On the Right Track
A NASCAR BLOG BY Jeff Gluck
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New car's safety aspects impressive
Aug
12
It was frightening to watch and looked more and more terrifying as the various replay angles were revealed.
Sunday's massive wreck in the Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen certainly was a doozy. And it could have been so much worse.
As much flak as the new car receives – including from this writer – for the lack of exciting racing so far, its safety features continue to impress.
Bobby Labonte was sent to the hospital complaining of rib pain after The Glen wreck but was released with no injuries. David Gilliland was shaken and sore after he hit the wall and was slammed twice before he came to a stop, but he emerged without a scratch. And Sam Hornish Jr. hit the pit road dividing wall in a way that could have been disastrous for his health – but he was just fine.
Credit the new car for preserving these drivers' well-being and letting their families breathe a sigh of relief after the wreck.
The new car's safety improvements allow us to watch replays of the wreck like the one at the Glen and talk about how incredible it was while still being able to say, "Thank goodness no one was hurt."
No matter what, that can't be taken for granted.
Sunday's massive wreck in the Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen certainly was a doozy. And it could have been so much worse.
As much flak as the new car receives – including from this writer – for the lack of exciting racing so far, its safety features continue to impress.
Bobby Labonte was sent to the hospital complaining of rib pain after The Glen wreck but was released with no injuries. David Gilliland was shaken and sore after he hit the wall and was slammed twice before he came to a stop, but he emerged without a scratch. And Sam Hornish Jr. hit the pit road dividing wall in a way that could have been disastrous for his health – but he was just fine.
Credit the new car for preserving these drivers' well-being and letting their families breathe a sigh of relief after the wreck.
The new car's safety improvements allow us to watch replays of the wreck like the one at the Glen and talk about how incredible it was while still being able to say, "Thank goodness no one was hurt."
No matter what, that can't be taken for granted.
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Comments
3 responses to "New car's safety aspects impressive"
Ronald Schwalbe said:
Aug 12, 2008 at 2:29 PMNow, if ONLY the Hi-brass at NACAR would allow the teams -( you know -the guys who actually KNOW how to make a race car handle, not Helton or Brian ) if only they'd allow the TEAMS to do what they've done for the past half century or so, we might - MIGHT have some interesting RACES worth WATCHING again.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportDLM said:
Aug 14, 2008 at 2:15 PMAll the commentators that I'm aware of missed two key points: First, the outside barrier cushioned the initial impact, but failed horribly moments later...because it snagged and bounced the two cars back onto the track where they blocked race traffic. A proper barrier would cushion the initial impact and then leave the cars on the edge of the track. The bounce can be seen very clearly at 1:05 in this video-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmLRa9zIPIo Without the bounce back onto the track, this might have been a much less severe wreck. Second, the sand filled barrier at the end of the pit wall is made of Fitch Barrels, invented by ex-Formula 1 driver John Fitch, many years ago. This barrier worked perfectly, slowing down Hornish over a long distance. More on Fitch here, http://www.racesafety.com/
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This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.
» Confirm Abuse ReportAnonymous said:
Aug 15, 2008 at 2:50 PMNearly all crashes into the safer barrier have shown vehicles thrust back into the track. It captures and returns energy rather than absorbing the energy. By now I'd have expected that to have been addressed. How about a response from experts?
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