That's a shame Dave, sorry to hear it. Nikal made a good point about carnage, and no flagmen available to warn oncomers. With such a large field competing on such a short loop, perhaps it makes sense to have officials posted frequently enough along the course, as to respond to the likelihood of multi-car crashes. I expect that a flagman could have helped avoid some of the carnage (and cost of repairs to the racers) that occurred.
I'm aware that you had a collision, but please don't tell me that the bearing plate at the end of the trailing arm is what broke. Your car is well built to see some heavy abuse at high speeds. Even if you think it is overkill, a few pounds here and there is not a penalty when compared to the ability to take a hit, and still get finishing points for your efforts. IMO, based on your cars weigh in, there's ample room there to add more beef. It is a given that you will be mixing it up with other cars as the season progresses. Don't allow that to be a weak point of your chassis. Off road designers don't enjoy the luxury of constants, or maximum loading parameters like road racing engineers can. We have to build for the unseen, and expect the unexpected..
Some food for thought: The Monster Mav had a wet weight of 2,365 lbs. minus occupants, with stock HP around 100. Yep, each pony was responsible to haul over 23 lbs. Although Marc is no slouch behind the wheel, it was the durability of the chassis, along with thorough preparation that allowed us to finish every mile of the season en-route to winning the points championship. To quote Claire Peller, "Where's the Beef"?