ot: is it too controversial to discuss Daytona crash?

[Bruce K]

Latest news has Newman awake and speaking with medical staff and visitors.

THAT is good news

BK

[Hellgate]

^^^That, is awesome news!

[Red Tornado]

Glad Ryan Newman is awake and communicating. Always pulled for him being both from the state of Indiana and a Purdue grad.

Liked NASCAR in the 80's/early 90's, but I agree the sport has lost its luster. There are many other forms of auto racing to enjoy, my fav being sprint cars. Used to help a co-workers son for a few years before I became very immersed in cycling. It's an excellent spectator sport. Heat races, C-main, B-main and the feature. Some organizations (World of Outlaws) do time trials as well.
Except for a handful of special races, most features are 40 laps or less typically on 1/2 mile or shorter tracks. Heats are usually 8-10 laps. Admission price is a helluva lot cheaper than other forms of racing as well.

Put a 900 horse motor (410 c.i.) in a car with ~90" wheelbase where the complete car with driver weighs around 1400 pounds and cut 'em loose on a dirt track. Pretty fun to watch. Also have classes for racers on a budget, 360 and 305 c.i. sprint cars.

They run sprint cars on pavement too, similar formats to dirt, and on usually 1 mile or shorter. Not quite as crazy as the dirt cars, but still much more entertainment that watching guys play follow-the -leader.

[Plum Hill]

Ryan Newman is one of the guys that made the step up from running open wheel cars on dirt and pavement. I first saw him run in USAC in ‘96.

Accident was most unfortunate, as the car took a direct hit in the driver’s side while upside down. No safety design can consider something like that happening. About the only way to avoid that would be to have the driver in the center of the car, something tough to do with a driveshaft running down the middle, and accessing seat through a door in the roof.

A good number drivers (NASCAR, Indy Car, and sports cars) are also into cycling and triathlons. Carl Edwards used to ride from Columbia, Mo. to the race at Gateway in Madison, Il. (St. Louis metro area).

French driver Bob Wollek always cycled between the track and his hotel accommodations. He was hit from behind and killed at Sebring doing just that.

[cmg]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/o...nxy-story.html

Just google the crash that killed Dale Earhart Sr. for comparison. No neck brace required, adopted after.

[mistermo]

Originally Posted by Plum Hill

A good number drivers (NASCAR, Indy Car, and sports cars) are also into cycling and triathlons. Carl Edwards used to ride from Columbia, Mo. to the race at Gateway in Madison, Il. (St. Louis metro area).

Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan is a badass on the bike. Zipp, based here in Indianapolis, has him on their Trek/Zipp master's team. But he's not permitted to ride per his contract, during race season.

[azrider]

Jimmie is big time cyclists.........even did promo for their electric bikes

Trek Super Commuter: https://youtu.be/qlPaWg1yHnM

[BobO]

Originally Posted by Plum Hill

Accident was most unfortunate, as the car took a direct hit in the driver’s side while upside down. No safety design can consider something like that happening. About the only way to avoid that would be to have the driver in the center of the car, something tough to do with a driveshaft running down the middle, and accessing seat through a door in the roof.

I don't believe that's the case.



There isn't much in the way of triangulation (none) of the halo in the orientation that it was hit. When that bar buckles inward it pulls the main bar with it causing it to act out of plane so that it in turn can buckle.

It's going to be fairly simple to provide a good deal more strength for this exact kind of hit. As I understand it, the rationale for the large openings in the cage roof is that the seat can be removed with the driver still in it in the cases of spinal injury. Given that we've seen this incident, I'm not sure that rationale holds up any more.

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by mistermo

Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan is a badass on the bike ... but he's not permitted to ride per his contract, during race season.

Because it's too dangerous?

[rounder]

I watched the whole race this weekend. On Sunday with the rain delays and showing the same laps over and over. I thought it was just a long boring parade and the race was almost over, for as long as it seemed to take. On Monday, with all of the remaining laps it looked more like a typical Daytona 500. Then with a few laps to go there was the inevitable multicar car crash and I thought it at least no one was hurt. Then, on the last lap, with Ryan Newman in the lead, he was bumped into the wall and spinning end over end, when someone hit him dead on at 190. That seemed to me pathetic and unnecessary and I feared for his life. I woke up this morning thinking, if he is dead I am never watching another car race. Thank god he is still alive.

[glepore]

Originally Posted by Bruce K

Latest news has Newman awake and speaking with medical staff and visitors.

THAT is good news

BK

Yes it is. But keep in mind that Robert Wickens was talking on the scene but still isn't walking. In addition to almost losing Dad, his kids are dealing with mom and dad blowing up, announced days before. The ultimate irony is that Newman has been the safety voice in the drivers meetings for years.

I'm a huge car guy... and I've seen too much of this, from Ronnie dying on Mario's best day, to Greg Moore, to Ayrton.

The form of racing going on Sunday/monday needs to stop. Pushing each other at 200 mph in non downforce cars leads to disaster. Either make it competitive again ie no spec cars or make them race on rovals.

I'm done with crashcar until they fix it. I love the Glen, but won't watch if they wanna kill these guys the rest of the year.

[steelbikerider]

Long time racing fan of all types. The best way to see a race is in person. A race can be a sensory overload with the sights, sounds, smells and more. TV does a lot to take away the sensation of a car's speed just like it does in a bike race. Think of the superspeedway races as a big and fast crit, different leaders all the time, action throughout with crashes, breakaways and pit strategies and a wild sprint to the finish.

As a teenager before races were concerned about spectator safety, I would stand less than 10 feet away from the fence at Texas World Speedway so I could feel the indy cars go by at 200+. I would see the car in the corner almost 1/2 mile away. Next thing would a explosion of sound and air as the car went by - awesome to experience.

[BdaGhisallo]

Originally Posted by tomato coupe

I think the last thing auto racing wants is to have is a discussion about fuel efficiency.

I don't disagree but in an age when you have green activists shouting that auto racing is something that is unnecessary and should be shut down, having a series that is pushing the envelope and developing the power unit to previously unseen levels of utility, is a nice counter.

I would think that marketing this aspect would be geared more to Govts and regulators than those watching the races to allow the sport some breathing room. Maybe it goes on behind closed doors at levels us mere mortals don't see, but some public effort would be nice too.

[zap]

Originally Posted by BdaGhisallo

having a series that is pushing the envelope and developing the power unit to previously unseen levels of utility, is a nice counter.

Mercedes F1 power unit has pushed past 50% thermal efficiency. But the costs are such that I don't think any road vehicle other than hyper cars will use this sort of power unit in it's entirety. Plus manufacturers are spending billions on electric vehicles, etc.

Last F1 race I attended was the Montreal GP during the early 80's turbo era. We were right there for the standing start..........sensory overload. Later we walked around the circuit and security back in the day was.....non existent. We stood with photographers at turns with nothing to protect us but a short guardrail.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by tomato coupe

Because it's too dangerous?

Pro contracts can have all sorts of riders and prohibitions. I remember when Monta Ellis broke his ankle playing for the Warriors in an offseason scooter accident, there was quite a bit of discussion from Ellis' camp and the team about whether it was a moped or not as they were considering whether to void Ellis' contract. Mopeds were not barred under his contract, but scooters were.

Turned out it was a scooter.