Video View: Full Vault Productions Episode Released From Sunday Catch Fence Accident At Speedbowl



Capture from the Vault Productions video from Sunday at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl

Vault Productions was on hand Sunday at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl filming the season ending SK Modified feature at the shoreline oval.

Late Tuesday night Vault Productions released its full episode from Sunday’s SK Modified feature and the ensuing aftermather from Tim Jordan’s terrifying catchfence crash.

Check out video below from Vault Productions.

Comments

  1. Awesome Job Sid and Crew!!! Glad there were no serious injuries. What a scary accident that could have been tragic. Glad Bruce had a new fence installed. Incredible video!

  2. If he isn’t in it, he’s always around it.

  3. In another thread the 1983 incident with Corky Cookman going into the stands was mentioned. A worse case scenario that arguably may have provided design clues to the engineered changes that took place at the Speedbowl in early 2016. What strikes me is the difference in the media approach between the two events.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTEADizAWY4

    Above is a race that happened about a month after the Cookman incident. It’s my era and the guys I competed against at Stafford. You’re probably not interested in watching the entire thing but if you did you’d hear names like Paquette, Silvester, Mavlouganas, Larry Vassar, Steve Chowanski and others that would go on to greater success in higher divisions. If you look closely the more significant design changes in the front stretch were not yet made. If you listen closely you’ll hear the call of a much younger Ben Dodge that leads me to the point of this.
    I was there an in the bleachers near where the car landed that were wood at the time. Like you’d expect pandemonium ensued, most dazed not really able to grasp what had happened. Ben Dodge was pretty cool as events unfolded. Great at the time making all the announcements you expect including making way for emergency personnel then guiding the big crowd through the entire aftermath keeping us informed and as calm as possible through the entire ordeal. Ed Yarrington was the promoter at the time with no communication skills so it fell upon Dodge primarily to interact with the media and he was more then up to the task.

    https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/06/nyregion/30-hurt-in-race-car-accident.html

    It was the hay day for local racing with big crowds weekly and the sports media routinely covered the races. In the aftermath the events and track response were covered and the track management was fairly forthcoming in their approach to the media by choice or necessity.
    What we see at the Speedbowl is quite different. There was no media account in the immediate aftermath because no media was there other then Vault Productions. Vault Productions contribution so far just south of 4 minutes post crash. They’ve got camera’s galore, showed the accident and the brief dust up between the drivers but no coverage of what happened where people were injured. No panning of the damage or follow up on the way the injured were being attended to. There is a ghoulish factor to navigate but nothing!!!
    “And the word we’re getting from the accident scene is Tim Jordan is OK” says Matt Buckler. Fine but what about the chaos being the wall?

    This release pretty much sums up the approach to this.

    “We’re happy to report everyone involved in tonight’s incident will be okay.
    Thanks to the Cohanzie Fire Department and EMTs for their help.
    We will release relevant details about any scheduling plans as soon as theyre made available.
    Goodnight from the Speedbowl”

    That’s at 8:25 soon after the crash when there is no way they could know the extent of the injuries being treated at the hospital.
    I get it. What happens at the Speedbowl stays at the Speedbowl. By circumstance after the struggles by the owner that’s the way he wants it and the fan base supports it for the most part.
    In my view this is all surreal. A major event at a local track and virtually nothing independent of the track being reported on it. Smacktoberfest delayed, the SK event will be finished but the fence repair, changes in policy or investigation not covered at all.
    I would think that if the track is to get back to being all it can be at some point some member of the sports media should have a seat in the bus. Put him or her in the back if you want but let them in.
    Vault Productions the biggest disappointment so far. Special circumstances like this only happen so often and you either step up like Ben Dodge did in 1983 or you stay in the lane the track assigned to you. Vault Production firmly in the lane assigned at least so far anyway.
    It’s your track you can do whatever the hell you like but is it in the best interest of the track, fans and sport in the long run is the question.

