Ryan Blaney (12) almost killed Ryan Newman (6) because NASCAR allows drivers to make a clearly dangerous, potentially lethal move, this so-called bump drafting. At 200+ mph there's no telling what might happen when one car "nudges" another. NASCAR should ban it, and anyone who then does it should be disqualified from the race and suspended from racing for a period of time. Making the sport safer doesn't have to make it less exciting.
4
Pin ball for cars. Or maybe ice hockey with cars.
Yes fossil fuel burning racing cars emit small percentage of total fossil fuels burned, nonetheless it is an entertainment first, not a necessity, and it is in conflict with positive measures to address our environmental future. How about non-fossil fuel burning racing cars? Fans would have a healthier sport and profiteers from insurance companies to engineers would still make lots of money. Spectators could breath easier, and hearing loss risks would be lower. Would seeing grand children suffering from asthma change your priorities about what we are doing to out=r environment?
Eventually, auto racing will be dominated by electric vehicles, but no time soon. Formula 1 cars are already hybrid and there is a competitive Formula E circuit. Electric racing motors are extremely fast and as batteries improve the racing will become more viable. Race fans may not embrace the loss of the roar.of the engines though.
It's coming, and there is already an electric Formula E Series, which happens to come to Brooklyn every summer. But it's pretty slow racing for now, and the cars only recently gained enough driving range so that drivers no longer have to jump into a second backup car to finish the distance. Speeds max out around 140 mph, though, and the cars and drivers are no match for the pace, sound and excitement of 'real Formula One. But it's baby steps, and more is coming.
Gotta say, bumping your competitor from behind and causing him to crash does not seem very sporting. No wonder Trump is a fan. Of course POTUS took his lap in an armored limousine -- protecting his aching bone spurs no doubt.
4
It was his teammate who struck him from behind. He was trying to push him to the checkers.
@Stephen Burgess
Ryan Newman drives for Roush Fenway Racing
Ryan Blaney drives for Team Penske.
They are not team mates, they just happen to both drive Fords
2
They should award the flag to Newman. He was the clear leader with hundreds of feet to the finish when he was rammed from behind. Intentionally or just an over aggressive Blaney?
Blaney should be arrested and prosecuted. His causing of the wreck certainly looked intentional.
Maybe NASCAR will only get cleaned up when someone goes to jail for manslaughter.
Formula 1 all the way for me. NASCAR has zero entertainment value IMO.
3
It’s like fistfights in ice hockey.
1
Amazing photos. Even more amazing that Ryan Newman is alive and should recover. Good job on this photo-essay.
I guess it's hard to understand just how crashing the leader into the wall, with all the resulting carnage, gets you the win.
Seems that some sort of order would be helpful.
Thunder Road here we come.
Daytona 500? More like the Deland Demolition Derby. Blaney obviously and blatantly jammed Newman from behind to effectively "move him out of the way" since he couldn't find a lane to accelerate in, to pass him. So he decided to engage in a demolition derby by using one of the oldest methods in car racing when you can't win through performance: take the leader out. Blaney should be disqualified and arrested; Hamlin's win, overturned. The two of them decided to turn a car race into a last-minute wrestling match and "elimination." The press has been not unsurprisingly naive and trivially observant.
2
Ever since Daytona Raceway was built in 1958 the problem has been that the configuration of the track, with it's steep banking, has allowed cars to go too darned fast. From the very beginning NASCAR has tried to figure out ways to slow the cars down and make the racing more safe. But these very same efforts have made the racing dangerous too, as drivers with restricted horsepower try and figure out new tactics to beat their opponents.
For those who don't follow the sport, the sort of racing that caused this accident has been going on at Daytona for years now. Bumping and pushing and blocking is an integral part of the game at Daytona. Big crashes are part of the game too. But not crashes like this one.
These cars are safe. Drivers door areas are protected by reinforcement, and cars can get t-boned in pretty much any area of the car and come out unhurt. But the one area of the car that's not protected is the driver's window area, and to be honest, no one is going to get hit in the window area unless their car is upside down, which was unfortunately the case in this situation.
But yes, probably the worst crash in the last 20 years.
1
The only excitement in NASCAR is when a driver has to wreck the race to get ahead, frequently with the same result as Monday.
Sunday's event devolved into a fan and taxpayer funded political rally.
NASCAR got their ratings up but not for racing.
4
And this is called a "sport"?
1
Some sport.
This write-up is shot through with euphemisms -- from the exceptionally vague "everything went wrong" in the header to the "precarious" position of Newman's car as it flipped through the air at nearly 200 mph.
There is no amorphous fatalism involved here. One driver, in attempting to gain an advantage, bumped another into the wall -- an entirely foreseeable consequence of driving within inches of someone else's bumper at 200 mph. Then the driver who caused a potentially lethal incident for his own benefit won, and is somehow not disqualified from the race.
This is insanity and the NYTimes should call it out as such.
2
A moronic "sport" if there ever was one. There's going to be mass male depression in this country, perhaps even national collapse, when fossil fuels are no more and American men are going to have to express their manhood in quieter, slower, cleaner electric cars.
3
I'd be much more interested in hearing a statement from BLANEY, who caused the whole mess.
1
If only this had happened on the pace lap (?) with that big black limo sliding down the track on it's top. In Flames.
4
For what it’s worth, NASCAR is safer than it looks.
I was a NASCAR skeptic when I first moved to a big NASCAR town. I’ve been impressed.
