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PRUETT: Triple Stint, 10.31
Ten Years And A Month, If You Could Fix Just One Thing For 2010, #99, Peace In Our Lifetime?, What I Re-Learned In On Track, and Rant Of The Week.
Marshall Pruett  |  Posted October 31, 2009   Oakland, CA
The marque's only victory came at Mid-Ohio in 1989 where Teo Fabi claimed pole and the win in the beautiful Quaker State March 89P. (Porsche)
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Ten Years And A Month

The last week of October is always filled with memories and reflections in the Pruett household. Thoughts turn to the anniversary of my father’s passing on October 28th, 1995, and now we’re at the 10th anniversary of Greg Moore’s loss at Fontana on October 31st, 1999. Consider that Tony Renna was lost on October 22nd, 2003, and if you’re not careful, things can get downright somber.
Gonzalo 'Gonzo' Rodriguez. (LAT)

If we look back to that fateful period a decade ago, and in addition to fond remembrances of Greg’s impact on the sport in such a short period of time (Robin did a wonderful piece on Greg today), I’ve also been thinking of the loss of Uruguay’s Gonzalo Rodriguez on September 11th, 1999.

Rodriguez wasn’t well known in American racing circles at the time of his death; after showing promise and earning a few wins in F3000, he got his break in America driving for Roger Penske during a period in the late ‘90’s when the storied team was nothing like the juggernaut we see today.

Rodriguez would land at a time when the team was searching for traction with their drivers, after a few years of fruitless efforts with their own chassis designs, and while the team was saddled with uncompetitive Goodyear tires. None of the boxes were ticked for Penske in 1999, and the season soon took on the feel and appearance of a prolonged test session.

While Rodriguez was hardly stepping into a winning situation, it was The Captain’s willingness to experiment that opened the doors for the friendly Uruguayan. Penske would ditch the Penske PC27B-Mercedes package for a customer Reynard-Honda package in 2000, but during 1999 he wasn’t afraid to spend money, sampling Lolas before moving to Reynard for the coming season.

After Al Unser Jr. was injured in the opening round at Homestead, Penske drafted in Brazilian F1 refugee Tarso Marques to sub for Little Al while he healed. Once the two-time Indy 500 winner returned, Penske often expanded his effort to two cars, cycling Marques, Alex Barron, and Rodriguez through the seat as Unser Jr.’s teammate.

If Penske had lost faith in the cars that carried his name, he’d also determined that Unser Jr. -- his star driver of six years -- was past his sell-by date. The PC27B required extensive testing and development, and with Little Al’s personal life also growing more strained every day, Penske sought the expertise and opinions from younger, more technically savvy pilots.

Rodriguez, having impressed Penske in a pre-season test at Sebring, made his CART debut for Penske alongside Unser Jr. at Detroit, as the team also premiered their new Lola B99/00-Mercedes IndyCars.

Penske and Unser Jr. announced they’d part ways at the end of the season, and after Rodriguez safely out-paced Unser Jr. in qualifying (1.15.034 to 1.15.495), Gonzalo improved from his 16th starting spot to 12th, while Unser Jr. worked his way up from 20th to 15th.

Penske would revert to a single entry for Unser Jr. for the next three rounds until inviting Rodriguez back for Laguna Seca, and Gonzalo made no secret of his wish to remain with Penske for 2000. Rodriguez’s hopes of helping the organization return to its winning form ended with the announcement of Gil de Ferran and Greg Moore signing for the Marlboro-sponsored team in 2000, but he knew a strong finish to the 1999 season could open other doors for him in the series. Sadly, he’d never get that opportunity.
Rodriguez and Al Unser Jr. were partnered again at Laguna Seca, rounding Penske's Lolas into shape. (LAT)

Like most people involved with the Laguna Seca CART race in 1999, it’s hard to forget the circumstances of the day. The fog that often blankets the Monterey Bay filled the dry lake bed the circuit is built within, and as I’d experienced many times before, Saturday morning’s activities were delayed until the fog cleared.

