Slalom4me

Has Dale Earnhardt Jr. driven for Doug Fehan since the fire at Infineon
Raceway in 2004/07?

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acrace

Nope.

Slalom4me

This is as I thought.

Thanks,
Ken R.

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Lawdogg

I think I read once that Jr.'s people didn't want him driving outside of Nascar again since he almost roasted himself in a car that he wasn't familiar with. He wasn't able to find the fire suppression ****.

xsiveone

He's not tough enough to drive anything other than the CRASHCAR's. He had minor burns on his legs and chin, yet he couldn't even finish a race. Niki Lauda OTOH raced just six short weeks after his accident with his face nearly burned off.

Zip Corvettes

I thought he raced the next day or two in a Nascar. I think the reason he did not finish that race is because I don't think that car ran anymore.

John Shiels

the neck of the tank sheared from the filler I think.

bjm

Jr was not really racing at the time, it was warm up, and the burns were enough to make it more than unpleasant. Plus, I think there were some worried Bud people that prob put an end to the weekend if he even thought about racing.

Slalom4me

Heavily edited footage of the fire is on YouTube. It was terrifying
to watch live and the time he remained in the car was much longer
than shows on YouTube.

Fehan was quick to say that: a) cold tires and a cold track caused
the off-track excursion, b) fuel spilled AFTER the filler neck broke in
the crash. My vote is that there is more to the story but I don't want
to reopen/debate the matter.

The subject came up for me on the weekend and I just wanted to ask
here to confirm that Infineon was the last time Dale Jr. drove for Fehan.

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Bill Dearborn

There is a big difference between having minor burns on the legs and on the face. A driver uses his legs in the car and moving them over the extended times that NASCAR runs a race could have been quite painful. Pain dulls the mind and slows reaction times. He could have been a danger to himself and other drivers by trying to stick it out. Never judge somebody until you are in their shoes.

Bill

danswofford

He was clearly unconscious for 15 seconds or so after the hit. The fire was speading into the cockpit and he was still motionless, head slumped over. He is very lucky to be alive. As soon as he became conscious he started climbing out of the car. Some months after the crash I viewed an in car video that showed these events.

Slalom4me

The video was incomplete then. After he regained consciousness,
Earnhardt Jr. moved about in the cockpit for a significant period of time
without being able to exit the car.

He explained later that the unfamiliar latching system on the harness
contributed to his difficulty. Not wearing fireproof underwear and
unfamiliarity with the trigger mechanism for the fire suppression system
also were contributing factors to the extent of his injuries.

Regrettably, a marshall standing to the left rear of the car with an
extinguisher did not move to the driver's door to assist or work the
cockpit fire. The driver was on his own. Following the incident,
Earnhardt Jr. was convinced someone had physically helped him out
of the car but this was not the case.

I would like to be able to watch the unedited footage again showing
the rearward undercar view for one or two turns before the car went
off track.

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midnite902

Whatever happened it was definitely a Bart Simpson moment crashing a million dollar racecar while cruising under yellow.

parkerracing

I don't know if they were on the car, but sticker tires can be wicked slippery until scuffed.

Tom03Z06

I can understand that. Just like sleeping somewhere else other than home and waking up freaking out not knowing where you are at. On top of a fire going on, when he woke , he probably thought for a split second he was in his CUP Car.

Slalom4me

Bart Simpson moment? Are you referring to DE Jr.?

Does Earnhardt Jr. have a history of driver error moments like that,
or was it a one-shot deal?

I know I wrote above about not intending to reopen/debate and I
failing. Didn't anyone ever question the cold tires, cold track, 'quart
of fuel spilled from the broken filler neck after impact' version of events?

How much fire do you get anyway when you dump the better part a
quart of fuel on the soil adjacent to the track?

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Z11409

I watched the crash happen-just lost traction.
The remains of that car body are buried very deep in a shop somewhere-never to be seen again.

95jersey

Keep in mind that while his cup car has 750hp, it might have 450-500 ft, lbs of torque. Those cup cars run small blocks, while the C6R runs a 427. Also his car weights around 3400lbs. The C6R (supposedly) around 600+ ft. lbs of torque, BUT only 2500 lbs of weight. So now imagine driving a car with 100ft. lbs more torque and 1000lbs lighter than his usual car. It looked like he stabbed the throttle which threw the car sideways and he just happen to hit the wrong spot on the car. Someone more familiar with sports car might have known better.

It would have been VERY interesting to watch him race against his sport car peers, as we know the car was capable.

Slalom4me

Hmmm, it isn't like this was the first time Earnhardt Jr. had been in a Corvette.

Jr. held his own at the '01 Rolex 24 @ Daytona co-driving the #3 Corvette
with Sr., Andy Pilgrim and Kerry Collins.
In fact, their #3 Chevrolet finished fourth overall and second in the GTS
class behind the winning #2 Corvette driven by Ron Fellows, Chris Kneifel,
Franck Freon and Johnny O’Connell.

Well, the camera angle in the SPEED coverage at the time was a low
distant shot, preceeded by some in-car and under-car footage.

The full extent of the rear under-car footage prior to the loss of traction
that was originally broadcast durig the incident does not appear in the clip
on YouTube.

Watch the YouTube segment, count from the moment of impact until
the fire, think about the amount of fire and consider how fuel cells
work.

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Rob Willis

It's a shame Jr. hasn't gotten another chance in the C6R whether it be the decision of his people or the GM people behind Corvette Racing.

I mean, he did burn down a ~$850k car.