I read today that there hasn’t been a fatality in many years.
Every race has wrecks, some spectacular, and the drivers walk away from them 99% of the time and limp 0.5% of the time. I’d certainly rather race than play football.
There’s a lot of serious engineering that goes into safety. For instance, body panels flop up as aerodynamic spoilers when a car goes out of control, making it less likely the car will go airborne. There’s a gigantic 200 mph wind tunnel to test this all out. Each team’s probably got several dozen engineers on staff.
These are called “stock cars” but nowadays they have little or nothing to do with the models on which they’re based. Think of them as very rugged custom built race cars that then have some Toyota or Chevy sheet metal slapped on top of them to differentiate them as Toyotas or Chevies (or Dodges or Fords).
I’d certainly rather race than play football. This is probably closer to baseball or hockey. It’s also got a family atmosphere more than some other sports.
On the other hand, NASCAR’s demographics skew red state; you won’t like it if you can’t abide people with those views. A Bernie rally it is not.
5
I know about numb drafting but this was simply crashing your opponent in order to win. In other words, cheating. I guess in our Trump and Astros and fake New world this is just accepted. Good luck teaching your kids to be good citizens while they watch our civilization devolve to a ‘who cheats best wins’ race.
6
There are an awful lot of comments denigrating motorsports, questioning why they are even considered sports.
There is no convincing those who think otherwise, but it really does take a high level of physical conditioning to wrestle a racing vehicle around a track, regardless of series. NASCAR still races body-on-frame configured cars modeled primarily on large family sedans, but unless you actually follow a series, say IndyCar or Formula One, you might be surprised just how large and heavy those vehicles are as well. An F1 car's wheelbase is the length of a full-sized SUV's, and it is weighted down by an internal combustion engine, high-powered electric motors, an kinetic energy regeneration system, and banks of batteries - F1 drivers have to be in exceptional physical condition to drive them.
Further, almost all motorsports involve a high level of strategy - when to pit, how to save fuel while still racing competitively, what tires to use at which point in the race. It's like a chess match with multiple players, on the track and off it.
That having been said, I gave up on NASCAR long ago. Bump drafting, green-white-checker, the Playoffs, etc, Too gimmicky; I don't get it. I prefer open wheel racing for the most part, because of the extra degree of caution that is necessitated by the vehicles' configurations. I've been a race fan for going on 60 years now and I despise crashes - racing's supposed to be about competition, and crashes alter a race's dynamic flow too much.
10
@D.J.McConnell I'm with you on Formula 1. Besides your expressed points the drivers make right hand turns as well as lefts, and many of them, per lap.
2
@Rob D
NASCAR has started putting in “road course” sections on some tracks like Charlotte, so there are now rights and lefts on some tracks
@A B As they should. Racing on ovals is far less fun, it is just fast. Open wheel racing is the best.
1
In any other sport, Hamlin would have been penalized or disqualified for the bump that caused the spinout and crashes. Not only did he win by cheating, he practically gloated over it. No wonder Trump made such an entrance at an event like this. These people are just like him.
7
@Eleanor Kilroy: He didn't cheat. He didn't gloat once he was made aware of what had happened. He, and other drivers may or may not be a Trump supporters-- completely irrelevant. Yes, the sport is very dangerous. But outlaw it and those who participate will find something else to do that is equally or even more risky. With respect to the environment NASCAR and IndyCar could follow the lead of F1 in developing and employing technologies that have less negative impact--F1 cars are now partially powered by electric motors that have eliminated refueling pit stops. F1 has also started a pure electric-powered racing series. The intent is to invent technologies that can be transferred to everyday cars. It isn't perfect but at least F1 is trying.
1
NASCAR, where bumping drivers out of the way is just "good 'ol racin'" and not addressed in any serious manner by the stewards. Actually, I had to look it up - I don't believe NASCAR even HAS stewards. Any other sanctioning body takes avoidable vehicle-to-vehicle contact seriously with penalties ranging from simple drive-through the pit lane to outright bans. The end of this year's 500 was a series of avoidable accidents and restarts until this entirely predictable and very unfortunate incident. Just a few weeks earlier at the same track the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona took place - multiple classes of cars with ~30 mph differences between them all racing on the same track at the same time . . . for 24 straight hours non-stop . . . with a fraction of the accidents of the 500 and no serious injuries. It can be done if there's a desire to do it - I question NASCAR's desire.
3
@Karl
Injuries are rare in NASCAR. Deaths very rare - 1 in almost 2 decades.
The NJ Turnpike is much worse, statistically, when you compute miles driven per fatality.
Almost worse than the “bump” was the announcers, stating it like it was drawing a foul in basketball or something. At 200 mph no less. There should be sensors in the cars that give a reduction at the end of the race if cars get to close. Or something to reduce any incentive to hit the other car at those speeds.
2
Is there effectively no difference between deliberately and inadvertently nudging a car into oblivion when determining who won? And what if the tumbling car had come to a rest feet from the finish line - not 9th but first of the cars that didn’t finish?
1
Sadly, in President Trump’s America, NASCAR fans love this kind of mayhem and tragedy! Here’s hoping Mr. Newman recovers.
3
@Counter Measures
NASCAR injuries are rare. Deaths once every 1-2 decades.
NASCAR fans don’t go to see someone get hurt. If they did, they’d be disappointed
Football and hockey are better if you’re into others’ pain.
