Holy crap! :eek:
Video here of Joey Logano’s massive wreck at Dover. He rolls 7 freaking times and finally comes to rest on his wheels.
Thankfully, NASCARs are built for safety, and improved all the time. I mean, the guy gave a freaking interview shortly after the crash. Not a scratch on him.
Where’s the “phew” smiley? 
Not sure if I’m going to be explaining myself well and don’t want to sound like a jerk or minimize the potential for injury Joey ducked, but I’ve seen a lot of wrecks (I’ve been watching NASCAR religiously since the Wide World of Sports shows in the 70s) and while I was watching him flip, I didn’t get the sense of any…I don’t know…i guess “danger” would be the best way to describe it. I could tell it was a hell of a ride, but it didn’t appear “that bad” comparatively - like there wasn’t a lot of torque to the flips or something.
You want to see flips and one of the most vicious-looking wrecks ever, look for video of Geoff Bodine’s Craftsman Truck wreck at Daytona in 2000. :eek:
Edited to add: The question will become, I think, if it’s harder to get hurt in one of those COTs, will it make the drivers race harder and take more chances in it?
Nah, not so bad insofar as being dangerous is concerned. The cars are built for that kind of stuff and all of the flipping is dissipating energy instead of it being transferred to the driver. Can’t say I’d want to be a passenger in that, though.
Seems like a rare sort of wreck for Dover, though. Just bad luck going back up the track and getting t-boned. At least he got hit on the passenger side.
Michael McDowell crashing during qualifying.
Elliott Sadler twice.
And on and on, yeah including Geoff Bodine’s career-ending flaming fence o’ debris crashtacular.
I know Logano’s crash wasn’t the most horrific crash ever, but it was still a bunch of motion that most vehicles (and people) aren’t really prepared or designed for. And I think it’s great that he was able to walk away from it and didn’t even need anything other than a cursory medical exam. No trip to the hospital, no gurney. I mean, think about that type of crash happening 25 years ago.
That’s already a question in many circles, regarding ALL of the safety improvements over the years. The press routinely asks, and answers (to some extent) that question any time there is a big visually impressive wreck.
FWIW, I do think it’s true. They are running closer to the edge (and the COT makes it more so. I like the car, but think Brian “The Putz” France needs to allow more adjustment in the COT than exists today), and as a result, are getting in “worse” wrecks, but with far better outcomes than in yesteryear.
McDowell’s crash was far worse than this one IMO, and I’m glad both of them are still able to drive cars today.
How Bodine is alive today is a mystery to me after watching the video. I wonder how much better he’d be health wise, if he was in a COT, rather than that truck… Though, on the other hand, the crash was probably the best thing ever for the US Bobsled team.
Oddly, the worst looking crash of the year so far in NASCAR in my book was on the road course at the Glen (here). Hornish was darn lucky he didn’t take a full lick on a driver side “door” and Jeff took about as hard a head on impact as you’ll see.
This, of course, was a repeat of the crash in either Nationwide practice, or the race. I can’t remember which session it was in, but an “exactly the same” crash occurred in the same place that same weekend.
Tires make good stops in many place, but I’d question their use in that particular corner, where they throw the car back across the racetrack.