NASCAR: Waltrip took his time escaping burning car
Quote selected text Published September 6th, 2007 in NASCAR News
NASCAR officials say that Michael Waltrip chose to take his time getting out of his car after a fiery crash at California Speedway last Sunday and denied that the safety worker was moving slowly.
Fans have questioned the safety response after television footage showed the safety crew arrive at the car and approach it without fire extinguishers in hand in what appeared to be a delayed reaction.
NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said that wasn’t the case.
“The situation when Michael was - his car was resting and the safety crew was around him, at that time, you know, Michael when the net was down, Michael was all in control,” Pemberton said. “And I believe the conversation was just let him slowly unhook his stuff and get out. Because Michael’s so big with the old style car, if you - you can’t help him, you can only hinder him in getting out. So the safety worker was not moving slowly - he was moving slowly under direction that, you know, Michael said give me some time, and I’ll just undo myself and get out.”
Pemberton says that fan reaction to the crash came from a lack of information about the process as it was evolving.
“They didn’t really know the details going into that part of it,” he said. “But Michael was just working at his own pace of getting out of the car.”
Bookmark to:
- Waltrip to announce 2008 plans
- Waltrip avoiding media this weekend
- Waltrip testing at Nashville
- We Want Your Vote! Do you believe Michael Waltrip when he says he didn’t know about the additive?
- Waltrip to host XM radio show
Did anyone give Pemberton a breathalyser test before they talked to him? I can’t figure out what the heck he means! It sure sounds like he is saying Michael refused their help and said “I’ll get out on my own”.
I have a very hard time believing that with flames shooting up through the shifter boot, he says “don’t worry guys, I’m cool” and then loafs around inside the car. At the very least, someone with a fire extinguisher should have been there, as opposed to the empty-handed safety workers meandering around the car. Whether or not he declined help doesn’t excuse the fact that the car was ON FIRE and nobody seemed to mind too much!
Does NASCAR actually get anything right these days?
I thought it was odd that the first guy came up to the driver area (with out a fire ext.) and just stood there, it didn’t look like there was any conversation between him and Mikey but mabye there was, But the first guy with a fire ext. went to the other side of the car at the rear and started spraying the fire there insted of going to were mikey was and putting that fire out first. I guess the bottom line is every one is OK.
Has Nascar ever accepted repsonsibility for any wrong doing?
I think Nascar deserves a 25 point penalty for their rule infraction of 12-4-A actions detremental to motorsports
ROTFL JOE haha
As a firefighter myself, i’m APPALLED that there wasn’t a single extinguisher in sight. isn’t there supposed to be one on board? anyways, the car’s on fire. i don’t care if the driver is getting out on his own or not, safety crew members still need to focus on putting out the fire, at the same time as checking on the driver. SCENE SAFETY!!!!!!!
Typical NASCAR - Deny, deny, deny!!!!
There’s nothing wrong with MY eyes, NASCAR!!!
The NASCAR track personell were fat & dumbfounded.
The first “official” to the car threw up his hands and spun a circle or two, while his mates did the same thing whilst dropping the fire extinguisher.
When they finally did start to squirting the juice, they shot it at the rear bumper from too far away, while poor Michael stretched his neck as far as it would go to gat a gulp of clean air!!!
IDIOTS!!!! NASCAR is REALLY turning into a joke.
Mickey has to take his helmet off to get out of the car. He is to tall to get out with
his helmet on. That is the only delay. This is a guy who is 6′5 compared to drivers
who are 5′5-5′9 on average. That is why he is liking the COT so much. The Nascar officials
were lax in putting the fire out but that is why Mikey was “taking his time”. He can’t
pop in and out like majority of the drivers can.
YEAH MIKEY IS A GIANT . IF I WAS TALL AS HE WAS I COUDN’T GET OUT THAT FAST ETHER. BUT HE WAS LUCKY HE HAD A GUARDIAN ANGEL BY HIS SIDE IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE. AND HE HAS REALLY HAD BAD LUCK THIS YEAR. SINCE EARNHARDT DIED HE HAS BEEN DOING THAT GREAT I THINK HIS HEART ISNT INTO IT LIKE IT WAS..I SEE MIKEY PROBALLY RETIRING IN A FEW YEARS
As disorganized as the Safety Workers were, it’s a good thing that nobody shot off a fire extinguisher in the car..
Mikey might have got a snoot full of that stuff and never got out on his own.
I will give them the benefit of the doubt that Mikey said to let him get unhooked on his own but as far as a professional safety crew goes they get an “F” for that Chinese fire drill demo they put on !!!!
More Training, Less biscuits and gravy for that crew…
like i said in a comment earlier……..they were trying to make a sisk-kabob outta mikey! nascar has been aganst mikey ever since he went to toyota. all i can say is smoke better watch out next year! they had a extiguisher there but if you don’t pull the trigger its no point having it. just standing there holding it don’t put out the fire. mikey needs a roof hatch in all his cars. wake up nascar! one size DOES NOT FIT ALL!
I was shocked at why the safety crew were taking their sweet a#s time helping Michael get out. Yeah he’s tall and a little harder to help him out, but what if he was unable to help himself? I guess NASCAR is just going to let their drivers burn up?
hey when you take the safety crew training you are told if they are getting out on their own let them. but be there just in case so they did nothing wrong they did what they are there for
gzvi roqmv jiqd gxdraouvh uqcigsdb nxaq jepu
FsM8lU Hello
I am Russo