> >For years, the worst wreck I ever saw at a race was Michael Waltrips
> >gate-removal trick at Bristol. To see a car go from 120mph to 0 in less
> >than a second and the whole thing disentigrate like a crash-mobile from
my
> >childhood (anyone remember those?), and to see him basically pop the roof
> >off and climb out was, well, astonishing.
> >Now, I'm on the fence (no pun intended).
> >After seeing Kenny Breck's wreck at Texas this weekend, I may have to
> >re-consider. It's a close call, though.
> >Kenny's wreck was definitely in the "There's NO way that guy is still
alive"
> >catagory. Especially since his helmet was shoved into the fence AND the
> >track on two different occasions.
> >I'm glad he got away with minor injuries (considering). I've never seen
a
> >race car spin like a top like that before. Astonishing...
> >This was, for all intents and purposes, an airplane crash.
> http://espn.go.com/rpm/irl/2003/1013/1637489.html
> Pretty much sums up my opinion about it, though I'm not entirely
> unbiased on the matter. I f**n hate ovals. Now even moreso.
When I saw the footage, I was reminded of the wild ride Stan Fox took in the
1995(?) Indy 500. As someone who has grown up watching F1 and European
motorsport, and was only exposed to oval racing when Nigel Mansell took up
Indycar in 1993, nothing prepares you for the sight of a car travelling
normally then disintegrating in the blink of an eye.
So what can we take from this incident? Well, Kenny is still with us, a
miraculous thing betrayed only by the fact that he has many difficult weeks
ahead of him, and he'll get through it with the support and love of his
friends and family - and he will be a father. No other drivers were hurt, to
say nothing of the implications were it a front-stretch collision.
++
SP