Running 2018 NASCAR thread

I thought of Nadeau in particular because IIRC he crashed into one of the walls at Richmond that didn't have a SAFER barrier installed.

And Purvis was nearly T-boned by Greg Biffle during a race. Doubt anything could have helped him.

 

Some of the side-safety stuff, maybe. And the HANS device could have helped, too, the same way it probably saved Elliott Sadler’s life at Pocono a few years ago.

When I think of deaths that could have been prevented by the SAFER barrier system, I think of guys like Kenny Irwin Jr., Adam Petty, Neil Bonnett and J.D. McDuffie. (HANS device could have helped them as well, obv.) There was a wreck in the All-Star Race a few years ago that saw Jimmie Johnson’s car go headfirst into one of the Charlotte SAFER barriers with so much power that you could see the outer barrier bending all the way to the concrete retaining wall. Amazing system.

The combination of the driver’s HANS device and the SAFER barriers on the walls has done a lot to prevent death and maiming on the track. I’m still amazed that it took 15-20 years for the HANS device to become a standard part of the safety kit.

 

I remember the same year or the year after Earnhardt died, there was one race (Talladega?) where two or three guys who wrecked said they’d have been dead without HANS, and the G force readings pretty much confirmed it. It’s amazing how many lives have been saved by HANS + SAFER.

 

Spoilers!
Kevin Harvick clinched a spot in the championship round by winning at Texas ... oooorrr maybe not.

No. 4 team assessed L1-level penalty, docked 40 points | NASCAR.com

Ryan Blaney's and Erik Jones' teams also got 20-point penalties for other infractions.

 

And ... NASCAR says "Our bad!" to Jimmie Johnson after incorrectly sticking him at the back of the field at Texas. Then harumphs about how "unacceptable" it was. Like a damn thing will change in the tower going forward. Same clowns, same circus. At least the IRL fired the USAC timing and scoring crew after A.J. slapped Arie.

 

It seems more and more like wrasslin’ every year.

 

Saw a report tonight about NASCAR wanting to take ISC private. Think it was on Autoweek’s site?

Perhaps this is another domino falling in the scenario 2mcm laid out months back.

 

Seriously though - with the sponsorship situation as dire as it is - NASCAR can't afford to to make their sponsors look bad. The question is, do they make them look bad by dinging one of their teams, or do they make them all look worse by looking the other way?

 

Rick Crawford goes directly to prison without a wave around. Maybe he can look up former NASCAR PR flack Chip Williams while he's there.

Rick Crawford sentenced to 130 months in attempted enticement of a minor case

EDIT: Just looked him up. Chip is scheduled to be released in December of 2028. The original sentence was 26 years and three months. That'd be around 20-21 years served, I think.

 

And ESPN lays off Bob Pockrass while he's covering the Cup banquet in Las Vegas. Such a wonderful industry.

Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) | Twitter