Penske Fire

I witnessed one go up a few years ago (although it was being used by hospitality and not carrying any cars) same situation, burned to the ground after they dropped the trailer to save the tractor. All the propane for the kitchen made for quite a spectacular fire at 4am.

Keep in mind these trailers will have their own fuel tanks (or propane) to run the genset and AC units, not to mention any welding supplies, gas cans for scooters/golfcarts/etc plus gas left in the tanks of any other motorized vehicles that are being moved.

Unfortunate situation but glad no-one was hurt. If this was a smaller team, though, it could have had massive repercussions and probably affected their future participation.

Someone rang a doorbell? Who stomped on the bag?

Update from Penske shops:

MOORESVILLE, NC (August 20, 2008) - This morning, while on the way to
the IndyCar Series event at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., a Team
Penske transporter caught on fire west of Cheyenne, Wyo. No one was
hurt in the incident.

The facts:

* The two Team Penske transporter drivers are not injured.
* The incident occurred in the early morning on Interstate 80, west
of Cheyenne, Wyo.
* While driving, the Team Penske transporter containing the No. 3 and
No. 6 primary race vehicles caught on fire.
* The fire began on the right side of the transporter with an
apparent wheel bearing failure.
* The two drivers were able to pull over to the side of the road and
were able to save the tractor.
* The fire was put out by a local fire department and the Penske
Truck Leasing SOS
program<http://www.pensketruckleasing.com/leasing/services/#roadservice>
enabled the tractor and trailer to be towed to a nearby rest area.

Damage report:

* Although the full extent of the damage has not been determined, the
lower level of the transporter, containing crewmember uniforms and a
variety of equipment was destroyed.
* The condition of the No. 3 and No. 6 Team Penske Dallara/Hondas has
not been determined as of yet, but it is known that they suffered from
extensive water, smoke and heat damage.
* Due to the damage to the transporter, it will remain in Wyoming for
further inspection and assessment of the damage, including any potential
damage to the race cars. After that assessment, all of the equipment
will be taken back to Penske Racing in Mooresville, N.C.

Next steps:

* Team Penske will race this weekend at Infineon Raceway, using the
No. 6 Team Penske Dallara/Honda that took part in the Aug. 14th test at
that track, as well as a backup No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda. Those
vehicles, plus the second Team Penske transporter, were left at the
track for the week prior to the race. The crew will arrive Thursday,
Aug. 21 to convert those No. 3 and No. 6 machines to "primary" status.
* Two additional Team Penske Dallara/Hondas, plus additional
equipment and team uniforms, left Penske Racing's shops on Wednesday
afternoon for arrival at Infineon Raceway sometime on Friday, August
22nd.

Scott Dixon has been arrested smelling of gas and with a pack of matches, police have reported to say it is to early to assume he did it.

Joking aside, how many chasis does Penske have that are usable, and is there a short supply of chasis that are not bent?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MAX_THRUST

Joking aside, how many chasis does Penske have that are usable, and is there a short supply of chasis that are not bent?

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Penske has a stockpile. Even though teams like NHL are opreating with two to three chasises, I think PKVRT has four, and hoping they don't have a wreck Penske has at least six chasises that were unwrecked at the beginning of the year, two primary low downforce cars, two primary high down force cars and two backups. He may have as many as eight in the shop.

This is a major event for the team, but likely won't slow them down much, if at all. Some teams would be crippled by this, like Conquest, but for Penske it's just a major headache.

All replacements required or needed have been loaded into the extra haulers availabel and have been on the way since probably 2 hours after the drivers reported in the accident. You all need not worry about Team Penske.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Old3Fan

All replacements required or needed have been loaded into the extra haulers availabel and have been on the way since probably 2 hours after the drivers reported in the accident. You all need not worry about Team Penske.

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Old3Fan right again. BTW I didn't hear Roger mentioning AGR as one of the several teams both IRL and X-Cart offering to help Roger out.