Chris Oakley in the hospital

[Oberstwill]

Rough few weeks for SCCA members and "The Dragon". Another one of our members wrecked on the Dragon today and is in the hospital with a broken back (and form his pictures of the car he looks lucky to be alive).......

We need to pray for his recovery.

Also maybe it is time to rethink those so called 'Dragon runs". That road has too many people on it and it is way too dangerous when there is even a hint of moisture. There are plenty of really nice roads out there to drive on which are much safer........

[thrdeye]

Chris is a great guy and I wish him a speedy recovery. He's posting on facebook pretty regularly, so I'm hoping he's not that bad.

He's had some real bad luck with that Sentra though. I think he hit a wild boar up near the dragon a while back, messed it up pretty good....and some other incidents here and there. But, seeing the pics, it's not fixable this time.

I haven't been up there in years. Just not worth it. Any road can be really dangerous, but I have to take my socks off now to count the number of people that I know that have lost it up there on or near the dragon.

[dfoulk]

I wish Chris a speedy and complete recovery. I have not met him but did read about his accident on I-75 Motorsports' FB page. The popularity of that road has changed the nature of driving it unless you are willing to take stupid big risks. When I do go, it is on a cold dry day after the leaves are down. Even then, I don't push the limits like I did 30 years ago before the motorcycle magazines wrote about it. Laid back cruise is a better description of how I drive it these days. The memory I have burned into my brain is a commercial van coming towards me with its rear wheels on one side in the air. It damn near fell over on me. Thankfully, the truck driver was competent enough to regain control. I was in a Saab Sonett so the truck would have squashed me like a bug.

[integra55]

I've lived in the shadow of the Dragon since 1955. and to this day I've never driven it …. guess I'll have to sooner or later, but with it's "popularity" now-a-days, I can't imagine driving it at more than 5/10's … and then just pray that no one comes around a curve in my lane

thoughts and prayers to Chris

[MARKP]

Hope he will be ok soon and sorry about his car.

I'm not against going down the dragon since I really like Deals Gap and Fontana Dam. The last several times I have gone have been in an SUV or the wife's Jeep if that gives you an idea of how fast I drive it. It's just not worth it to drive it more than 6/10this with all the potential hazards out there.

Sent from the Galaxy

[steverife]

Too many people I know use that place as their personal racetrack. I used to do the same, so hopefully they outgrow it. Hopefully, they all have a chance to outgrow it.

[John Brown]

the last time I did that,was several years ago.. maybe 7. I was in the Mazda, Curt was in his new at the time Mini.. and we left the rest of the group.. waaay too fast. I know we almost hit each other several times.. I can remember thinking that this made me much more nervous than full out on a race track with 30 other cars...

Iv not had a desire to do it since...

[Wheelman_13]

Yeah, that's about where I've landed with it. After my first few trips to a legitimate racetrack, it just lost its allure. Any time I go up there, good sense dictates that I leave so much on the table that I end up not going quick enough for it to be fun.

I go years between trips, and although I've gone up there with friends within the past year or so, I've made a point to get in the back of any line because I trust my brakes and driving more than I trust theirs.

Also, for those not following on FB, it soulds like Chris broke his back, so will be laid up for some time although to be clear he was walking around so doesn't appear to be any paralysis (thank goodness he got checked out before doing anything that might have made it worse).

[flier129]

He posted up late last night that he won't have to have surgery and will only need to be in a brace. I figure that's good news. I've ran with Chris many many times and he's pretty disciplined and doesn't do anything too far out. Each year that passes I loose the urge to drive fast.... I've spun out about 4 times on that road and I've been extremely lucky every time. I usually only go up to hang out with friends.

[ke0ki2k]

Glad Chris won't have to get cut - I hope that injury doesn't plague him like most back injuries do. Also hope the financials of the injury don't prevent him from coming back around to the autox scene

Marcus and I spent years going way too fast up there every other weekend - pretty much 'flat out' many, many times.. especially late at night - and it really is miraculous none of us wrecked our cars, our bodies, or someone else. I've had a lot of great times up there, but after I tore up my race car I decided to let the Gap have the final say. My days of running up there are over, I can't get that lucky again (clipping trees just enough to slow me down without totally ruining the chassis or hurting me).

[flier129]

Yup, the "Where the hell did James go?" moment.