This is perhaps the most difficult post I have made and hopefully will ever make on Minkara. To be honest, it's hard to even pick a starting point because all memories of that day bring with it a sting that hasn't quite faded yet. But at the same time, I do feel like I'm ready to move on and this post is a part of that process. So here it goes...
November 1st, 2014 was supposed to be one of my highlights for the year as it was my first track day with the FD at NJMP Thunderbolt, a track I was very familiar with as I had been riding my bike there for the past 6 years. I had been anticipating this event for a couple of months and it was finally here. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a rainy and unusually cold day for that time of year. But thanks to my stubborn nature, the cold and rain wasn't going to stop me from getting out on track. So with a determined resolve, I woke up at 5am and got ready to head out despite the rainy and wet conditions. Ted tagged along, but as a passenger, not in his FD, as he's much smarter than I am and doesn't drive his FD in the rain.
It rained pretty heavily the whole way down to the track. We finally got to the track at 8am and it was practically a ghost town. I could count the number of people in attendance on my two hands. I guess it wasn't just Ted that was smarter than me, it was the majority of people as well. The morning routine was pretty much the same as always, tech inspection, riders meeting, etc. They told us we'd be running 30 minute sessions of two groups, one car group and one bike group, as there simply were not enough people to warrant any more groups. I was ecstatic as I knew this meant tons of track time. Armed with my GoPros and my lap timer I hit the track.
I did about 7 or 8 thirty minute sessions with a lunch break in the middle. I took it extremely easy the whole time, making sure I slowed down to let anyone behind me pass. As the day went on my confidence went up slowly, but still I was very careful to not push too hard, although on a few separate occasions the car did get a little squirrelly but nothing too crazy.
Coming down the front straight at Thunderbolt:
About the second to last session of the day, I went out as usual, not realizing the temperatures had started dropping, and by that point it was pretty much business as usual, especially considering I had already spent roughly four hours out on track in the same conditions by then. Needless to say, I was comfortable driving in those conditions, or so I thought. About 4 or 5 laps into the session, as I was coming up out of the bowl into the final chicane leading onto the front straight, I turned the car left to set it up for the final turn when suddenly the rear lost traction and I started sliding. Because of the cold and wet conditions I didn't stand a chance of recovering from the slide, not to mention that I was off track which might as well have been ice because there was 0 traction. In addition, that was probably the worst place to crash because there was zero runoff and going off track meant going into the wall. As I was sliding I knew impact was imminent, I just didn't know how bad it would be. I first hit the guardrail on the front drivers side at which point the whole left side started dragging against the rail, then the car careened off to the right across the track and crashed head on into the guardrail on the other side at which point the car finally came to a stop. Shock didn't even begin to describe what I was feeling, but at least I appeared to be unharmed, until I noticed I couldn't move my left thumb. The ambulance and tow truck arrived a couple of minutes later and I got out of the car and into the ambulance. I took my helmet and gloves off and saw that my left thumb was dislocated. I was taken to the small facility onsite where they assess you and determine whether or not you need to be taken to the hospital. First thing I did was call Jen to let her know what happened and also that I would be needing a ride home. Despite having a dislocated thumb, I was more concerned with how I was going to get the car home, so I declined the hospital trip and figured I would get the car squared away first then head to the hospital afterwards.
This is the most painful picture i've ever had to take of my car...i couldn't even look at this picture until recently when i came around and decided to make this post:
Luckily for me, car friends are always super helpful in times like this. Simon, who was with a bunch of other guys at Lightning, the other NJMP track, came over with Jeff and Tim to see if I was ok. Simon generously offered to call AAA for me to get a tow truck to get the car home and Ted offered to ride with the tow truck and cover any additional cost that might not be covered by AAA. Once that got sorted out I felt a little more at ease, but at the same time I was left sitting there with nothing but my thoughts which only served to drag me further into a depressive state as the shock of what happened started to fade and the reality of it all started to sink in. As difficult as it was to accept the loss of something so significant to me, I couldn't help but feel relieved that it wasn't the loss of a person, or more specifically a loved one. The car ultimately is replaceable/rebuildable but people cannot be replaced and I was overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude that I could still go home and see my wife and two kids. God was gracious to me, and I was thankful to him.
My brother ended up coming to get me and take me to the hospital where they x-ray'd my thumb and confirmed it wasn't broken, just dislocated. The doctor proceeded to numb my thumb and pop it back into place. Before that, the thumb was burning like it was on fire, but once it was popped back into place it felt normal again, despite not being able to bend it still. To this day I'm still not sure how I dislocated it. At first I assumed it was the steering wheel that knocked it out of place but there was this mysterious crack on my windshield which couldn't have been a result of contact with my helmet because the location didn't leave much room for the helmet, plus the helmet had 0 damage on it. After I watched the crash footage on my GoPro I started thinking perhaps my thumb hit the windshield but it happened so quickly that it's really hard to tell even with the video.
I got home that night and was amazed to find my car actually parked in my garage. Major props to Ted for going above and beyond the call of duty to help another rotorhead out. The next morning, I woke up and stupidly thought I could get started on tearing down the car. I managed to jack the car up on all fours, take one wheel off and one caliper off before I gave up and went back into the house. The next time I walked back into that garage was two months later, and in that time, I removed everything car related from my life, desktop/laptop/phone wallpapers, all pictures on my phone, Instagram, Facebook, etc. Anything that remotely reminded me of my car I got rid of simply because it was too painful to see. Looking back, I'm pretty sure I was depressed for those two months...having trouble sleeping, having dreams about my car, falling asleep randomly throughout the day. My wife said it was PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). But on the flip side, those two months away from cars allowed me to focus my attention on other things in my life, such as transitioning into a new role at work, and spending some quality time with my family. It wasn't until New Year's Day, exactly two months from that tragic day, that the cloud of depression started to lift and I set my sights on what needed to be done to revive REsuper7.
This is how i would like to remember the original REsuper7
The above photos are all courtesy of Peter who i had just met that day...thanks to his awesome photography skills i got to see some amazing shots of my car in its final hour.
Here are some additional bonus images that Ted took with my camera that day...again, HUGE thanks to Ted for being there to help me get through the day and for getting the car home and into the garage!
Bonus Images:
Spring Break 
