If you had to pick a spot on Ozarks International Raceway where you would least like to have a suspension component fail, odds are pretty good you would say Turn 8. So would anyone you ask.
That’s where Ben Grambau had the taper pin that connects the left rear tie rod to the left rear upright break on his Super Touring 2 C5 Corvette during the 2025 NASA Championships at Ozarks. The pin shears just as Grambau dabs the brakes and begins to turn in for 8. Miraculously, he keeps it off the wall and keeps it running so he can get out of harm’s way when the car comes to a stop.
“When the pin broke, it occurred with absolutely no warning. The left rear wheel rotated inward until it contacted the underbody, pitching the rear of the car around into an instant slide,” Grambau said. “This occurred in T8, just as I turned in after braking — one of the highest g-force lateral loads on the track. I was very fortunate that it was just as the track opened up for the turn and I slid uphill, which helped slow the car.”
Grambau said the tie-rod pin was new in March 2023 and is not typically prone to failure or known to be a wear item. Well, until now, anyway. We’re glad Grambau is OK and that the Go Blue Racing Corvette lives to fight another day.
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Way to go full lock countersteer instantly. “Full lock” not being that much with that steering ratio
I assume full brakes as well when it was at 90 degrees?