Jason

This is why we harp on good seats, mounted correctly. With zero hp mods and no aero help an HPDE1 student is capable of seeing speeds very close to this at tracks like VIR, Rd Atl, Rd America etc.

Don't half-**** your seat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wtzioHXq8I

RonnieM

That is why I have backed my speed down some until I can get a seat and harness. I would much rather prefer a cage because stuff happens real fast, but that's a different day

travisnd

Yep... very neat to watch how she instinctually pulls her hands in at the end.

waddisme

I had been putting off getting seats until I saw Dale Jr flipping down the backstretch a couple of years ago. He was only 30 mph faster than what I run at VIR. Try not to think of what I would do at the end of the long stretch at VIR and brake pedal goes to the floor. The guy whos wing broke off at VIR in the uphill essess did the same think with his hands - got them off the steering wheel.

Falcon

Thank goodness for Safer barriers, too.

I wonder what -g's came out of that contact?

drivinhard

probably 3x less than if that was solid concrete.

we look at something like that and just flip right to the next youtube video these days, 10/15+ yrs ago that was career ending/life ending magnitude impact.

travisnd

We're desensitized to it now...

Falcon

I was talking to a guy last night who was knowledgeable about the details of Dale Earnhardt wreck. What he had to say about the mounting of the seat and routing of the belts along with Earnhardt's insistence on certain things was really shocking. The results of that wreck speak for themselves.

It's come a long way in 11 years.

sperkins

Scary stuff.

RX-Ben

Check the angle of the impact. Without a head/neck restraint, I don't think the body can handle that too well if at all.

geerookie

I don't know about the G's but if you watch the slow mo you can see that it completely collapsed the safer barrier and destroyed the foam.
I don't think I have ever seen a wreck replay where the safer barrier was completely collapsed. I'm curios to know how fast she was actually going when she hitt. My speculation is about 140 - 150mph.

That is scary to think about when you consider a square hit at 35mph is 75G's and the average human body can sustain about 110G's before instant death. Obviously as you move from 90 degrees the impact G forces go down but they also increase exponentially as the speed goes up. You could tell in the after interview she was still "feeling" it. I'm sure that one will take a few days to wear off.
I hit the wall at the Glen doing 100mph and that took a few days before I felt "normal"...at least as normal as I'm capable of...

drivinhard

I noticed that to, the outer steel skin was almost (if not at) the inner concrete wall. It's a BIG jolt but those millisecond g-spikes are much reduced with that barrier.

in reality, the SAFER barrier has probably done more for the drivers than the seats/head restraint, but yeah it all works together.

the worst SAFER I think I've seen was mcdowell's TX qualy crash. 187 mph on impact, pretty steep angle.

sperkins

Without a doubt. That one is haunting.

Jason

Yeah, without that wrap around head-rest, not even the HANS would have kept that helmet attached.

Bill Dearborn

Even with all of that her brain had to bouncing around like Jello inside her skull. It is a wonder she didn't get a concussion. Get too many hits like that and you end up like Mohammed Ali. Barely able to walk, or communicate.

Bill