1
The curse of Trump. He showed up at the race and got lots of attention. As a result, the race was rain delayed, then stopped and rescheduled because of more rain. The next day, his bad karma caused a near-catastrophic crash that completely changed the outcome of the race and sent a very popular driver to intensive care. Yes, blame Trump.
8
NASCAR is today’s gladiator battle — complete with death silently wanted by the crowd. We hide our uncivilized pleasure in watching a death-risk’s race.
2
@Neil
No, I don’t think you’re right. I live in a NASCAR town and friends work in the sport. Nobody wants a wreck where folks get hurt.
If somebody wants to see bad injuries, they’re going to be bored watching NASCAR - they’re uncommon. So uncommon that when they happen, it’s a story in the NY Times (which seldom covers NASCAR).
Compare with football.
1
So, you know how to stop these tragic accidents from happening? Get rid of NASCAR. No more idiotic racing around in circles, wasting tons of fuel and occasionally getting people killed. It's a senseless pasttime and it's past time we got rid of it.
4
@Dan Stackhouse
One death in 20 years and you’re ready to get rid of it?
2
Too bad it wasn't the arrogant person's beast that crashed and burned on his "victory" lap earlier.
2
If there weren't real and present danger, race car driving would be as exciting as the racing rats on The Price is Right. No one is forcing anyone to take part. The thrill of speed, talent, and superb engineering is a reward granted to few.
People die every day in pedestrian accidents that weren't their fault. I mourn those. Those who go down in a blaze of glory doing what they love best go out on an adrenalin high unpunished by the hangover. Nothing to mourn here.
1
I'm not a race car fan, but to me, it seems like one would almost do anything to win, even if it means to hurt someone else. We see this everyday in the White House. I pray for both drivers and their families. Having a free, and clean conscious to me, is always better for the soul.
2
Let’s face it, the thrill that spectators derive from watching heaps of decal-laden metal going round and round a track at ridiculously high speeds would be close to negligible without at least the possibility that something can go horribly awry at any moment.
Stand on any busy freeway overpass, other than during rush hour, and you will be treated to the same form of sublime entertainment: thousands of commuters engaged in a life-or-death struggle just to make it to the finish line unscathed.
1
When I saw the crash and realized Newman was leading until bumped, my first reaction, sad to say, was to wonder if the driver who nudged him was on the same racing team as the eventual winner.
My other was, why not penalties for the crash caused by driver error or intent?
Maybe NASCAR should consider awarding points by lap or timed segment in addition to just winning order.
44
@baltcate Because there was no ill intent on the part of Ryan Blaney (the 12 car) in that incident. Blaney went down to pass and Newman went to block. Due to the late block and speed differential, the 6 got turned. It is part of Daytona and Talladega racing. Blaney was trying to push Newman to the win because they are both Fords, Blaney said as much in his post race interview. If every wreck was policed as you said, the entire sport would become about ball-and-strike judgement calls. Wrecks rarely have blame squarely in the hands of one individual. And in this case, the "blame" was in the hands of the block that the wrecked car threw. There is no easy answer to this dilemma as long as NASCAR keeps racing at Superspeedways.
7
They do
When I watched the crash, I immediately regretted watching the first race I'd seen in years and it was heartbreaking to see. The assumption that someone had just been killed was easy to reach seeing it live and the appearance of the crashed car. Then, I turned off the set.
Ryan Newman was doing what you are allowed to do in car races, which is to protect your track position. He was moving up and down the track so that the car behind him couldn't pass. Reading into the situation, it seemed the driver behind him intentionally bumped him, setting the whole disaster in motion. The bump could have been accidental or not given the speed and urgency of the finish line ahead.
Car racing of any sort is a deadly sport and always has been. Historically, it was far worse than in recent years with drivers dying regularly in the early days. The cars are essentially reenforced steel cages with seats that are designed to protect the body, the head and neck area especially.
There is no question that NASCAR drivers use their cars as weapons against other drivers to try to gain track position and not infrequently this leads to multiple disasters. When I have watched very occasionally, I am not sure I've actually been seeing racing or high speed bumper cars.
48
Thanks to the Times for running this visual sequence because some of the reporting following the race has been either inaccurate or not detailed enough.
By way of background to my above comment, I once drove in an exhibition stock car race and my older brother was a stock car driver for close to 20 years, building his own cars from the frame up.
7
@Doug Terry … bumper cars at 200+ mph... Some extreme sports I just don't get.
2
This was just a racing incident - there wasn't any intention to wreck the 6 car. Bump drafting, side drafting, and blocking are the techniques used in super speedway racing. The 12 car was actually setting himself up to win by pushing the 6 out in front of him.
Fans of this sport know all this. We all feel as equally bad for Ryan Blaney ( 12 car ) for causing the wreck, as well as Corey Lajoie (32 car) for hitting Ryan Newman in the driver's door at 200 mph. This wreck will haunt them as well - no one wants to cause the wreck the hurts or kills someone.
Lastly, despite the incredible saftey requirements NASCAR requires, this still is an incredibly dangerous sport. They know that. I know that. The reward, to us, is greater than the risk required. And sometimes we are brutally reminded of that.
6
I am really sorry for Ryan Newman, but happy his injuries are not more extensive. I'd be really interested to know if any of the safety measures taken since Dale Earnhardt were helpful in making sure Ryan wasn't hurt worse. Did the HANS device play a role in protecting him? Do the track walls have shock absorbers and did they help? Did structural changes to the car make a difference? And, of course, what further could be learned from this to protect future drivers from similar wrecks at these kinds of speeds?
