VIDEO: Think the NASCAR Car of Tomorrow's not tough? Watch this.
You've heard it all before. "People watch car racing for the crashes," has been a familiar refrain for what seems like forever. While that stereotype surely applies to a portion of the viewers who tune in, most fans watch motorsports because they like motorsports. (How novel, we know.) That said, there's no denying that some crashes are hard not to watch, regardless of your level of interest in racing.
One these occurrences took place yesterday at the Texas Motor Speedway during qualifying for tomorrow's Samsung 500 Sprint Cup race. Michael McDowell was piloting his #00 Aaron's Toyota Camry when the rear end got loose coming out of a turn. Things then got very bad, very quickly, and McDowell went into the wall at around 180 miles per hour. The engine bay burst into flames and the car went into a slide on its roof that led to several barrel rolls before it finally came to rest. Track officials helped McDowell out of the burning car and with a wave to the fans, he walked away.
It's got a silly name, it's not much to look at, and it further homogenizes the field, but the NASCAR Car of Tomorrow seems able to take some very serious punishment while keeping its driver safe. Ultimately, that trumps everything else. We're glad to see that McDowell's okay. Bummer about your car, though, dude.
Thanks to Taylor for the tip.
[Sources: NASCAR, YouTube]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
purecoda 4:35PM (4/05/2008)
That'll buff right out.
/obligatory
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Yar 4:38PM (4/05/2008)
Wow, helluva thing.
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geo.stewart 5:27PM (4/05/2008)
Leave it to a rookie to test something no one wants to test!
I wonder if Burton will count this as a lesson.
And all ye F1 fans who want to talk about bad wrecks...
Taylor 4:38PM (4/05/2008)
Yay, thanks for posting this Autoblog. I think my jaw stayed open for about five minutes afterwards of that crash. Thank you COT.
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TwinTurbo3000GT 4:47PM (4/05/2008)
god damn. that was a nasty crash right there.
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Jeff Banks 7:26PM (4/05/2008)
Pretty crazy stuff. Fifth Gear had an episode devoted to NASCAR this season. I actually have a lot more respect for what these guys do after watching the behind-the-scenes stuff. I still wouldn't really be motivated to watch it, but i'm a little more understanding about why its so popular.
I actually do watch professional cycling though... but thats something I won't try to force on anybody :)
Brett- BMW Advo 4:46PM (4/05/2008)
world record of flips? i think i counted 9?
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Taylor 4:53PM (4/05/2008)
They recorded 8, but yeah, I think that broke Casino Royale's 7 car flip scene.
johnny 4:56PM (4/05/2008)
whoa all i got to say is boosh
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Egon 4:57PM (4/05/2008)
Man, this is AWESOME!! Thanks to YouTube, now I don't have sit through all those other boring ol' roundy-round laps! Thrill of victory, agony of defeat? Bah...bring on the wrecks!
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Sam 5:05PM (4/05/2008)
Shake n' Bake!
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RLQ 8:24PM (4/05/2008)
OMG its Rick Bobby.
Ricky Bobby 11:54AM (4/06/2008)
There can't be two number one's. That'd be eleven.
If you're not first, you're last.
AmericanTruckGuy 5:09PM (4/05/2008)
Heck, if that was part of nascar I'd be a fan. Otherwise, I see no fun in watching cars go in circles.
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Tim UF 5:18PM (4/05/2008)
While i am sure the car of tomorrow is part of the reason McDowell walked away, Don't discount the soft walls either. if you can pause the vid at the moment of impact and see how much the wall deflects. It aborbed a hell of a lot of energy too.
combine that with the head restraint system (the name of which, eludes me), and the improved structure of the CoT, and the driver walks away, rather than being another tragedy like Earnhardt Sr.
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Paul 8:01PM (4/05/2008)
HANS device ^
John Johnson 5:52PM (4/05/2008)
Commonly known as a HANS device.
Tim UF 8:31PM (4/05/2008)
Thanks.
havoc 5:50PM (4/05/2008)
"You've heard it all before. "People watch car racing for the crashes," has been a familiar refrain for what seems like forever. While that stereotype surely applies to a portion of the viewers who tune in, most fans watch motorsports because they like motorsports."
Well perhaps, but look critically at the advert spots that TV uses to build interest in NASCAR racing. 90% of the 30 second commercials are used in displaying racecar carnage. The "smart" people in the industry wouldn't be wasting bandwidth and advertising dollars on this type of product if this didn't create excitement and anticipation for the audience.
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Jay 6:04PM (4/05/2008)
Ok, so when someone comments "Why don't they race Stock Cars like it says in the name", show them that video.