10 January 2012

The Steve Nogas incident at Summernats

| johnboy
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Blownhemi has posted this gem to YouTube with this note of explanation:

Okay guys, this is a very controversial topic. Here’s the unedited footage of the Steve Nogas incident.

What seems to have happened is that the driver Steve Nogas was told he was disqualified for reason stemming back to his qualifying burnout (disobeying a fire mashal), he forced his car through a group of officials and on to the track, and after the burnout he was escorted from the track and his car towed away.

Could have been handled a little better from both sides, but forcing your way on to the track is definitely the wrong way to go.

I’ve posted this video to provide a little clarity to the incident.

UPDATE: Steve’s facebook page informs he’s the CEO of Kristal Limousines.

There also appear to be Steve Nogas support groups proliferating.

screenshot

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As someone who dislikes Summernats I’m trying hard to be unbiased 🙂

If it’s true he didn’t find out until he got to the front of the line that he was disqualified then I can understand completely why he’d be pissed off! It was a bloody hot day to be stuck in a line in a car for an hour. He shouldn’t have driven at the officials like that but I doubt he was going fast enough to hurt anyone (though I’m no expect). I think his downgrade to a year ban is fair.

It gave the crowd a good show, nothing funnier than a pack of Aussies calling bulls**t over a decision. Though I think the bottle throwers are jerks, it’s uncalled for.

KB1971 said :

sj20 said :

I agree with many people on here, Summernats is not an enjoyable festival for many Canberrans, even the ones who don’t attend. I live in the Kingston area and still faced the downsides of the event, many of the attendees were staying at hotels nearby and for the duration of that weekend at all hours of the day and night (including up to 3am) you could hear screeches, continuous revving, burnouts etc echoing through the streets. Not only that, but the crude drivers who made it an unpleasant experience to even check my mailbox.

As you go closer to Epic, my friends who live across the street at Watson had all sorts of things set on fire and thrown over into dry grass areas or at the front doors of their apartments. I can’t understand what ‘family’ would take their children to an event such as that.

It looks like next year I will have to follow suit and leave the city.

Good thing our tourism advertising doesn’t necessarily have to be honest;
— “Come to Canberra, where you will be greeted by a scenic drive through government housing and during our prestigious summernats festival, you too can experience that bogan charm of fresh burnt rubber wafting on the breeze accompanied by the musings of our many locals ‘show us ya tits!!’..Canberra.. the place to be”

You are leaving Canberra because of the Summernats?

Lol oh no, just for the weekend they’re on!

KB1971 said :

sj20 said :

I agree with many people on here, Summernats is not an enjoyable festival for many Canberrans, even the ones who don’t attend. I live in the Kingston area and still faced the downsides of the event, many of the attendees were staying at hotels nearby and for the duration of that weekend at all hours of the day and night (including up to 3am) you could hear screeches, continuous revving, burnouts etc echoing through the streets. Not only that, but the crude drivers who made it an unpleasant experience to even check my mailbox.

As you go closer to Epic, my friends who live across the street at Watson had all sorts of things set on fire and thrown over into dry grass areas or at the front doors of their apartments. I can’t understand what ‘family’ would take their children to an event such as that.

It looks like next year I will have to follow suit and leave the city.

Good thing our tourism advertising doesn’t necessarily have to be honest;
— “Come to Canberra, where you will be greeted by a scenic drive through government housing and during our prestigious summernats festival, you too can experience that bogan charm of fresh burnt rubber wafting on the breeze accompanied by the musings of our many locals ‘show us ya tits!!’..Canberra.. the place to be”

You are leaving Canberra because of the Summernats?

Lol oh no, just for that weekend they’re on!

Waiting For Godot said :

I’d like to see a proper cost/benefit analysis carried out because it seems to me that this event is bringing us no benefit whatsoever and we are paying dearly for having our city hijacked by these interstate hoons and ferals.

Don’t know about “interstate” ferals. Of the 90,000 people that went. 65,000 were Canberrians.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/horsepower-party-stays-in-canberra/2412822.aspx?storypage=2

Tooks said :

Deref said :

Can any Summernats fans here explain to the rest of us what they enjoy about burnouts?

I’ve never understood the enjoyment people get out of burnouts. It’s a complete mystery to me. Each to their own.

x 2. I ask myself this question when the local hoodlums ‘smoke ’em up’ on my street most Saturday nights and nightly during summernats (even though I live in Tuggeranong – they seem to get in the mood).

sj20 said :

I agree with many people on here, Summernats is not an enjoyable festival for many Canberrans, even the ones who don’t attend. I live in the Kingston area and still faced the downsides of the event, many of the attendees were staying at hotels nearby and for the duration of that weekend at all hours of the day and night (including up to 3am) you could hear screeches, continuous revving, burnouts etc echoing through the streets. Not only that, but the crude drivers who made it an unpleasant experience to even check my mailbox.