  4. Doug,

    I don’t think its fair to call anything Vault Productions did as a disappointment. I actually think, for the position they’re in, I give them a lot of credit for what they were able to get out. I actually thought management would shut them down and would not want anymore footage of the wreck coming out then what was released the evening it happened.
    You’re right about it being an insulated situation down there in terms of media and promotion. Independent media is the enemy on those grounds right now. They want nothing to do with it. I spoke with the general manager at length before this season and was basically told I was welcome to come cover events as long as everything I wrote was positive and approved by management. And no, I’m not going to put myself in a position where I’m handing off my work to a track manager for editing or approval before it gets published. That’s 1980’s Kremlin-esque type “coverage”.
    I’m sure the folks with Vault Productions have to walk a tightrope on how far they go with whatever they do there. I’m just glad they’re in there and at least something is coming out from behind the curtain.

  5. Just imagine what is going on that is not being reported.

    This is what happens when a free press is suppressed.

    This is exactly what Trump tried to do: gain iron fisted control over the media.

  6. 🌈🦄2020 says

    Just imagine what’s going on and what happened that night that Dafella doesn’t know about. I guess if you don’t know how to use social media or turn on a TV you’re out of luck. Did the catch fence have cabling? The world may never know.

  7. Stop it already ! Like the sign say’s when you walk though the gate at Lebanon valley speedway , ( Stock car racing is a dangerous sport ) Please stay alert for flying debris and away from catch fence . Thank You Howie for reminding us . Doug you need to take it easy on yourself !

  8. After I write something that expresses strong opinions I look to the right to see if a Shawn Courchesne pops up right after and wonder oh boy. What I say wrong now.
    This wasn’t bad at all. Sure you’re going to be supportive of the folks at Vault Production. They’re colleague’s and perhaps friends and there’s all that high quality content they put out. All I said was I’m disappointed in one element but am firmly in the grateful fan category otherwise.
    The value added part was learning about the conversation at the beginning of the year and conditions. None of it surprising but impactful to see it in writing.
    The really surreal part is the wording and phrasing:

    -“for the position they’re in, I give them a lot of credit for what they were able to get out.”
    -“I’m just glad they’re in there and at least something is coming out ”
    -“I’m sure the folks with Vault Productions have to walk a tightrope”
    -Independent media is the enemy on those grounds right now”.
    -” I actually thought management would shut them down and would not want anymore footage of the wreck coming out”

    What they were able to get out!!!!! What the hell Shawn. I’ve heard my share of spin and sugar coating over the years. Never did I think getting information out would be something to be grateful for associated with local racing.
    On the Vault Production, Making Laps podcast they talked about fines and penalties at the Speedbowl for any competitor that said bad things about track on social media. I thought it was colorful banter but maybe there is something to it. Maybe it was more the track making veiled threats by word of mouth. You go off the reservation and there will be consequences.
    Larry David on his Curb HBO show does an episode where he opens a “spite” coffee shop next to one he felt he was treated badly by. Sounds like the owner of the Speedbowl is running a “spite” track.
    It’s all so myopic and unseemly.
    That’s no way to run a track. I hope Tri Track and the NWMT continue to stay away. Enabling that nonsense is not good for the long term well being of the sport at all.

  9. Doug,
    I haven’t recently dug through their rulebook, but as far as the part about fines/penalties for people making negative remarks on social media, I would imagine that’s very likely true. It’s actually not uncommon these days for tracks or regional divisions to put wording in their rules about posting on social media.

  10. There was actually a stuggling racetrack in ohio that finally gave up and shut down because of social media. He was trying to build the place back up and increase both car and crowd count, but got increasingly tired and frustrated with being at war with a small group of peple making harsh negatative and sometimes fraudulent posts on facebook. He finally gave up and closed the track.

  11. There is in fact Section 1.3.1 Social Media Conduct Policy that deals with it but mostly limits it to malevolent commentary, untruths and threats including those to officials. In my view it seems perfectly reasonable. If there is anything going on regarding penalties for any negative commentary including truth based opinions then that is not in print as far as I can see. It is private property and they can basically ban anyone for any reason which is also made clear in the rules.
    I shouldn’t have introduced that. This is about sports/news media being shut out. In view of the Connecticut Supreme Court ruling perhaps going forward they can consider normalizing their media relationships without conditions that end up being non starters.

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