NOVAwhiteTypeS

I know I probably shouldn't be saying this since I race all the time. But today while I was eating my dinner I got a call from a friend.

"Joel passed away saturday!"
I immediatly chocked on my food and dropped my utencils.

I don't know if you all remember around 5 months ago when I said i was racing a bunch of MD friends on the highway, supercharged civic, hooked up accords and all. Well its the guy in the accord.

This is a total shock to me. and realized how life can be so unforgiving and how dangerous the game we play are.

For about 5 min I was just stuck pondering and trying to think of how and what happen.

They said he got into a major accident on RT270 going to MD and he passed away saturday morning. He was onlly 19 and was a really good friend of mine.

Everyone, I really feel like you all are my 2nd family and wouldn't want to hear any one of you get hurt. I know everyone loves to hear about street racing and I do too, but this just hit me soo hard I can't even believe it.

RIP Joel

and everyone please keep racing to the tracks and PLEASE wear your seatbelt.

JRock

Weird, Rt270 in MD is where I raced that Mustang 5.0 Saturday night. Didn't hear anything about an accident earlier in the day.

Sorry to hear what happened. Hope you are dealing with it allright.

-J

ruvz

Sorry to hear that! Yes, the streets are NOT a playground, you must know your limits. There's nothing wrong with speeding a little, but don't engage in stupid games.

To be honest, I am a little dissapointed to see the Racing Stories thread still existing on this board. Other boards like clubrsx.com shut down threads discussing illegal street racing and I feel like ACL.com is actually promoting it, hence a contributing factor to unfortunate deaths such as Joel's (RIP)..

I say get rid of that forum and replace is with something a bit more useful.

typeR

sorry bro!

acura_service

sorry to hear about your friend

Infamuz

SOrry to hear that, life is so precious!

Shawn S

I lost a close friend just after high school that was racing.
That was 15-yrs ago and I still think about it from time to time.
I know exactly what you are going through right now.

Shawn S

so cal type s_RENAMED

damn that sucks. sorry to hear about that. .
do you know the details? was he actually racing?

NOVAwhiteTypeS

Yup he was racing w/ no seatbelt.
I don't even think I can sleep tonight.

Black CL-S 4-Life

Sorry to hear about this...so sad.

superdds

hang in there bro.

cl-driver

Sorry to hear about your friend. May he rest in peace. Its hard to understand the dangers of racing until it really its home. I almost lost a friend when he was racing. He flipped his 94' Maxima 5 times (not even 2 weeks old). Luckily he was thrown out of the sunroof. The police said he would have died if the sunroof wasn't open. He was in a coma for 2 months. He has metal plates in his head and leg and a rod in his arm. RACING IS DANGEROUS. WE ALL LOVE IT, BUT PLEASE REFRAIN FROM IT.

KikAzCL97

Hey man sorry about your friend, it must be hard. I can even remember how many kids died in my home town just from driving fast, they weren't racing just driving to damn fast! So, even if your not racing still watch your speed because anything can happen!

gobridge

Sorry about your friend. I hope this thread gives someone pause the next time they think about driving recklessly. When I was younger, I drove like a maniac and got into a pretty nasty accident. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt. This served as a wake-up call for me and I got my act together.

Marc S

Sorry to hear about your friend bro. Hang in there, things will get better. I am 19 and i drive a little crazy from time to time. Like tonight i was behind a SEPTA bus and it was a windy road 1 lane each way. and i didn't wanna be behind him. So i gased it up and passed him (going into oncoming traffic) but i was near a curve, and i didn't think a guy could have been speeding in that oncoming lane. Thank god there wasn't, but at that moment i told myself i have to be more careful. It really is not worth it to drive fast and crazy. It makes me think, Everyone should get to learn from their mistakes, but some people don't always get the chance to. I hope everyone is very careful and always drives responsibly. Again im sorry to hear about your friend.

Marc

Mugen_Power

AMEN to not street racing...may your friend rest in peace

dmercado

Sorry to hear about your friend.

To use the public streets for racing is just not worth it and just not right.

I have to admit that:

I do get that invincible feeling sometimes when I hammer the car well over the speed limit.

I do get all revved up when I see a potential race coming on.

I have been in a big accident in my old skool '98 Talon Tsi AWD, almost killing myself and my girl friend.

Considering myself lucky, it's just not worth racing after all the fines I recieved from that street racing accident.

Take care.

kensteele

Sorry to hear about your friend. Makes me think about the speeding that I was doing on the way home just tonight.

We have airbags and we all try to be safe. But seatbelts are a must. If you're gonna drive fast, at least do everyone a favour and do everything within your power to save your own life from the beginning, starting with the seat belts.

SD_surfer

really sorry to hear that!

phatpat

sorry to hear about your friend, bro...just hang in there.

and yes, PLEASE wear your seatbelts FIRST THING when you enter your car...should be a habit like breathing

FDao

I second that. Sorry to hear the sad news Nova.

friendlydacat

Sorry to hear about your friend. And as for seatbelts, I actually feel "naked" if I don't wear them while in a car.

tel1sps

Sorry to hear about your friend.

Marine1

Sorry to hear about your friend. When you put a 3000lb. plus machine in the hands of the fearless (youths), bad things can and often do happen. We have all been guilty more than once. It is just by the Grace of God that we are still here.

Let's all do the right thing and be safe. We all know how to enjoy our cars safely. Life is too precious to waste.

eclipse23

God Damn Joe!

Just read your post, I am soo sorry to hear that. I've lost 1 friend to a race, he switched lanes right into the back of an 18 wheeler. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your friend Joel. Hang in there and if you need to talk (or get abused) call me.

Neech

My thoughts are with you, bro.

NOVAwhiteTypeS

Thank you everyone for your support.

I'll probably attend his funeral soon, and most of his friends are racers too so hopefully everyone will learn from this bad tragedy.

[ 07-31-2001: Message edited by: NOVAwhiteTypeS ]

The Green Hornet

I am very sorry to hear about your friend...this is the hardest way to learn one of life's lessons and I feel for you. I had the unfortunate experience of watching someone get killed in a street race when I was young, and believe me, nothing puts your brain cells into alignment faster than seeing something like that. It is a horrible experience and one that you never forget. Going to the track (with proper safety equipment of course) is the only way to go, and a helluva lot more fun. If memory serves, not too long ago I posted on this board about the stupidity of street racing. As a result, I was nailed to a proverbial cross by a few other members. The insinuation being that I was a real a-hole didn't know how to have fun, wasn't I ever a kid, etc. I cut the debate off and at the same time wondered how long it would be before we had to read a sad post like this one.

Nothing personal ruvz, but a quick search of the Racing Stories forum turns up several posts from you about street races you've gotten into, including goading some teenager into a race. Now you're in here speaking out about the evils of street racing and want that forum removed? Sounds a bit like grandstanding to me...

I think it's time for a little responsibility and common sense to prevail. I hope the administrators of this site will agree and use this opportunity to remove the Racing Stories thread.