As you go closer to Epic, my friends who live across the street at Watson had all sorts of things set on fire and thrown over into dry grass areas or at the front doors of their apartments. I can’t understand what ‘family’ would take their children to an event such as that.

It looks like next year I will have to follow suit and leave the city.

Good thing our tourism advertising doesn’t necessarily have to be honest;
— “Come to Canberra, where you will be greeted by a scenic drive through government housing and during our prestigious summernats festival, you too can experience that bogan charm of fresh burnt rubber wafting on the breeze accompanied by the musings of our many locals ‘show us ya tits!!’..Canberra.. the place to be”

You are leaving Canberra because of the Summernats?

I agree with many people on here, Summernats is not an enjoyable festival for many Canberrans, even the ones who don’t attend. I live in the Kingston area and still faced the downsides of the event, many of the attendees were staying at hotels nearby and for the duration of that weekend at all hours of the day and night (including up to 3am) you could hear screeches, continuous revving, burnouts etc echoing through the streets. Not only that, but the crude drivers who made it an unpleasant experience to even check my mailbox.

As you go closer to Epic, my friends who live across the street at Watson had all sorts of things set on fire and thrown over into dry grass areas or at the front doors of their apartments. I can’t understand what ‘family’ would take their children to an event such as that.

It looks like next year I will have to follow suit and leave the city.

Good thing our tourism advertising doesn’t necessarily have to be honest;
— “Come to Canberra, where you will be greeted by a scenic drive through government housing and during our prestigious summernats festival, you too can experience that bogan charm of fresh burnt rubber wafting on the breeze accompanied by the musings of our many locals ‘show us ya tits!!’..Canberra.. the place to be”

Who needs to go to Summernats to see a car spinning its wheels and spewing out smoke. Head down to southern Tuggeranong on an average Saturday night ….

Waiting For Godot said :

Interesting to hear the usual suspects saying that Summernats is good for Canberra because it brings in so much money. I was in Fyshwick on Saturday and it was almost deserted. Even outside the sex shops, brothels and gay beat. I’d like to see a proper cost/benefit analysis carried out because it seems to me that this event is bringing us no benefit whatsoever and we are paying dearly for having our city hijacked by these interstate hoons and ferals.

John Moulis said :

Ah Summernats. Let the whinging begin. Don’t you just love it when the Canberra left wing greenie latte set object to anything which has anything to do with male culture/boganism/the real Australia beyond the ACT. Most of us just sit back and have a wry giggle as they spout their precious, highly predictable nonsense.

Why the 180, John?

What a pity they didn’t spray seawater down the engine intake while it was running and then impound it for unauthorised hooning….

I-filed said :

Lowey said :

Just checked the employment status on facebook. Wtf?

Worth noting that the Summernats PR around a “life ban” was just puff. One of the banned (Marlin Griffin) says he is already discussing with Summernats officials having his ban reversed:

“Marlin Griffin: Just been talking to the officials at summernats again, working on a resolution to lift my life ban, i would like to apologize to any of the track officials and staff that i may have endangered and if i am back at summernats next year I’m more than happy to buy the blokes on the skid pad a beer.”

So much for maintaining standards. Summernats are hoodwinking the ACT Government with little motherhood appeasement statements.

He may be discussing it but are they listening?

damien haas said :

Buzz2600 said :

Controversial hu? Yawn ….

Anyway, I thought smoking was banned in the ACT.

While sitting in the stands at the Burnout Pad just before eliminations began on Friday, a gent sitting in front of me lit up a cool refreshing Laramie. Within about 30 seconds he was asked by security to put it out. Minutes later clouds of rubber smoke started wafting over the entire area, repeatedly, for hours…

That incident alone would make it worth being there.

Buzz2600 said :

Controversial hu? Yawn ….

Anyway, I thought smoking was banned in the ACT.

While sitting in the stands at the Burnout Pad just before eliminations began on Friday, a gent sitting in front of me lit up a cool refreshing Laramie. Within about 30 seconds he was asked by security to put it out. Minutes later clouds of rubber smoke started wafting over the entire area, repeatedly, for hours…

Lowey said :

Just checked the employment status on facebook. Wtf?

Worth noting that the Summernats PR around a “life ban” was just puff. One of the banned (Marlin Griffin) says he is already discussing with Summernats officials having his ban reversed:

“Marlin Griffin: Just been talking to the officials at summernats again, working on a resolution to lift my life ban, i would like to apologize to any of the track officials and staff that i may have endangered and if i am back at summernats next year I’m more than happy to buy the blokes on the skid pad a beer.”

