Responding to a post dated 8/6/01, headlined “Latest Loudon LRRS Incident Likely To Lead To Rider Sanctions” and based on what we were told by New Hampshire International Speedway Motorcycle Safety Director Jerry Wood, LRRS racer Pat Salonis sent roadracingworld.com this e-mail:

After spending the past several days with the injured rider, Charles Chubbuck, at Dartmouth-Hitchcock hospital as he underwent surgery to stabilize his shattered L1 vertebra and fractured L2, I returned home and saw the post on your website. I then shared the post with him.

Charlie is unable to speak for himself at the moment and when he is well enough, he wishes to address this issue. Right now, all his efforts are concentrated on getting well.

While it’s never been his intent to draw attention to this, he is bothered by the lack of facts or partial truths as represented in the posting. He’s disappointed in that it quite literally adds insult to injury.

This incident was witnessed by several people including other riders and cornerworkers.

While the statement made is true, if you dissect each piece, it clearly does not describe what happened that day.

While Charlie may have slid into a fire extinguisher or other cornerworking equipment, that equipment was propped up against or right in front of the concrete wall that Charlie slammed into. Make no mistake, the wall caused his injuries, not the “equipment”.

Further, the statement “next to the end of a wall” is extremely misleading. The wall in reference is likely the tire wall that covers some of the concrete wall in Turn 2. So yes, Charlie slid feet first into the concrete wall to the right (next to the end) of any tire wall, and yes it is not ‘normally’ an impact zone but obviously sometimes it can be.

As written the statement might be suggestive that he did not hit any walls, only cornerworking equipment and that is completely inaccurate.

While some action against the junior rider seems appropriate, he was only the first 1/2 of the equation that day, the wall was the other 1/2.

I hope that this clarifies the situation and might give you enough information to amend the earlier post on your site.

Kindest regards,
Pat Salonis
LRRS #62