NRA-sponsored race car destroyed in absolutely horrific crash at Daytona

[bullwinkle428]

The very best thing I can say about this is that the driver, Austin Dillon, miraculously walked away from this nightmarish scenario. Unfortunately, 13 spectators suffered minor injuries, with one being taken to the hospital - reported to be in stable condition.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/06/us/daytona-race-crash/

[Fred Sanders]

1. Isn't this primarily the reason why these folks spectate? At least before the confederate flag was banned?

[bullwinkle428]

3. As someone who's watched events on and off for around 40 years, I can't say

I've ever been motivated by the opportunity to see blood and carnage. I've seen some pretty awful stuff on occasion, which accounts for the "off" periods at certain points along the way.

[tech3149]

8. Agreed, as a motorsport fan for pretty much my entire adult life and then some

The last thing I wanted to see was an accident. I've seen too many people I admired die in tragedies that only happened because they were willing to push the limits beyond what was possible. Every incident presented the chance for elevating the level of safety in every motor vehicle.
I am only too happy to be a proponent of driving a manual everything vehicle because it put me in the position of challenging my abilities and take control of my own safety.
I'd like to see driver licensing be advanced by an order of magnitude of difficulty. I don't care whether it's a lack of skills or the abundance of distractions but the average pedestrian driver does not instill any confidence in my sharing the road with them.

[Fred Sanders]

10. I do not see a lot of NASCAR-level driving skills required on my non-circular, non-racetrack commute, maybe some places?

[tech3149]

15. There's where some racing experiences are beneficial

My roots are in road courses but racing the round track is a whole separate set of challenges. On a road course you can be just a little bit off and make up for it. On a round track you have to be so effing precise that you're within millimeters from lap to lap.
The common ground is being able to view where you're going as far ahead as possible.
If you really studied the the skills involved in racing and applied them to your daily commute I'm pretty sure you'd change your opinion.

[Fumesucker]

16. There were 32,719 US motor vehicle fatalities in 2013..

http://www.nhtsa.gov/NCSA

Better driving skills would help reduce that number.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

37. Not sure I have enough faith in human nature.

I'd rather see more public transportation, more light rail. Get fewer people driving, rather than hope that they'll drive better, even if they get more training.

[tech3149]

41. I'll second that emotion

I had to spend some time using public transportation to get to work. Logistically it was a total PITA. My 45 min commute was now about 2 hrs. And this was in a developed area with substantial mass transportation.
I'm out in the exurbs now where I've got only one bus service that offers me three trips each weekday. The cost is about three times what it would cost me in gas and if I can't match up with the schedule I can expect to hike 10 miles or spend a Jackson to get home.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

42. Yeah, I do have to admit that.

The main problem with public transit is that it has fixed routes. Great if you are traveling from point to point on those routes, at just the right times, but annoying if you have to hang around waiting, or just miss it, or need to go from a place far from any route stops to another place far from any route points.

[tech3149]

44. I will admit that public transport in spite of the problems was enjoyable and rewarding

I got to meet and converse with people that would never have happened if I was cloistered in my car. I can still see the faces of most of those people twenty years on.
Not being the most outgoing type, it put me in a public sphere that I would have probably avoided with a passion.

[LanternWaste]

20. We often fail to see that which we fail to understand...

We often fail to see that which we fail to understand...

[NorthCarolinaL]

43. Your comment about manual everything hits home.

It applies to computer controlled brakes, acceleration, and everything else. Little by little, control of the car is taken away from the driver. I remember (not even that long ago) when you learned what to do in skid. Not any more.

Now there is this talk about self driving cars. It will never happen. There will always be some manual intervention, but it is being eroded.

[Throd]

7. Nope, just the shopworn stereotype of people who look down on motor sports.

[840high]

9. No.

[Warpy]

14. No, my dad was a NASCAR fan

and he was more into the strategy and driving skills. Wrecking out ruined it.

[cherokeeprogressive]

24. "These folks..." Fuck me to tears but you make a fool's assumption and then double down on it.

Lots of confederate flag wavers in the northeast, are there? Must be huh? Because there are sure a lot of tracks there.

[ohheckyeah]

29. No, it really isn't. n/t

[Duckhunter935]

31. Nope

amazing driving skills at almost 200MPH

[calimary]

2. Good Lord! Makes me think immediately of the Roman Coliseum on chariot-racing day.

BIG crowds just waiting to see a wreck. And they usually got what they wanted.

Sigh... just doesn't compute, to me. I don't get it. WHY do we have such a basic instinct to watch (and cheer) wrecks? What is it about us that we love this shit?

[B2G]

5. You don't know much about racing. nt

[cwydro]

45. I know, right?

I'm not a fan, but there are some incredibly ignorant remarks about racing on this thread.