So much for maintaining standards. Summernats are hoodwinking the ACT Government with little motherhood appeasement statements.

This is Canberra’s premier event is it not, after Floriade? Let’s see this footage on the next tourism ad for Canberra. Next time any of Katie “Kate Carnell” Gallagher’s government spout “city of culture”, or any such, or any environmentally sound credentials or intentions in this city, it should be “Bull-sh*t! Bull-Sh*t, Kate!” in unison.

colourful sydney racing identity2:16 pm 10 Jan 12

Lowey said :

Just checked the employment status on facebook. Wtf?

wow, just wow.

Lowey said :

Just checked the employment status on facebook. Wtf?

Of what the driver? The official? Yours?

Thoroughly Smashed2:14 pm 10 Jan 12

Funky1 said :

Deref said :

Can any Summernats fans here explain to the rest of us what they enjoy about burnouts?

If you need to ask then you wouldn’t understand regardless of the answer.

It’s something you’re born with?

(Like foetal alcohol syndrome?)

Just checked the employment status on facebook. Wtf?

matt31221 said :

The official kicking Steve’s car @ 1:04 then almost assaulting Steve @ 3:07 seems to be walking a fine line.

Unprofessional yes, but in the heat of the moment when a tool is gunning his engine and moving his car towards you and other people, I can excuse the official for losing his cool.

Deref said :

Can any Summernats fans here explain to the rest of us what they enjoy about burnouts?

While I’m not as fanatical about burnouts as the thousands of people who lined the Summernats power pit, for me the attraction is the combination of risk and noise. There’s an appreciable skill in unleashing a few hundred horsepower in a confined space and then controlling it. There’s also the constant curiousity about whether the engine will blow up before the tyres part company. Then there’s the roar of a V8 bouncing off the rev limiter (which makes my hair stand on end). That being said I don’t think you’ll find many who enjoy the smell, or being coated in bits of rubber.

Back on topic, the issue of Steve Nogas was handled poorly by both sides. Having been there to see the whole thing unfold I absolutely agree that Nogas should be banned for endangering people, but the marshall who kicked his car and pushed Nogas around should also be booted. It is one thing to have a hot-headed driver, but the marshalls should have the training and resources to to defuse a situation, not escalate it.

Deref said :

Can any Summernats fans here explain to the rest of us what they enjoy about burnouts?

If you need to ask then you wouldn’t understand regardless of the answer.

The Motorcycle Riders Association had their BikeFest at the same venue this year. One thing that was missing was the Cunning Stunts motorcycle stunt riders. When I asked why, I was told that the venue wouldn’t allow them because they do burnouts during their shows. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Deref said :

Can any Summernats fans here explain to the rest of us what they enjoy about burnouts?

Ain’t a summernat’s fan, but a good well controlled burnout (with excellent car control – aka not hitting the wall) can be a bit of fun to watch. I don’t think I could sit there and watch it for hours though.

Regardless of who was in the right, the guy is a moron for ignoring the officials. They are there to make the event safe. Whilst this time the discussion was over if he qualified for the event or not, how do they know if they let him back next year he’ll listen to the officials if there was a danger (to him or someone else) on the pad. For an event involving cars, it’s just too dangerous and too much of a risk to allow someone to return who has shown such a disregard.

Tooks said :

Deref said :

Can any Summernats fans here explain to the rest of us what they enjoy about burnouts?

I’ve never understood the enjoyment people get out of burnouts. It’s a complete mystery to me. Each to their own.

Loud. Vile smell. Impenetrable haze. And that’s just the spectators. The burnouts are relatively innocuous.

Deref said :

Can any Summernats fans here explain to the rest of us what they enjoy about burnouts?

I’ve never understood the enjoyment people get out of burnouts. It’s a complete mystery to me. Each to their own.

Can any Summernats fans here explain to the rest of us what they enjoy about burnouts?

Waiting For Godot10:27 am 10 Jan 12

Interesting to hear the usual suspects saying that Summernats is good for Canberra because it brings in so much money. I was in Fyshwick on Saturday and it was almost deserted. Even outside the sex shops, brothels and gay beat. There was also nobody in DFO wearing Summernats wristbands.

On radio they said that the restaurant strip at Dickson had experienced no boost in patronage. Even business at the Scottish hamburger restaurant wasn’t more than usual.

I’d like to see a proper cost/benefit analysis carried out because it seems to me that this event is bringing us no benefit whatsoever and we are paying dearly for having our city hijacked by these interstate hoons and ferals.

ThatUniStudent10:20 am 10 Jan 12

Well, when I saw the first video I thought yeah, he’s an idiot, and to a degree, I think he still is. Then I saw the qualifying video and thought well, something is not adding up here. If the qualifying video was shot when it was claimed to be, well yeah, he does not appear to have disobeyed the fire marshal and seems to have qualified.