Again - happy Ryan is expected to fully recover!
27
@Brian Hughes
The HANS device and SAFER barrier (or "wall shock absorber" as you put it) definitely helped, especially on his initial impact with the wall. A 1996 Earnhardt wreck and ironically a 2009 Newman wreck resulted in extra structural support to the roof area, which likely saved his life on the secondary impact.
They will dissect the car and see if there is any way to improve the structural integrity for a hit like this, but all obvious solutions would impact driver vision and ingress/egress, so it's tough to say if there's anything immediate to be done.
6
@Brian Hughes
I believe all the safety technologies you mention came into play in reducing the harm to Newman. And yes, Daytona has SAFER barriers which absorb some impact.
The scary parts to me were the leaking fuel and the 30 seconds it took from the time the car came to rest to the time emergency crew got fire extinguishers on the flames.
10
Motor racing in general is far safer than it used to be 20 years. In Formula 1, the deaths of Ayrton Senna in 1994 and Jules Bianchi in 2015 led to major innovations. The same happened in Indycar when Justin Wilson died in 2017 and on NASCAR when Dale Earnhardt died in 2001. That said, motor racing will always be dangerous. Last summer, Anthoine Hubert died at a Formula 2 race in Belgium. And contrary to what many people believe, racing fans don’t enjoy in the least the sight of a driver’s death. I was relieved to learn that Ryan Newman’s injuries are not life-threaning. I hope he will make a full recovery.
6
Pushing your teammate or competitor for mutual position is allowed and used constantly. It's also dangerous and should be banned as a tactic. This would never be allowed in road racing, and shouldn't happen in oval racing, either.
3
Intentionally impacting - for profit I might add - a car in front of you that has not made an unsafe lane change into your path?
Hamlin should be arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon. No question about it.
3
@kenzo
Hamlin wasn’t involved
The last time a driver was killed in a racing accident in the 3 major Nascar catagories was 2001 when Dale Earnhardt was killed at Daytona. How many people have been killed on our roadways in the past 19 years. People are calling for criminal charges and such. Is jail the answer for everything? Absurd these comments. People who like racing,really like racing hate crashes.
7
This is such a vulgar sport when viewed in the context of the climate crisis: wasteful, violent, and worst of all, utterly mindless. Maybe THE perfect metaphor for what ails American culture today.
2
@unreceivedogma
I would argue that a much more vulgar sport in climate terms is professional baseball. 30 teams, 162 games each, half of which are away games mostly flown to. Nascar generates about 4 million lbs of CO2 per season. A 1000 mile jet flight is about 53,000. 75 of those and you equal a Nascar season. MLB tops Nascar's annual emissions by the middle of April.
1
@unreceivedogma guess you don’t watch Formula 1 which is even bigger in Europe and the rest of the world
@161
Interesting you bring up baseball’s travel and carbon.
I reckon NASCAR’s got the same problem. Hamlin’s team, for instance, travels on their 2 80-passenger CRJ commuter jets. (That’s not just Hamlin’s people - they have several other cars at a race)
1
I'll tell you one thing: nobody's great memory of this race is going to be Trump's Air Force One flying overhead...
4
This article missed a few key points that led to the wreck. Blaney pushed Newman past Denny Hamlin to the lead. The push was strong enough that there was some distance between Newman in first and Blaney in second. Hamlin pulled in behind Blaney and pushed him. That meant Blaney was moving faster than Newman. When he caught up to Newman, Blaney went up high to pass him, and Newman moved up the track to block him from passing. So Blaney moved down the track to try and pass under Newman. Newman then moved down the track to block Blaney again. His move put his rear bumper inches from Blaney's front bumper. Both Newman's and Blaney's cars moved around some before Blaney's car contacted Newman's bumper somewhat left of center that shot Newman's car up into the wall. It was not a hard contact. It was just an unfortunate placement.
Newman took a risk with that second block considering how fast the cars were going and the fact that Blaney was going faster. Newman almost made it pay off to win the race. Both men were doing their job. Neither did anything that is against the rules.
Thankfully lots of safety features mean that Ryan Newman's alive. I hope that he'll be back to leading races soon. The safety features didn't keep the car on the track at those speeds, and Nascar needs to consider it's options. Racers of all kinds risk death and grave injury, but it's important to try to mitigate the risk.
19
A ridiculous use of fossil fuel. Such a horribly polluting activity.
2
Most people are unaware of how fast 40mph is, and how life threatening a low speed crash can be. I was involved in one at 40mph that killed my passenger, left me trapped in the car, with both legs broken, may right hand broken, my shoulder broken, my lower back ruined, nothing that half a million dollars didn’t fix, well, sort of. All that was a gift by a drunk driver. I wouldn’t mind peoples reckless driving if my car was as well engineered as well as a NASCAR is, to be in a 200mph and walk away with minor injuries is a testament to the strength of the roll cage, crush panels in keeping s driver safe.
41
Time for self driving Nascars.
1
As difficult as driving in such races is , the ability of the rescue teams to act so quickly, and with such insight and precision, is even more astonishing, more impressive and more significant.
