As we were leaving Fontana Sunday morning, I noticed the Mini Fini Mini on a trailer with some damage......what the heck happened?? But more importantly, is everyone okay???

 

His



Son was driving, his dad said he was fine and they are going to try and save the car.

 

MINI FINI (Sr. and Jr.) were my cabin mates at MOTD, and I'm glad to report that Jr. is doing fine. Sore and stiff but no major injuries. As for the MINI FINI R53... Sr. told me it was totaled. Jr. slid off the road and hit a tree coming out of a sharp turn on 28 after the early night run on Saturday.

 

I am glad he is okay. My wife and I had heard Saturday night he was involved in a accident. We had a cabin right across from where they were staying. Bummer though about the Mini being totaled.

 

Given the roads being wet in spots and a lot of leaves on the roads... (and the way we aggressively attacked the Dragon ), it's a testament to the driving skills of those involved that we didn't have more MINI casualties.

Glad MINI Fini Jr is okay. And I was also glad to see so many of our folks stop to offer assistance at the scene. Good going, those who were near the young man when he wrecked.

Surprised to hear that's a total loss, given all the damage is in the rear. But there does appear to be substantial damage to the suspension system and the unibody would require some major repairs/adjustments.

 

Glad to hear all are okay. The hellbender may not be as inherently dangerous as the dragon, but with the higher speeds, if you don't give it the full respect it deserves, it'll bite just as hard (just ask Big Daddy!)

Stay safe out there! I still hope for an MOTD with 0 accidents!

 

Yes we are glad he is ok. I actually came up right after the accident, he wasn't even out of the car yet. From the skid marks and talking to him he had just caught some gravel and started to slide. Then when the car got in the wet muddy grass it was over. But thanks to his trailer hitch, it ended up catching on a tree and preventing the car from sliding down the hill. What an ad for his own product. The seat belt did it's job and he was ok, just some scratches and a mark from the seat belt.

 

That's terrible! Glad he's OK

 

The tow truck also used the trailer hitch to pull him back up on to the road.

 

we hanged with him until the tow truck pulled the Mini from the tree, the driver was ok thank God

 

Glad to here they were alright. We past a few times when he had everyone with him. Sad to here its totaled, but at least that can be replaced.

 

hes i'm really glad nobody was hurt. here are some pictures of the poor car.


better on the tree then down there

 

Wow....glad he's ok.

New QP, New Roof, couple of control arms...it'll be fine.

 

Not likely - the entire rear frame was shifted sideways by an inch or two. The panels on the opposite sides of the car didn't line up any more. I saw it in person before I left on Sunday.

It's totaled.

 

yea the car is pretty much toast...the way the QP and the tire is caved in its a foregone conclusion that the frame is either shifted or warped

 

My group heard about the crash just after the Twilight Run and was hoping nobody was hurt serious. Then after driving by it twice on the Midnight Run I felt awful at the sight. After seeing it in the parking lot Sunday morning just confirmed to me how safe out Coopers are. Sorry to hear it is totaled, but very glad all involved weren't hurt too badly. Take care out there folks.

 

That's one hell of a trailer hitch...

Glad everyone is okay!

+1 for an accident free MOTD next year!

 

That'll buff right out.

Man, you guys are slipping! :D

Glad to hear everyone is OK

 

So the tree was coming out of a sharp turn...? Wonder what kind of suspension mods it had?



(Sorry, couldn't resist...happy all are OK 'cept the MINI, but MINIs can be replaced )

 

LEAF SPRINGS!!

 

Rofl guys... but seriously, I was sad to hear of it. I pulled into the Deal's Gap lot and as I got out of my car I heard someone shout that MINI FINI had wrecked one turn ahead and a pit opened in my stomach... a drive by assured me that no one was seriously injured and that the car wasn't 50 feet down a cliff O.o

 

We had stopped on the Dragon during the return trip of the darkness run just to watch the cars go by. When we turned on 28, we saw the cars lined up with the 4 ways on. As we got closer, we saw the MINI up against the tree. Our son Tyler had stopped in his yellow 07 so we stopped to lend any assistance. Of course we couldn't lend any help as all the drama was over. So we just hung around and waited for the authorities to arrive. Russell seemed to be in as good of spirits as possible. I was actually pretty impressed with his composure. We had just spoken with him at his display earlier in the day. Both him and his Dad seem to be great guys.

As we hung around with my son, Way and a few others, we actually had a pretty good time shooting the breeze and joking around. Russell was also pretty relaxed by then. That just goes to show you how great MINI people are. Even in somewhat dire circumstances, a laugh could be had. Still, I'm real sorry for MINI FINI's loss, but hanging out on the side of 28 with a handful of MINI owners will go down as one of our highlights of the weekend. Next time, lets do it WITHOUT a damaged MINI!

 

Have any of the MINIs ever had a serious wreck on the Dragon? The last three big wrecks I remember hearing about were all on 28. There was the guy (DS R53) in 2006 who went off the road by the dumpsters at the start of 28. Then there was Big Daddy last year.

It seems like I remember one or two Cabrios that tipped over on the Dragon, but were pushed back over with just a few scratches. I can't think of anyone with major damage from the Dragon...

 

I don't know, but tipped over sounds like it would be pretty serious!

 

I've got pictures of the Tree of Shame that I took before I left and saw parts from only two MINI's (both, oddly enough, were 'eyes' from R53s). I don't know the whole story of either, but I can post the pics of the parts once I get back to my other computer.