yes, Busch Series driver Jimmy Johnson would probably not be with us right
now if it weren't for those styrofoam walls at Watkins Glen last year. The
gravel trap did absolutely nothing to slow him down cause he basically
"jumped" the gravel and went full speed (more or less) head-on into the
styrofoam. That was one of the most incredible sights I've ever seen, to
see that crash, then to see him get out and jump up and down on the roof
pumping his arms in the air.
> Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't NASCAR's last road course fatality
> at Riverside over twenty years ago? Rusty Wallace hit the wall head
> on at Watkins Glen last year--he's a big fan of soft walls.
> Gravel traps and runoffs are a little harder to implement at oval
> tracks. I suppose you could build the track like a colliseum, with
> the fans looking down into an arena. If a driver blows his right
> front tire, he keeps going through turn one into the parking lot.
> The first things to look at, I think, are crumple zones and soft
> walls.
> >Did anybody see the images of Scumi's crash in the 1st free practice
session
> >?
> >1 or 2 barrel rolls in the gravel trap, the car didn't even touch the
wall,
> >that's what I call great passive safety, you can go off because you brake
> >too late and lose the car, flip over the curb, make 1 or 2 (I didn't see
> >well) rolls in the air, and when the car comes down, the gravel is
slowing
> >it, and preventing the painful crash in the wall, which is protected by
air
> >fences and tires anyway.
> >I hope the nascar official have been looking at this, you are never too
old
> >to learn and improve things around you.
> --