[Myrina]

11. I think people were interested in the other 399 laps WITHOUT a crash, too ...

[RobertEarl]

47. Racing is perfectly safe, Calimary

Wrecks are totally unexpected. </sarcasm>

[Travis_0004]

4. Its shows the level of technology that everybody survived that.

Lets hope everybody makes a speedy recovery.

[bullwinkle428]

6. I don't want to think about what might have happened had that fencing not been

as strong as it clearly was. I can guarantee it would be all that everyone would be talking about today had that occurred.

[Fred Sanders]

12. The fencing technology is excellent, have to admit that. Kept injuries to just 13 - no deaths. Yet.

[deathrind]

13. Amazing that the

Driver walked away from this. The car stopped so suddenly that the entire engine was sheared from the car and rolled down the race track...Been watching racing all my life...usually when a car gets destroyed to that extent the driver does not walk away. Says volumes to the amount of safety built into those cars.

NASCAR needs to do a serious rethink of that crash fence. It is only blind luck that no fans were seriously hurt or killed.

[ProfessorGAC]

17. It Is Pretty Amazing, Ain't It?

Even since the Earnhardt crash, the safety systems have improved tremendously. It is incredible that Dillon walked away.

And he's such a young kid. Think his parents were puking on themselves seeing that?

[ohheckyeah]

21. This crash made the crash

that killed Dale, Sr. (in the same number car) look like a fender bender. The Earnhardt crash has saved lives.

I felt sorry for Junior - I don't think he could really enjoy his win.

[Liberal_in_LA]

22. the drivers are in a cage inside the car, correct?

[ohheckyeah]

25. No. not really.

They wear a special harness and have a neck brace.

[TheCowsCameHome]

18. Call me when they start making right-hand turns.

[Elwood P Dowd]

19. They just made tons of them last week at the Sonoma, California event.

/jcr:content/renditions/sonoma2015_track_pc_hero_960x250_v1.jpg.main.png

[ChisolmTrailDem]

27. Any questions? ^^^^^^ *shrugs*

Watkins Glen?

[uppityperson]

46. Ok, Dereck

Zoolander

[petronius]

23. Absolutely incredible! Glad everybody is (will be) alright...

Watching the slow motion replay, it seems like the people behind the fence didn't even react until it was all over. (Which I guess is a good thing: by the time you know something happened, you know if you're OK or not.)

[ohheckyeah]

26. It was one of

the most horrific crashes I've seen. A number of announcers and viewers thought the driver must be dead. It was amazing to see him walk away.

[petronius]

28. I think that would have been a pretty solid assumption, watching that live: it

looked like the car made two major changes of direction, a couple of big decelerations, with a lot of rotation mixed in. Humans are not made to survive that. That safety gear--in the car and around the track--qualifies as a marvel of the modern age...

[ohheckyeah]

34. I agree. It was

a real reminder of Dale Sr. dying at Daytona and this crash was horrendous. (He also got hit by another car after he came down the track.)The safety of the cars and fences are amazing.

My cousin, Brian Whitesell, is a team manager for Hendricks. I'm sure we will hear details from him.

[Jacoby365]

39. You are correct. At 190 mph things happen faster than you can react

The cars were traveling nearly the length of a football per second when the crash happened. 190 miles per hour = 279 feet per second. Incredible. I can't believe he walked away from that crash. http://www.calculateme.com/Speed/MilesperHour/ToFeetperSecond.htm

[FSogol]

30. Similar to Tom Sneva's crash at the 1975 Indy

He walked away from the wreck too.

[Duckhunter935]

35. Young Jackie Stewart

narration, cool. Brings back memories

[ChisolmTrailDem]

32. I was watching as it happened and I just knew Austin Dillon was dead. The energy of that car coming

to a full stop should have caused some degree of internal injuries, if not blunt force trauma.

I am so relieved the thumbs of Junior's crew, who sprinted to aid Austin, went up to let everyone know he was OK.

And, no, I wasn't hoping for a crash like that. But if it had happened, it would have been all the news today about how Dale Earnhardt, Sr. died in the #3 car that Dillon inherited as the grandson of the car's owner and Earnhardt's former boss, Richard Childress.

[ohheckyeah]

36. That was such a relief.

Those thumbs in the air let a lot of us take a breath.

[Hoyt]

33. NASCAR TV on a Sunday afternoon is great to nap to. The low drone, and occasional

nasally talking from the commentators will put you right to sleep for the duration.

I knew years ago that the yahoo flag waving "spectators" weren't my thing.

[Duckhunter935]

38. wow, incredible

the safety that has been developed for the races is fantastic. Could not stay up late enough to watch this crazy ending. RIP Dale but that Head and Neck device now required after your death, I am sure helped save this young life.

[KamaAina]

40. How's that restrictor-plate thing workin' out for ya, NASCAR?

</dr-phil>