2
The blackout shields (seen in the photograph) on either side of the ambulance (open doors) shows that NASCAR knows how mangled a driver might emerge a high speed racing wreck. Technically, they must feel, that the racing fans need not see that injury aspect of the sport. Nevertheless, the giant blackout shields only served to enflame the imagination and think the worst of NASCAR. That particular picture will become famous because it shows how concerned NASCAR is about family image and less about the inherent dangers endemic to the sport and the disposable, replaceable driver.
5
@terry brady I had a similar thought when I saw those shields but if you look at the way NASCAR drivers are strapped inside and how the car frames are constructed to protect you can't say there isn't concern for driver safety. Racing is much much less of a blood sport than it used to be.
3
@tom
That’s right when you look back to the Richard Petty days, when drivers were routinely killed, maimed.
1
Fireball Roberts once told I believe Chris Economaki that in one roll over he dove under the dash. We’ve come a long way from there.
1
While I hope for only the best outcome for Mr. Newman and his family, I join others in asking why this is considered a sport. It’s simply driving around a large circle in close proximity to other cars - what we call traffic, though at higher speeds. It seems to require more risk acceptance than superb driving skill, more comparable to bumper cars than a Grand Prix.
There is also the issue of wasted fossil fuel and the air pollution generated. NASCAR is more suitable as a video game, where anyone who chooses can play safely with less pollution.
42
@Dee
Tremendous strength, stamina, judgement. Try tailgating people on the freeway by 6” for 2-3 hours when you’re not trying to squeeze into a space that’s 1.01 car lengths long.
It’s a team sport, too. Pit crew are top athletes making 6 figures. They’re recruited from college athletes.
As for pollution, you’re right. But it’s just a few hours every year in this town. I wonder how it compares to a 747 flying to Hawaii?
I fail to understand how any reasonable person can think that this dangerous activity can be called sport. It ought to be outlawed.
8
@H In MA The Daytona 500 is probably safer than the highway at rush hour. We all need to slow down and get electric cars.
3
Harsh comments here, clearly from many non-fans.
We don't go to a track to see a crash; we go to see athletes doing something we can't, with great skill, and we want to see our guy on top of his car at the end of the race covered in sponsor beverages.
We don't withhold sympathy because drivers knew what they were signing up for. NASCAR is competitive, but also tight-knit. Most drivers respect each other, although you always have some bullies.
We suffer bump-drafting because it usually works well; although I personally can't watch it without cringing.
NASCAR keeps improving safety. And we will continue as fans.
16
@Feline Where is the NASCAR rule book? I followed NASCAR for six years and never is there a rule book. This leaves this 'sport' to those who write the rules ,not to the fans or those who must follow those rules ; I found also that rules would seem to change as the race would evolve. But how would the fans know this when there is no rule book available to them? What other 'sport' do you know that does not let the fans see the Rule Book? Always liked how a driver would get down by 4 laps and then before you know it they are back on the lead lap because of some rule I as a fan am not allowed to see. Pretty silly sport. Hey did you also see where NASCAR also got Tax relief from Trump Adm. in 2017 X-Mas gift? Why? Why not ,eh?
4
Athletic, seriously?
4
@Feline
If NASCAR is working to become a safer “sport” they should ban bump drafting. There’s a reason why the Autobahn is very straight, has long sweeping turns, and is 3 feet thick, with no dips, the road surface is perfectly flat. That’s because at 160mph a car hitting a dip in the road would be airborne, the Autobahn is designed for high speed travel, in fact the average speed is 95mph.
2
Best wishes to Newman for a healthy recovery. These cars are much safer nowadays - but nothing can keep one safe in an accident like that. Can't help but to wonder if there's a metaphor in all this - his race team was sponsored by Koch Industries afterall.
I've never been able to stay awake during NASCAR races, that monotonous droning oval is as bad as watching golf, much prefer European Formula One and Rally racing if I watch at all.
2
Show the picture of him holding his two young daughters before the race.
The way his car was slammed into on the driver's side by the following car, it is only the grace of God that he was not torn asunder (maybe he has been).
The cars are way too fast, aerodynamically unstable and reckless driving is not punished.
You can see that by the fact there are multiple, major crashes at the end of every race.
People, even supposed Christians, will continue to support Nascar and the NFL blood sports.
3
From the rain, delays and near-fatal accident on the final turn, I surmise this is yet another in a long line of cases where, as Rick Wilson put it in his recent book, “Everything Trump Touches Dies”.
21
The most interesting news about NASCAR in years is a really bad car accident. And people give football a hard time. Sheesh. You know you're in the wrong sport when spectators only come to see you crash.
4
@Andy
The NFL is much more dangerous.
So’s driving on the freeway.
Take 40 cars times 300 to 600 miles per race times maybe 20 races a year times 10-20 years since the last death. What’s that add up to - one fatality in 5 million miles? 15 million miles? I-95 is a lot worse.
1
How is this exactly a "sport?"
The decline of American civilization began not with FOX News, but when ESPN started airing NASCAR "sport" about 25 years ago.
5
Winston Cup races were weekly staples of Wide World of Sports over 45 years ago.
5
@Donna Chang Disagree! The decline of American civilization began with the TV airing of “The Lifestyles of The Rich and Famous.”
1
Racing repeats itself - same old same old
Dateline February 2013
A horrifying crash on the last lap of a race at Daytona International Speedway injured at least 30 fans Saturday and provided another stark reminder of what can happen when a car going nearly 200 mph is suddenly launched toward the spectator areas.
The Daytona crash began as the field approached the checkered flag and leader Regan Smith attempted to block Brad Keselowski. That triggered a chain reaction, and rookie Kyle Larson hit the cars in front of him and went airborne into the fence.