Once things got underway, it wasn’t long before our practice session was red flagged. As red flags were common – spins, trips into the gravel and stalled cars were usually the culprits -- the stoppage wasn’t out of the ordinary.

The CART official assigned to our region of pit stalls said the stoppage was for a crash by one of the Penske cars at the Corkscrew, and with the relative low speeds needed to negotiate the corner, no one envisioned a delay of more than a few minutes. I expected to see the guilty party make his way back to pit lane eventually, but that didn’t happen.

After an extended period – far too long for a normal crash – word began to filter down that Rodriguez was involved, and it might be serious. The session was soon cancelled and everyone went back to the paddock with more questions than answers about what had happened. The few Penske crew members I saw looked crushed, and in the absence of a clear explanation of Gonzalo’s condition, everyone assumed the worst.

A few hours later, CART announced his death from massive head and neck injuries, at which point Penske Racing withdrew the entry for Unser Jr. out of respect for Rodriguez.

The rest of the weekend was cast in a rather dark shadow for many of us. Unlike today, where it seems every accident is captured from a dozen angles and replayed for hours on end, Gonzalo’s crash happened out of sight from the teams and his fellow drivers. The details of what happened were sketchy, and except for the emergency workers at the crash site, no one really understood how he died.

ESPN would later air the footage of his crash, but during the event, it felt as if he’d simply disappeared. He was gone but because of the odd circumstances, there was a large disconnect from the grave reality of what actually happened.
After impressing The Captain in pre-season testing, the F3000 standout delivered immediately for Penske, out-gunning Little Al in qualifying and the race at Detroit. Gonzo didn't get that chance at Laguna Seca. (LAT)

Rodriguez’s crash, a head-on impact with the barrier at the end of the braking zone for the Corskscrew, saw the Uruguayan lock his brakes at the top of the hill, sending him straight off the circuit. At nearly unabated speeds, his car skipped over the first half of the gravel trap, hit the slightly crowned second half of the gravel trap, from that contact, found himself vaulted into the air and into the tire-lined cement barrier without the benefit of meaningful deceleration.

Because of the slope of the hills that surrounds the Corkscrew, the nose of Rodriguez’s Lola was angled down when he hit the wall and with the weight and momentum of the rear of the car lifting it above the nose, the Lola somersaulted, flipping over the barrier and landing upside down on the opposite side.

The crash looked bad – it was undoubtedly violent -- but most reckoned it should have been survivable. The Lola’s nose was demolished, but the rest of the chassis looked like it could have been repaired and raced at the next event. The minimal damage to the vehicle though, was nothing like what its driver experienced. The gruesome details of the crash are detailed in Steve Olvey’s excellent book, Rapid Response, and I won’t bother to repeat them here, but it’s fair to say the kind of injuries suffered by Gonzalo are just what the HANS Device was designed to prevent.

Use of the HANS wasn’t universally recognized as a necessity back in ’99, nor was it made mandatory as it is in nearly every racing series today. It’s impossible to say if a HANS Device would have changed the outcome of Rodriguez’s crash, but like so many other crashes prior to its creation, we’re left to wonder how many racers like Gonzalo might still be with us today.

He wasn’t here long enough to build the record, fans or friendships that Greg Moore did, but if you take a moment to remember Greg today, you might also include Gonzalo in your thoughts and prayers.

(If you have a story to share or a fond memory of Greg, Gonzalo or Tony, share them for next week’s Triple Stint.)

Shaking My Head In Disgust

Curious how IndyCar.com is commemorating the life of Greg Moore today?

Take a look.

Maybe I’m not looking in the right place. Maybe it’s hidden.

If you can find something – anything – please let me know.

(Actually, while I’m disgusted by this, I’m not the least bit surprised. The ‘#99’ piece on the next page explains why.)

New Section – If You Could Fix Just One Thing For 2010

For the first ‘IYCFJOTF2010’ question, if you could fix just one thing about the American Le Mans Series in 2010, what would it be?

Email your answers to .

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