Tragedy at MSR

[altiain]

On Saturday, March 4, 2006 shortly after noon, during the NASA Formula Mazda race at MotorSport Ranch, a racing accident claimed the life of Greg Bruder when his car collided with another Formula Mazda which had
spun in turn #2 (Ricochet).

Greg got into driving/racing and became a member of the Ranch about a
year ago. Although I hadn't the pleasure of meeting Greg myself, his
friends and fellow drivers describe him as one of the finest individuals
and aspiring drivers who would beam at the mere mention of racing his
car.

Sharon and I and the entire staff at MSR are deeply saddened by this
racing accident and the resulting loss of a fellow driver and member of
the club.
Please join us in keeping Greg's wife, daughters, and other family
members in your thoughts and prayers.

A memorial fund is being established at this time. More information
regarding this will follow.

Visitation will be Tuesday, March 7, 2006 from 2:00 till 4:00 and 6:00
till 8:00

The funeral is to be held on Wednesday, March 8, 2006

Bluebonnet Hills Funeral Home
5725 Colleyville Blvd
Collyeville, TX 76034
(817) 281-8751



Best regards,

Jack and Sharon Farr
www.motorsportranch.com

A sad day indeed. My prayers go out to the family.

[Treibenschnell]

A sad day indeed. My prayers go out to the family.

Indeed...

[Sharpie]

I've been looking for a news article on this. My friend Paul called me last night and told me that his wifes co-worker (a teacher) got a call about her husband dieing in an accident at a race track, but he didn't know which one. He thought it was MSR.

Prayers sent.

[blackzx3_13]

My thoughs and prayers are with his family.

[Screamin'Screw]

This is a dangerous sport and we all need to remember to keep safety first and speed second. Thoughts go out to his family and friends.

[MadMerv]

You come over the hill toward Ricochet at 110mph and only have a split-second to react to a spin in front of you. These are REAL race cars, and are really built well and I wouldn't have expected this. It's just like the Dale Earhardt accident, just takes a special set of circumstances. We sometimes forget how frail the human body is.......

[altiain]

An update:

The official cause of death was heart failure, resulting from internal
secondary injuries from the accident. He was wearing a HANS. According to
doctors at the receiving hospital, Greg Bruder's aortic vessel collapsed
momentarily after impact.

This was announced by NASA officials at the racer's meeting Sunday morning.
It, needless to say, was very somber.

According to witnesses and reports from the accident scene (MSR officials,
emergency officials, NASA Texas officials and other safety crew), there was
no helmet damage/marks, nor any other visible external bodily damage.
Besides the standard EMS crew, there was an ambulance on scene. There was
also a Fort Worth Harris Methodist ER doctor (who was a driver in the
Formula Vee run group) on scene. Then, there was Care Flight on scene.

Greg did have to be extracted from the cockpit of his FM. The driver's
compartment was deformed, but not breached. It was a right side impact on
Greg's FM, and a rear impact on Austin's car. Again, information from the
officials on the scene, as well as visual evidence.

There's a lot of documentation on this incident, despite rumors of the
opposite, as well as rumors of the incident happening different than what
Jack put out in his email to the membership. From corner workers (one being
our very own Michael W), to track position/lap timing records (which Michael
helped out with as well), to trackside video, and some of my photography,
there was a lot of things to pull into the investigation. It's an area that
everyone at MSR and NASA Texas has never had to deal with.

Myself, I was photographing the race moving around Rattlesnake and Wagon
Wheel on the four wheeler. I had a track radio for communication.
Afterward, I talked with a lot of the corner workers, and had to answer to
track and race officials in the investigation, both Saturday and Sunday.

My last image of Greg was one lap (possibly two) before the incident,
according to my camera date/time. About 7 cars after he passed me, I had to
go in to download the memory cards. On the way, I heard about the incident.

It's a little weird having the last image ever made of Greg. I'm donating
all the images for a slideshow at the funeral, as well as a matted/framed
poster of this image to his wife and family. Greg and Ellen have three
daughters. Don't know all their ages. His wife and one daughter, age 13,
were there that I know of. I also heard his father was there.

Greg (driver of the #11 FM) and Austin (driver of the #64 FM) have been/are
customers of mine.

R.I.P. Greg Bruder

[Screamin'Screw]

Somebody please tell me that Austin #64 refered to in the previous post is not Austin Snader. Snader is only 14 years old and drives the #64 FM out of S&S Motorsports.

[ccage]

I remember back in high school I was working a corner at Ardmore, OK when there was a bad incident involving a FF driver. The drivers had rallied to untie the tires used in a chicane (it was an airport track). A driver ahead hit the tires, the next driver kicked one up, and the victim caught it in the face.

It's so easy to forget that racing is dangerous. Roll protection, seat belts, fuel cells, crash boxes, helmet technology, positive pressure systems, HANS -- the list is long. Thank the Gods we don't have the fire issues we had in the 1950s. I'm sure more than one of this board's readers has read Bob Bondurant's story of watching a friend burn.

In the last 50 years things have changed tremendously. I remember in the early 90s when Nigel Mansell crashed in an F1 Ferrari. The nose came off at top speed down a straight and he just shot right into the wall at the end. At almost 200 mph, it shot him halfway down the next straight. He'd just taken 90L of fuel. You could see the corner workers approach the car, then back away quickly -- the only way to really see the fire, except for the waves of rising heat. After almost a minute in the fire, he walked away with a broken arm and slight burns on the tops of his wrists (since he chose to wear gloves instead of gauntlets). Amazing. Yet it's this kind of thing that makes us forget.

My heart goes out to this man's family and friends. I wish there were something better to say.

Chuck

[MadMerv]

This one has been really tough on me for the past twenty-four hours. I just can't get it out of my mind. I didn't know Greg, but he was part of the MSR family, and it is like my second home. I guess, as I get older, the reality of death becomes more and more apparent. It won't stop me from racing, as I know I'm safer on the track than on the streets, but I know I will have more respect for Ricochet. I've never looped it there, but have had to avoid many that have, and the 3.1 is going to make it more dangerous than it has been, simply due to the increased speed coming from that new, long sweeper.

Merv

[Majik]

I wish there were something better to say.

Chuck

I think we all feel the same way. You said it pretty well though. Merv you are right too, even in the few times I have done Miatas days at the ranch I have had to dodge spinning cars coming out of ricochet.