The entire front end was sheared off Larson's car, and his burning engine wedged through a gaping hole in the fence. Chunks of debris from the car were thrown into the stands, including a tire that cleared the top of the fence and landed midway up the spectator section closest to the track.
"I thought the car went through the fence," Devine said. "I didn't know if there was a car on top of people. I didn't know what to think. I'm an emotional person. I immediately started to cry. It was very scary, absolutely scary. I love the speed of the sport. But it's so dangerous."
The fencing used to protect seating areas and prevent cars from hurtling out of tracks has long been part of the debate over how to improve safety.
I have been a racing fan of all kinds of car racing for over 30 years and have never met a single fan who roots for/wants to see/derives one bit of pleasure from seeing a wreck. Comments that suggest otherwise are part of a longstanding tradition of dismissing car racing - and by extension - its fans.
9
@Bubby
Sure, and the fans of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) bouts don't want to see any of the pugilists bloodied, hurt, or injured. They merely want to appreciate the skill and technical prowess of that unique admixture of of combative methods....
1
@Outerboro
I think MMA fans want to see somebody get beat up.
Not true of NASCAR. That’s not what it’s about. Anyone who comes for gore is going to be disappointed- very rare
Is this supposed to be a sport? It is an illustration of how violent the culture that sustains it, is. Many young people (and adults) in the suburban country drive on public highways pretending to be in this competition.
47
@Lara
It's a sport in the same way that Chariot racing in the Ancient Hippodromes was "Sport". Modern day "Bread and Circuses". And the Caesar of the GOP anointed the festivities, declaring the race open for the enjoyment of the Plebian fans.
7
@Lara
The culture??? NASCAR fans don't only live in Alabama (which is a GREAT place to see a race, btw; Talladega is my favorite track). I encounter bump drafting and sudden lane changes every morning in the northeast. And these morons don't have the skill to pull it off. Wonder what culture they associate with.
6
Thoughts and prayers, but honestly, these guys make a choice to do this for a living. I don't have much sympathy for them when things go afoul.
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In most forms of motorsport, this sort of 'nudge' would see a driver up before the race officials and facing some heavy discipline, especially considering the outcome.
Mr Newman would be walking around with the winner's trophy if this hadn't happened.
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@Graeme Simpson The guy that "nudged" Newman was actually handing him a win. It is called bump drafting and that push would have sealed the deal. But they were just slightly off and it turned him instead.
15
I stopped following this stuff after the Indianapolis 500 in 1964 at the tender age of 8 when this horrific crash happened after a mere 2 laps: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Indianapolis_500#Crash
2
@Jim Smith That's Indy, has nothing to do with the Daytona 500.
1
Ryan, we pray for your speedy recovery.
In racing, I never want to see a driver or a horse get hurt or die!
Why is race driving so popular?
2
@C.L.S. "Why is race driving so popular?"
Fast and loud and the possibility of spectacular crashes. What's not to love?
1
It’s a form of competition and who doesn’t love a contest? Further, fans can get behind their favorite driver and root for the marquee and team they follow.
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@C.L.S.
why is baseball declining and football with its concussions so popular
1
Will #12 face any sanction for bumping Newman out?
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@timmy
No, they won't -- it was very typical racing. But if they did go that route, I would want to see the 22 car get penalized for causing The Big One, which ended the day for many drivers including my fave.
2
How is this thing called a sport? I am amazed Newman survived, But i would rather we drop nonsense like this activity. The only time I have been to one those types of races I saw more alcohol consumed than I did growing up in a family who owned a bar. Jello shots, anyone? Considering that stock car racing evolved from Moonshine runners avoiding the revenuers I can still see the link. I also do not watch "sports" such as football, boxing and hockey where you have a 33% chance of some form of early dementia.I sincerely hope Ryan heals, but even more than that, please quit while you still can walk and have all your faculties.
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"But i would rather we drop nonsense like this activity."
You've already dropped it, right? So what else is bothering you? Oh right, "I would rather WE drop". Sorry Pat, you don't decide what sports WE watch and participate in.
5
I suppose once drivers decide to push and shove each other at 180 miles per hour to win a race, we should be thankful that, at a minimum, NASCAR approved and required vehicle safety equipment are in place.
6
I think the right thing for NASCAR to do here is award the race to Newman and disqualify Blaney.
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@Independent, but the footage I saw clearly showed the lead driver repeatedly cutting in front of the overtaking car. How is he not culpable then? If you're getting passed by faster traffic and do everything in your power to "block" those trying to pass, it seems like you're complicit in what results. It's racing. If you don't want to get bumped, stop impeding those around you!
In cycling, this is considered a violation and results in disqualification or relegation. I don't see how it's much different in concept.
And I'm not saying this to be argumentative, just my take on what I observed.
3
@Independent
That makes no sense - Blaney didn't win, so it'd be taking the win from Denny Hamlin, who had nothing to do with the accident aside from being in third place and racing with Newman and Blaney. Blaney had a run on Newman and a sizable speed advantage. Newman came down to block him, but it was too late, they touched, and a terrible crash ensued. As every driver in the field would tell you, that's just how racing goes.
2
@Bike Fanatic You're correct. Newman was blocking, which is kinda understandable given the rewards that come with a 500 win. Blaney did nothing wrong, and it's because of chance that Newman was so badly injured. The cars are not yet designed to sustain major impacts from the roof or floor. Maybe they soon will.
