First In Class By Tom Hickey©1996 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc. Fantastic weather. A full, 28-car starting grid. Exciting racing for91 laps around the streets of Toronto. "Thunder by the lake" is howit's known here. Then, in a storm of carbon fibre debris, IndyCar lostone of it's promising rookies tragically and dramatically. On the third lap of green flag racing after a late race restart toroll Michael Andretti's Lola-Ford from the turn-in at turn three, JeffKrosnoff's Reynard-Toyota was launched off the rear wheel of StephanJohansson's Reynard-Mercedes. Airborne on the fastest part of the course, Krosnoff was sent cartwheeling and spinning into the inside retaining fence, tearing up a large section of fence before striking alamppost and caroming back across the track under the walkway bridge,stopping against the concrete wall at drivers' left. The engine andgearbox assembly continued down the track, coming to rest in therunoff area of turn three, accompanied by the relatively undamagedcars of Johansson, Emerson Fittipladi and Andre Ribiero. This wasn't like Stan Fox's legs dangling from the front of his racer as it spedbackward along the wall at Indianapolis in 1995 -- there was no'front' remaining on this race car. Stunned, and not yet understanding all of what had taken place beforeme, my finger was still jammed down hard on my camera shutter, shootingempty frames on a now spent roll of film, high in the turn three phototower. It did not take long to realize the severity of the crash. Whatremained of the tub of Krosnoff's car resembled more an infant's carseat than a strong, crash-tested IndyCar chassis. Nothing from theshoulder supports forward. Nothing from the rollover bar backward. IndyCar officials were on the scene immediately, running from theirnearby station in the turn three runoff, but it seemed to take foreverfor a safety vehicle to arrive, and even longer for track medicalpersonnel. On leaving the scene only momemts later, the rescue truckpulled away smartly, but not on a lightning emergency run, no lightsflashing. Maybe they just didn't have time, or didn't see the need ona closed track. It was an ominous end to an action-filled weekend. I spent the next hour, still in the photo tower, still stunned,but now catching little glimpses of Krosnoff from memories of thisrace weekend... A polite, quiet ripple of applause was given up for Jeff earlier inthe day on a parade lap where the drivers, sponsors and otherofficials are put in the spotlight for one pre-race circuit of thetrack in the back of a string of convertibles. Nothing like thewelcome given rookie leaders Greg Moore and Alex Zanardi, but on parwith that given his rookie Toyota compatriots PJ Jones and Juan ManuelFangio II, as well as fellow rookies Mark Blundell and Eddie Lawson. Rookies?! All of these drivers have proven themselves as championshipcompetitors in other top-notch series -- Formula One, IMSA GTP,LeMans, IndyLights, motorcycle Grand Prix. Jeff Krosnoff had risenfrom Japanese Formula 3000 to the heights of the CART PPG WorldSeries, to North American and international acclaim. The casual racefan doesn't realize the magnitude of this, but you could hear thehardcore fans giving their recognition to Jeff and all the drivershere to race in front of us today. Jeff started 20th on the grid at Toronto, his best career IndyCarstart, and may well have been on his way to his best IndyCar finish.Yet you could tell that he was honing his skills for even betterperformances in the future. As a key part of Toyota's new IndyCardevelopment program, he passed with skill, yet allowed faster cars topass with courtesy and respect. With new sponsor MCI onboard, Jeff andthe Arciero-Wells team were continually moving up the ladder. Withinthe last month, the MCI-liveried Reynard was recognized as aneye-catching, attention-getting, racing billboard. He was quoted thisweekend as saying, "I think we're really starting to make someprogress now." This same respect was afforded IndyCar fans as well. While notsurrounded by hordes of people in pit lane or the paddock, Jeff waseasily recognized as a member of the cast of CART and happily gaveautographs to all who approached him. In fact, Jeff and his team wereeasier to approach than many. Without the press of crowds of people inthe pit area, Jeff's Arciero-Wells team were more accessible, easiersubjects for the interested fan to observe and ogle. This interestedfan had to do a two-step to get out of the way of Jeff on his scooterin a very crowded pit lane. No bother for Jeff, just a smile, shrugand a wave as he zoomed away. I hope my headshot of him in his Reynardwhile pitting during qualifying turns out. Unfortunately, it willnever receive his autograph. Without doubt, this gut-wrenching incident will be scrutinized andanalyzed for a long time to come. And there are other, personalmemories of this weekends racing that will trigger thoughts of thistragedy for some time. But I have decided how I will remember JeffKrosnoff, number 25: Jeff Krosnoff finished second overall and firstin class at Lemans in 1994. And that's the way I'll remember Jeff,'first in class'. September 24, 1964 -- July 14, 1996 R.I.P. |