Should be some interesting racing today and some heart ache in the pits for the non-qualifiers. NASCAR bumped the pressure on the cooling systems a bit to try and help keep them cool with that little letter box grill (bumper) opening. But at least the "Pack is back"!?
I can't help it, I get emotional when I see a really hard hit. The Safer barriers, car design and various safety devices are just amazing.
ps The list of things I don't understand is very long. Add a new one: why Speed only assigned one hour on its schedule for the twin races today. The first one alone took two hours. Crazy.
Me too, that was brutal. We got both races all the way through here on Speed. Man, MW oughta be pretty embarassed...drop back to trucks with Bodine if ya can't drive anymore.
Whoo!At least we know Danica can take a hit!:eek1Congrats to Dave Blaney on racing his way in,AFTER the points he earned last year were sold to Stewart Hass for DANICA!
They can all thank Saint Dale for that. Nice to see Danica walk away. When the wheels leave the ground, it is a hard hit. Those were some good races, nice to see the season start again. I felt bad for Waltrip, he really felt bad about wrecking that car. First time since 1972 that a Waltrip won't be in the 500. I guess the next generation is not interested in racing. Roush has got some power this year. It is good to see the Fords running competitively on the restrictor plate tracks.
It couldn't be saved at the point she held her hands up by her head, not even by Kyle Busch. The car just about gained speed as it went for the wall. 12 years ago and that would have been fatal. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_wtzioHXq8I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
IndyCar drivers, among others, are taught to do that so that the steering wheel won't break their wrists/hands as it spins violently from contact with the wall. Little wheel = no leverage. The stock cars have large steering wheels and power steering, but she still probably averted an injury by doing that. From the in car camera angle, it did look like she was putting her hands over her eyes. I'm sure some people will have fun doing caption contests with that image
I imagined her screaming like a Mini owner, I know I would have. I've noticed that these newer drivers that have never driven into a concrete wall are steering into the slide instead of locking it down and spinning it. KB got away with one the other day. Remember when Nigel Mansell steered into a slide at Phoenix and punched a hole through the wall going backwards? Used to be a common topic at ovals by the commentators...lock it down and spin it to save the car.
Looks to me like she was putting her hands to the side of her helmet and inside the head restraint portion of her seat to keep her arms from flailing around and causing injury. Intelligent and instinctive reaction, not fear.
Yea, they all seem to think they can save it............till they can't. Spinning it may have kept her off the wall, but who knows in the few second you have to react. The commentators mentioned that there have been a lot of bad wrecks in that area before it was paved and the walls installed. I remember Rusty Wallace's car getting torn to pieces in that area when it was grass.
Couldn't find this anywhere without the ads, crappy cam recording and I cut the ads out. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lP1Uo1fleVM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Holy hell? Danica has the Nationwide pole at the moment!! Brian Scott on track, Hamlin goes last...he might be able to snag the pole from her. Edit, That's it...Danica has the pole. :eek1 Wow.
I agree. That was a mighty hard hit. That's why I got emotional. The track level replay shows how fast that car was going when it hit the barrier. DW said 180 mph, a media report said 150 mph. Whichever, not so many years ago could have been a killer.
