Colin, very glad you were ok....I get so nervous anytime there's a black flag all at Pacific and I was relieved to hear you exited the car under your own power.

I do want to say, it was seriously impressive how the Honda Challenge and several other drivers/teams stopped what they were doing to help clean up your pit area and pack up your trailer. Hats off to all of those guys and girls for helping you out, that was so awesome to see!