He's alive at least
Wow. I didn't think there was anyway that was survivable. Every time I'm at one of the super speedways I'm amazed at how fast they are going in big heavy cars. Hoping he is OK.
so many prerequisites before race with claims of greatly improved safety advancements.. At 200 MPH....anything goes.
The crash with 16 to go looked pretty scary too..takes out half the field!Newman leading at that point..
"The crash with 16 to go looked pretty scary too..takes out half the field!Newman leading at that point.." Somehow I don't feel the sitiation was the same......no mention of it in this thread since it restarted today (Post # 11) Ryan's looked very bad.
OT, but on the lighter side (since the good news) the Ford GTs and MkIV were nearly as heavy, faster (not going 'round high banks either), and up and down through the gears for 24 hours in '66-69.....so, not all that impressive.
That was a very typical "Big One" wreck, standard Daytona asshattery. No injuries, just tight pack racing makes for a lot of jacked up cars.
Unh unh uuuuuunnnhhhh. Image Unavailable, Please Login 'Taint Daytona's or 'Dega's fault. Call it NASCARtry, as it institutes the rules and regs. for the wonderful "races" (get serious....shows) choreographed for the sponsors and masses..... Image Unavailable, Please Login Me? Gimme back templated (to showroom) real stock cars with cages..........2/3 of the field gone due to attrition (not via big ones)....drafting that meant something (not follow the leader for the "Sponsors and Masses Show")........finishers separated by laps due to ability/excellence...... Real racing. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I understand where you are coming from, but "real" stock cars, even with cages, claimed quite a few lives in their day. A wreck even half as violent as Newman's would had basically vaporized him, now he looks like he's going to pull through (who knows at what capacity at this point), and that is 100% due to the safety advances that NASCAR had invested so much time and effort into...and I will guarantee that this wreck will serve as another data point for more research and engineering...no two wrecks are the same and Daytona has been a **** show from the beginning. Basically a throwaway race for most drivers. If it wasn't for the "prestige" of the event it a lot of drivers would probably just write it off.
Pleased to hear Newman has non life threatening injuries, the silence afterwards indicates it might be a career ender.. I don’t follow NASCAR these days but listening to Gordon and McMurry relate their experiences of being bumped from behind at speed has me believe they’re both pleased to be commentators. The new kids are overextending their reliance on the strength of the cage, safety tech and improved barricades to keep them alive. Don’t recall watching Superbirds hammer into each other lap after lap. If they wanted to increase safety for superspeedways at least, it’d be easy, make the nosecone more fragile. Bump all you want at the risk of ruining your aero. I’ve never seen so many non retaliatory wall hits due to bumping. Crazy.
I don't have time to look for higher resolution images, but it looks like the cut the entire roll cage / roof off the car to get him out: Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'm a big Blaney fan but he flat out dumped Newman. no excuse for moves like that and we see them all the time in NASCAR these days, particularly at the plate tracks.
The scary part was the fuel pouring out of the car and a fire on the ground when it came to rest. Another few seconds or so and it could have been alot worse.
I thought he was the faster car. Tried to go high and got blocked, tried to go low and got blocked. Faster car has to go somewhere. I don't watch NASCAR much and the driving standards are one of the main reasons why.
Did anyone notice the live feed when it happened...1 minute 30 seconds into video above.....the amount of gas that was pouring out when car was upside down....There should be a better cure for that.. With Gyroscopes (100 lb. spinning flywheels on board ) there would be no flipping... outcomes would improve.