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Well I'm back home from a great weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway and had a fun time.I traveled down with a relative so it was just the two of us since we are the diehard race fans I guess!LOL.Anyway we almost didn't quite make it due to a mishap on the interstate in VA.For those of you who are familiar with Interstate 81 it is a narrow two lane roadway thats packed with semi trailers and cars traveling quite fast leaving little distance between each other.Your lucky if you get four car lengths in front of you and to the rear.Anyway I was just north of Roanoke heading south in the left lane when someone ahead of cars I was behind stopped short for what ever reason. I was forced to make an evasive manouver to the left shoulder as otherwise I would have ran into the car in front of me.I missed that car but because there really is no real paved shoulder I hit the grass median at 70 mph!After that all I can say is that it was one hellava ride as I locked the brakes and cut the wheel to the right as the car skidded who knows how many hundreds of feet down an embankment towards a ditch between the north and south bound lanes.Fortunately the car came to a stop just feet from being wrecked in the ditch!It veered back away from the ditch towards the end of the slide because my wheels were cut right.Since the ground was hard due to lack of rain I was able to drive back up the embankment to the roadway.This whole incident could not have taken more than one minute to play out.I consider myself very lucky as that could have had much worse results.The other issue being my car was a rented luxury vehicle that I declined the extra coverage that would have prevented me from paying any damage I did to that car no matter how bad it was.So somebody was looking after me that day for sure!Just for the record my rental was a 2006 Buick Lacrosse.Other than that incident which actually made me feel like one of those race car drivers it was a fantastic weekend.I'm including a pic of me at the track that evening as it was a night race.Sorry about my rambling but I feel we really care about each other here and I just wanted to tell all you guys about what happened.Thanks for taking the time to read my post.Mark
Hey Mark, the main thing is that your safe and sound. Glad you made it back in one piece and nice pic of oyu and the track. Looks like alot of fun. Take care
I guess it was a split between luck and not panicking when it all happened so quickly as even my co pilot didn't utter a word throughout the whole event.Kind of left him speechless I guess.Thanks for the kind words.Mark
I'm sure an experience like that would have opened up every pore in my skin. I know from experience (in my case skidding out on snow and ice a few times) that when something like that starts to happen, then everything happens very fast. Sounds like you did a great job handling the vehicle, and a buick which probably has mushy suspension, was hard to control i bet.
Well even though its not my type of car that I would buy it was amazing how sure footed it remained throughout the whole incident. I think the anti lock brakes were confused by the surface and seemed to just remain locked up.Probably a good thing as I needed to slow down the forward motion in a hurry.I tell you one thing though glad I wasn't driving an SUV as I'm sure it would have flipped in that incident.Guess you can't beat a good old sedan for stability.Mark
Glad you made it through that mishap. Sounds like you did a fine piece of driving to avoid a bad wreck. It's a good thing you steered back into the direction of the drift or else you would have probably turned it over.
I absolutely LOATHE those Interstates up in western North Carolina and western Virigina where you are talking about. They are so scary especially when you feel like you are on the edge of the cliff with a semi-truck on the other side of you going up through the really mountainous parts.
Bristol is fun to watch isn't it? It is loud though! A few years ago they covered the track in clay dirt and held some super-late model races there. I talked to a guy who went up there and drove, and he said you could flat-foot the car all the way around the track. Sounds like fun!
Hi Bragi and yes that I-81 is really a nasty road as the average speed must be 80 mph or else you get run over. Those semi trailers are the worst as you get pined in and really feel trapped at times.Unfortunately its the most direct route to Bristol for me so I just count my blessings every year I travel down that way.
Yes I do remember them covering the track with dirt as that had to have been wild to see.Must have been one heck of a clean up though!Mark
I have found when in a similar situation that it takes about 10 seconds longer than forever while you are going through it; it almost seems as if it is in slow motion.
Glad you were able to take evasive manuvers and come out relatively unscathed. You are right; the people here do care about one another, we are what I call "kindred spirits". I hope to keep some of these contacts for a long time to come.
Glad you're OK.
Big George
Hi Big George! I'm so glad that little incident didn't produce a worse result as I consider myself fortunate to have made it through with no damage to the occupants and the car.Its so hard to leave proper distance while driving as cars behind you sit on your bumper if you don't push the speed limit.Its just an accident waiting to happen on that roadway as I sure found out.
Yes I do find this a great place to talk it out with such nice people.Couldn't ask for better friends as too bad they are so far away.Mark
Oh man that must have been one scary ride! Wow I am so glad you had the quick reflexes and a heavy dose of luck with you then :) Just reading your story set my heart racing faster!
I know I81 and like many Interstates its packed with lots of people who don't seem to grasp the basic law of inertia :)
I do believe people get so comfortable in their luxury they sometimes forget (myself included) that they are piloting a torpedo of tons of steel and plastic :)
O BTW your pic looks terrific, almost forgot in the excitement!
damn... crazy story man. Pics look good. Keep rockin!
-Ardroth