Having said that, the driver was still completely reckless for what he did. It so clearly put people’s lives at risk and the potential for injury was massive. Why get so worked up about it? It would have been better to calm down, switch the engine off and sort it out with the officials. Why all the stupid bravado?

Well done, Steve. Likely to ruin the future of the event for everybody else. Not that I can understand the appeal of it anyway, but each to their own.

Idiot.

matt31221 said :

The official kicking Steve’s car @ 1:04 then almost assaulting Steve @ 3:07 seems to be walking a fine line.

The official should have punched the idiot right in the face. He deserved a lot more than he got. I’m glad he got banned, but would have been happier to see his car/weapon torched.

joeyjojojuniorshabadoo9:46 am 10 Jan 12

Ban everything!

Smoke and swinging bellies hide little di##. Lift, separate and blow……..you see.

I was really not happy when my partner told me we were going to summernats, being two young lesbians I figured we would get a lot of crap being there. Aside from being very expensive, I had a wonderful time. Had a few sly comments made about us but nothing worse than a standard night out. Didn’t see any fights or anything. This seems to be another case of one person ruining it for everyone. I can imagine that the security team didn’t have a fun time after this incident.

Controversial hu? Yawn ….

Anyway, I thought smoking was banned in the ACT.

fgzk said :

WTF,….. Id rather see his tits.

Swingbelly action wasn’t enough?

WTF,….. Id rather see his tits.

screaming banshee9:03 am 10 Jan 12

Considering how easily one of the marshalls could have slipped into the belt system this idiot should be charged. There is no place in society for people willing to use a vehicle as a weapon against authority figures.

That said I am amazed at how people are impressed by watching something like that do a burnout. Theres very little skill involved in getting a good burnout out of such a ridiculous power plant, I found it a much greater demonstration of driver talent when a mate generated about as much smoke as that out of his bog standard 84 corona wagon while parallel parked or when I watched two ke20’s doing synchronised figure 8’s and circling within inches of barrels in a pad much smaller than that.

Sgt.Bungers said :

The scariest thing about this incident was the display of having absolutely no concept of how dangerous it is to use a 1+ tonne machine to force your way through a group of people.

A life ban from Summernats, as well as an “assault with a deadly weapon” charge should be on the table.

Agreed, They should be banning more people if they act unreasonably.

The scariest thing about this incident was the display of having absolutely no concept of how dangerous it is to use a 1+ tonne machine to force your way through a group of people.

A life ban from Summernats, as well as an “assault with a deadly weapon” charge should be on the table.

Well, that was five minutes of government subsidy well spent…

It wasnt handled well. What impressed me was the footage – pretty good effort, Im presuming from a amateur in the crowd.

southernyassfella7:02 am 10 Jan 12

p1 said :

I’d be interested to the the vid from the camera on the roof.

Don’t know about the cam footage for this round itself, but here is the link to the qualifying round….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egZ4hZsJkqc

Devil_n_Disquiz6:52 am 10 Jan 12

Some more info about this including a response from Mr Nogas.

http://onfourwheels.blogspot.com/2012/01/summernats-2012-how-to-get-banned-from.html

Yup, he has been banned for life. He apologised on his FB page yesterday & asked if he could negotiate his return.

See how hardline the organisers are I guess but regardless of the circumstance there is no excuse for pushing past the marshals & nearly running them over. It could have been so much worse.

What a wanker. Deserves a life ban: can’t see anything overly wrong with what security did and his juvenile burnout-fuelled tantrum shows that he certainly doesn’t do the Summernats cause any favours.

WhyTheLongFace1:05 am 10 Jan 12

What a great event. Surely the government can provide even more funding for this amazing ‘fun for the whole family’ event. All class!

What a tosser!

Oh my.

It’s all so “family friendly”.

troll-sniffer11:36 pm 09 Jan 12

OK Summernats fans… here’s a quiz for yez (you get twenty chances to get it right by the way)…

Guess who won’t be allowed back in to Summernats, ever?

The official kicking Steve’s car @ 1:04 then almost assaulting Steve @ 3:07 seems to be walking a fine line.

Revving your car like you’re going to mow someone down is unacceptable. So he disobeyed a fire-marshal, event staff, and security, serves him right imo. Having said that, the security guard who approached the scene after the burnout didn’t handle the situation appropriately either. I hope it’s worth the lifetime(?) ban

I’d be interested to the the vid from the camera on the roof.

Is Nogas his given name, or did he change it to better represent the worlds gasoline reserves after he drives it for a few minutes?

Im told that he wasnt informed that he had been disqualified until his car made it to the start of the burnout pad, after sitting in the queue of other cars for at least an hour.

Neither side has handled this well.

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