1
Evidently Assault with a deadly weapon is standard practice.
18
The expressions of horror by racing fans and those who cover it at the crash of Ryan Newman's car in the last lap of the Daytona 500 are frankl;y hypocritical. The truth is that part of the appeal of auto racing to spectators is the fact that a spectacular crash can occur at any time. If these crashes are truly "horrible" (and they are) the sport should either be banned or substantially modified to make sure they are as rare as possible. We no longer tolerate hits in professional football that pose an increased risk of causing serious injury or worse - why should we tolerate it in auto racing?
15
@Jay Orchard
"We" (obviously incorrect usage, since you did not mean to include yourself) don't tolerate it; "we" (I am a fan of road racing, "we" does not include me) expect it, live for it.
I used to road race: Sears Point (now Sonoma Raceway), Watkins Glen, Summit Point, Long Pond, Nelson Ledges, and my favorite track with its world famous turn, Laguna Seca and its Corkscrew. (Many drivers hate that corner; I loved it.)
Oval tracks? Forget it.
NASCAR sets car spec rules to ensure "close racing" which, at 200+ mph, guarantees wrecks. So many fans love that; but not open-wheel folk. I was in the outside stands near the exit to turn 4 at the '64 Indy, watched Eddie Sachs and Dave MacDonald burn to death, the rules had no fuel tank restrictions, the fire burned for well over an hour when they ran out of extinguisher. This is not what Indy fans come for; most of us were silent for much of the rest of the race.
NASCAR? On rare occasions -- such as this --I watch highlight reels. That's it.
9
@Jay Orchard Exactly. I saw an ad for the Indy 500 and it was dominated by footage of these spectacular crashes. I was thinking the same thing. What exactly are you marketing here? If there were no crashes, would the Indy 500 have the same appeal? What if the marketing department chose not to use crashes as something the celebrate?
4
@DK
I have known at least a hundred Indy car fans. Not a one of them wants to see a wreck. Close racing -- unlike F1 parades -- without wrecks is what excites us. Not crashes, not injuries. Raced personally; side-by-side in corners (not in an open-wheel car!) is where focus is absolute, triumph or loss is the result -- but until the last corner, just for that corner; another is coming up in seconds.
8
I'm a big Nascar fan but these super speedways are way too fast for the technology. The races on these several tracks are boring too, it's just single file, high speed driving. These drivers are superb athletes, risking their lives every time they drive.
The highlight of a race should not be a near death experience in a monumental crash.
Best wishes to Ryan Newman for a full recovery.
45
@Paul Shindler - Hey Paul. Yep, if you've been a fan for a while you'll know that this track and Talledega have been a problem since they were first built. Because of the track configurations, cars go just too darned fast. The techniques used to slow the cars down present dangerous situations of their own. Hard to say what the answer is, but thank goodness steps towards safety have been what they've been, and that it's been as many years as it has since there was a fatality in NASCAR.
3
Driving endlessly around in a circle at high speed burning fuel expelling toxic fumes and hazardous noise. Audiences unwittingly or senselessly hoping for a spectacular fiery crash and gruesome injuries for a momentary thrill.
Did I miss anything?
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@Macbloom
Not everyone is thrilled with synchronized swimming like you are.
3
@Macbloom Alcohol consumption.
3
@Macbloom
The beer.
You rarely see this in Formula One as they are open wheel cars. NASCAR allows drivers to use their cars as weapons. Any intentional contact should be a instant disqualification.
66
@Paulie Nascar encourages bump drafting by requiring restricter plates, now tapers, that bunch the cars together. If you watched the footage you'd know that Newman was pushed into the lead by the same car on the backstretch. HE chose to block Blaney on the front stretch and suffered the consequence. It's on the sanctioning body to produce rules that produce the safest possible scenario. You don't typically see that type of bumping, at that speed, in any other form of Motorsport.
4
Excellent point!
1
@Paulie Rarely? How about NEVER in open wheeled racing. Nascar is a joke.
3
The results should be declared null & void - and Blaney suspended for a year.
11
Wow! Very impressive photographs.
4
Bumping may have been accidental or intentional - no way to know for sure, but I suspect intentional. All race long cars were "hooking up" in drafting not just close to each other, but literally touching bumpers. Teams had cars that were actually designed to do that. Well, here is a Toyota pushing a Ford and maybe that contributed.
IMV NASCAR races involve little actual racing. Its wide open, join a line and draft, which if everyone is patient works, but as soon as someone decides to be aggressive, disaster is just a split second away. How do you make it more like a real race? Regulate the drafting part. Insist on a minimal distance between cars. To that end, what if you had a 2 foot rod sticking out of the front of the car tied to the ignition that caused a loss of power when pushed?
2
@Tom Rowe Actually they are both Fords.
1
Wow. That’ll be safe, what with a stalled car in a mix of vehicles traveling together at ~200 mph.
1
I guess that's what its fans love to see.
4
@John Doe
Not the injuries
Not a fan so don’t know the rules. Can it possibly be legal to nudge someone’s car into a spin from behind?
5
The close in racing is called drafting. Two cars traveling at high speed within inches of each other can go faster than they can further apart. Once they’re drafting they have two additional tactics they can use but don’t have to. One is for the rear car to slingshot past the car he was just assisting on a curve to move ahead one space in the race order. The other is to bump the forward car to give him some of the advantages of slingshotting. This last technique is helpful in the final lap of the race to give the forward car its very last chance to advance. At the time of the crash, they were moving in excess of 200 mph and had less than a lap to go.
