Holy Qualifying NASCAR Crash

[chuckywang]

Wow ... two years ago he would have been dead.

 

[mcmilljb]

Originally posted by: weadjust

Originally posted by: Kalvin00
Holy fuck how is he alive?

NASCAR sure has done an amazing job with the safety aspect of their sport.

Yes, this is why we watch. Now if he would have gotten out all wooozie, flipped up his visor, and puked it would have enhanced my viewing pleasure.

He needs to do get out, do a back flip off the car, and then throw his helmet at someone to enhance my viewing pleasure.

Maybe even steal someone else's car and drive around some more.

 

[Jessica69]

I saw the wreck as it happened.......and until I saw McDowell moving in the car after it stopped moving, I thought he was going to be dead or at least severely injured. The fact he got out and walked away from that crash says a lot about all the safety advancements NASCAR has made.....SAFER barrier, neck restraints, seat improvements, the COT platform......but there's one other area that hasn't been spoken of, and that's the guys who put the car together.

You can have all the safety devices you want, but if the crew who assembles the vehicle do a half-assed job in their work, all that safety equipment is for naught. Got to give at least a nod to the crew that worked hard to put together that car...it did what it was supposed to do in that horrific crash.....and did not fail unexpectedly.

 

[OverVolt]

Amazing video. Also of entertainment is how that throttle meter is full of shit considering I would have let off of the gas entirely if I lost traction to the rear wheels at 195mph to let them regain traction. Oh hell maybe the thing is accurate and thats why he crashed.

What caused the accident to begin with? Did his back right wheel lock unexpectedly or something? How did his back wheels start spinning out @ 195? Did his car go mid-air for a split second and make them lose traction as he entered the turn? If so why was he still giving the damn thing gas?

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: OverVolt
What caused the accident to begin with? Did his back right wheel lock unexpectedly or something? How did his back wheels start spinning out @ 195? Did his car go mid-air for a split second and make them lose traction as he entered the turn? If so why was he still giving the damn thing gas?

There's been a lot of mechanical issues with the Toyotas this season, mostly with JGR which has cost them a couple of races and there was also an issue with the COT and the tires Good Year was providing for these intermediate tracks but McDowel said his car didn't feel right right before the crash so I'm thinking it was a mechanical failure.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: trmiv
If this was pre-Dale Earnhardt's death he'd be dead. The safety technology has come a long, long way.

What gets me is the amount of guys I race with that don't take safety seriously. My race car is the safest one of everyone I race with, pretty much the same safety stuff the cup guys use.

Sad that it took the death of guys like Dale Sr, Kenny Irwin etc to get to this point.

Thanks to those that blazed the trail.

 

[maziwanka]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob

Originally posted by: Canai
How the hell did he walk away? Wasn't that the same kind of crash that killed Dale Earnhardt a little while ago?

edit: ah, answered by trmiv above.

Three major safety improvements saved his ass compared to Dale Sr:

1) A SAFER barrier with crush panels to absorb crash impact.
2) The "Car of Tomorrow" platform, which was also designed to absorb crash impact and survive rolls.
3) The HANS device, which kept the driver in his seat where he belongs.

amazing.

 

[Lounatik]

Pretty horrific crash with a great outcome. I've watched several races this year where a COT car would get sideways and stay planted to the ground. NASCAR also did a hell of a job with the vehicles aerodynamics and its inability to lift as well as putting the driver in a more central position within the car. After seeing this one though, I could not imagine how he would have fared had he been in the older model car (the Car of Yesterday?)

trmiv, you were talking about all of your safety equipment and head and neck restraint stuff. I almost shudder watching the old NASCAR clips on tv when you see the guys racing in what amounts to an actual "stock" car. Complete with bench seats and wide open windows and maybe lap belts.


Peace

Lounaik

 

[boomerang]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Originally posted by: OverVolt
What caused the accident to begin with? Did his back right wheel lock unexpectedly or something? How did his back wheels start spinning out @ 195? Did his car go mid-air for a split second and make them lose traction as he entered the turn? If so why was he still giving the damn thing gas?

There's been a lot of mechanical issues with the Toyotas this season, mostly with JGR which has cost them a couple of races and there was also an issue with the COT and the tires Good Year was providing for these intermediate tracks but McDowel said his car didn't feel right right before the crash so I'm thinking it was a mechanical failure.

I would tend to agree on a mechanical failure. But, the cloud of oil dry dust off the loaded side of his car didn't help one bit. The car got really squirrelly before it went completely out of shape. One lucky man. It does look like he was limping slightly.

 

[Iron Woode]

Originally posted by: Quiksilver
Compare:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLdvjpFYcIs&fmt=18

and this one too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYDNW5O-_I0

 

[trmiv]

Originally posted by: Lounatik
Pretty horrific crash with a great outcome. I've watched several races this year where a COT car would get sideways and stay planted to the ground. NASCAR also did a hell of a job with the vehicles aerodynamics and its inability to lift as well as putting the driver in a more central position within the car. After seeing this one though, I could not imagine how he would have fared had he been in the older model car (the Car of Yesterday?)

trmiv, you were talking about all of your safety equipment and head and neck restraint stuff. I almost shudder watching the old NASCAR clips on tv when you see the guys racing in what amounts to an actual "stock" car. Complete with bench seats and wide open windows and maybe lap belts.


Peace

Lounaik

Yea I know, it was different back then. When my grandpa was racing in the 50's and 60's he raced "Hardtops" which were basically the early stock cars. We have numerous pictures of him racing in short sleeve shirts and what I guess was some kind of hard hat. Even some of my Dad's early racing pictures from the 70's crack me up with the lack of safety stuff. My dad had a crash one time when he flipped all the way down the back straight away of a track, and got up almost as high as the lights. The car was completely destroyed, but he survived without any major injuries. What helped was that was the first night ever he raced with arm restraints (used with open wheel cars like midgets and sprint cars to keep a driver's arms inside the cockpit when they flip so the car doesn't crush them or they don't hit the ground), which were new back then. Sometimes it's a wonder I was even born at all!

 

[Miramonti]

Very interesting info, thx trmiv for the insight.

Its great to see the racing community come this far to embrace such a wide array of state of the art safety defenses to enable such brutal horrific accidents, this one beginning at around 194mph, to result in a walkaway.