Michael McDowell walks away from violent qualifying crash at Texas-UPDATE
Quote selected text Published April 4th, 2008 in NASCAR News, NASCAR VideosUPDATE:
Video of McDowell’s crash today:
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=XlGlLDaT9l0[/youtube] ——————————————————-
Qualifying has been halted at Texas Motor Speedway due a huge qualifying crash by MWR driver Michael McDowell. McDowell lost control of his Aaron’s Toyota Camry going into turn 1 and slammed violently into the Safer Barrier wall and then flipped several times.
McDowell got out of the car immediately following the crash and has no injuries.
Speedway workers are working to fix the wall so qualifying can resume.
- NASCAR safety lauded after McDowell crash at Texas
- ARCA ROY McDowell to make NASCAR Busch Series debut at Texas
- McDowell to take over MWR’s No 00 when Reutimann moves to No 44
- Champion Mortgage to sponsor the No 00 MWR Toyota
- McDowell to drive Cup car for Waltrip after Jarrett’s retirement
I was in the pits today when this happened. It was pretty sad…..McDowell came out, was very cordial and signed everything that was given to him (signed my visor, natch) then went and wrecked. I think he still gets to race Sunday doesn’t he?
Man, it looked bad on tv but this kid shook it off and was on tv fifteen minutes later.
This wreck showed the one major drawback of the Safer barrier, the fact that it rebounds violently, in this case enough to make the car flip about 12 times (probably more, maybe less thats just a guess)
Fisha, you may be right about the “soft wall”, but I think that the pros far out weigh the cons. Hitting the wall at that angle, if it had been the normal wall, could have been much more devastating. And flipping the cars, though it seems to be extremely violent, is not as bad as hitting the wall at that angle, or any angle like it for that matter, especially at those speeds. The “rebound” you are referring to, well, it is what most likely kept him from being injured or killed (along with all the other safety devices used). If he would have hit the old wall, all the force from the impact would not have been absorbed by the wall, but instead, absorbed by the car and the driver. So, I guess what I’m saying, I don’t really see it as a drawback. That could have been a hell of a lot worse had there been no safer barrier in place.
that has OH **** written all over it!
By all means.
Oh, and by the way, I’m so glad he is alright. That was a wild and crazy crash! I was amazed to see him get right out on his own. I’m sure he’ll be sore tomorrow though.
Glad he is ok, that was one helluva hit!!
my hole body still herts just watching it glad he is not hert
That car was trashed , except for the drivers compartment that held up really well. MWR did a great job building a safe car. I’ve watched the wreck about 12 times and I still cant believe what a hard hit that was. Really glad he is ok. Maybe he will have a better Sunday.
Holy crap that was a hit! It’s been a while since I’ve seen one that hard. I was shocked when he popped right out of the car and walked under his own power to the ambulance. Thanks God he was able to walk away from that one!
It’s moment like this where the COT haters should stop and be thankful we have it. It might be impossible to drive, it may take forever to dial in a great set-up, but that dang car can take a beating and the driver will be well guarded inside, well, at least compared to the old car
Thank God he walked away, McDowell has potential and he can be a superstar one day
Fisha695 wrote:
I dont see it as a major drawback if it wasnt there he more than likely would be dead,as far as the car flipping if your gonna wreck thats what you would want the car to do instead of complete stop.
Yeah I know, I guess Drawback was a bad choice of wording. I mean its 900% better then if the car would come to a complete stop, but during race conditions I’m not sure the flips that resulted from the rebound would have provided a driver walking away.
I’m glad he’s alright but i don’t think he is ready for the cup series. I think he has potential but should have been held back another year before making the move to cup.