1
@Rafael Dale Earnhart did that for years and got away with it. They even called him "The Intimidator" because of it.
1
It appeared to me that Newman was trying to block the car behind him from passing him. I don't believe you are allowed to weave back and forth to block cars from passing.
1
@Michael Green In other forms of Motorsport, blocking is illegal. NASCAR is not true Motorsport and gives us race fans a bad name. This is just one example.
1
I don't get it. As they approach the finish line, Blaney's in second place, behind Newman. Blaney nudges Newman's car, sending it into a spin and a terrible, potentially fatal, wreck. No consequences for Blaney???
45
@fact or friction - His intention was to get behind Newman and follow him to the finish line, and finish 2nd, rather than being passed by the car that was in 3rd place.
Blaney pushed Newman causing a crash and putting Newman in the hospital. They say he was trying to push him over the finish line?? Oops! Where else is that legal?
Nascar is absurd. Aside bumper cars and figure 8 racing, Nascar the only motor racing formate that allows one car to purposely touch another car. Often this tapping or pushing can results in a crash. These car are VERY twitchy. The last thing you want is another car pushing you at 200 mph.
Incidental contact in Nascar is unavoidable since there are so many cars on the track. (I see crashes in the early part of the race as thinning the herd.) But the "good ole boy" attitude of pushing your way through the field or as revenge for last week is nonsense. After watching different European and American road racing series, Nascar seems like a billion dollar teen age joke.
8
Isn’t this the main reason why people go to car races?
4
@Alan C.
Not to see somebody get hurt (which is rare these days in NASCAR)
Bump as a strategy, moving at 200mph? And in a turn? The strategy, verging on the criminal, should be banned.
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@James F Traynor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ96MaPceWI
Watch from :0:30 to 0:38.
Newman was blocking. He drove into Blaney's path, giving Blaney the draft and a little extra speed. Blaney was moving right to try to avoid Newman but they touched while offset, sending Newman spinning. The contact was in no way intentional. And it wasn't on a turn.
9
@161 That isn't what happened. Blaney said he hit Newman intentionally to push him across the line first. The contact was intentional but it didn't work out as planned. This type of crash is NASCAR's fault. The aerodynamics are such that when they get sideways they tend to fly into the air. This type of crash will happen until NASCAR requires them to be different shapes that will both prevent 30 car drafts and allow the cars to stay on the ground when they spin and hit the walls.
3
@Horace Blaney was referring to the bump drafting earlier in the lap. Watch starting at 0:11 in the video above.
2
Years of racing have inculcated an embrace of the danger, by drivers/teams, and especially audience(s). The arena, the gladiators, the spectacle, and the money: that's the point.
The expectation of fiery crashes is a key part of the game. It is why audiences tune in.
Any idea what insurance costs are?
1
35,000 deaths/yr due to motor vehicles and we seem to accept it as a given despite the suffering, dejspite the 100+ deaths per day in the US, 37,000+ annually and 1.25 million globally, despite the pollution, despite the gridlock & pending climate disasters attributable to our over dependence on private vehicles, ever bigger, ever more powerful, ever more stalled in traffic.
7
@Michael Charney
On the other hand, if personal and commercial vehicles utilized some of the safety technology that NASCAR cars have, many of those 35,000 deaths might be prevented. In any event, the overwhelming majority of Americans must rely on their personal vehicles for work and pleasure.
11
@Charles You are absolutely right. If someone can survive this type of crash that involves multiple rollovers, hitting a “safer” barrier, and getting slammed upside down on the driver side at 200 mph, I wonder what safety technologies could be pushed into our everyday vehicles. It is quite amazing that something like this can be survivable...specifically when noting the driver side impact. Traffic collisions are a terrifying reality to our reliance on our vehicles to make a living, so I am all about any way that our cars can be safer.
3
I'm not a racing fan, so I doubt my comment would be taken seriously by those who are: but a driver who "accidentally" hits the bumper of the car in front of him on the last lap of a race should be subject to lifetime ban and possibly criminal prosecution.
97
@Gregg54
The bumping is intentional - it's called bump drafting. The car behind sucks up to the car in front, which is creating a big hole in the air. The car behind squares up and pushes the car in front - and the cars together will travel faster than a car alone. Sometimes the bumps don't line up perfectly and it can result in the car in front getting out of shape or losing control. In this case it was the absolute worst case scenario. Even in this case, the drivers will tell you "that's just racing."
23
@Jake
Easy to avoid, put a sensor or bar there and you are only allowed to follow so close or you are penalized one lap.
@Jake
You nailed it.
3
Anytime a driver from NASCAR crashes and gets injured, it's personal to all fans and everyone associated with the great American stock car racing community.
We're family, period.
10
@Righteous Oily
I'm a longtime 48 fan, and I was furious when the 22 car ended Jimmie's day, but we were all 6 fans yesterday. Family indeed.
People need to stop commenting that Blaney tried to wreck Newman. He didn't - they were running tight on purpose. It was intended but went wrong. Happens a lot, just not this bad.
3
@Feline And Blaney is probably the most low-key driver in the field. No way this was on purpose.
3
These photographs are fantastic in showing the force and power of this collision.
Kudos to the photographers. And well wishes to Ryan Newman for a quick recovery.
32