NASCAR running thread

Have to think that his throttle got stuck or he lost his brakes when he made the initial contact on the track with another car. Didn't something similar happen to Kyle Petty at the first Brickyard 400?

 

Pretty sure Kyle's wreck (96?) was the result of a cut tire. I believe Adam's fatal crash, along with Kenny Irwin's, were the result of hung throttle cables. May be wrong on that, though.

 

I'm not sure on Kyle's wreck, but Adam's (and I think Kenny Irwin's, as well) were the result of stuck throttles and the car hitting the wall on the driver's side. I think I remember that Adam Petty's head actually hit the wall.

 

Both Kyle and Jeff Gordon had big wrecks at the Brickyard in 1996 due to blown or cut tires. Adam and Kenny both died in practice crashes at NHIS in 2000 due to stuck throttles. Bobby Labonte had a hard practice crash at the Southern 500 that year due to the same issue but came back to win the race in a backup car.
Of course, NASCAR didn't feel the need to thoroughly examine safety until Feb. 18, 2001.

 

Dear NASCAR,
Thank you for taking Danica Patrick off our hands. Good luck in deciding what to do in terms of laying down a penalty on your second-most popular driver for intentionally turning a competitor head-on into the wall AFTER the race following an intense battle for 12th place.
Cordially,
Your friends at IndyCar

 

I went back and rewatched Kyle Petty's crash at the Brickyard - the initial impact was into the outside wall that caused his car to blow a tire. However, either the initial impact or his next hit with Sterling Marlin caused the throttle to stick/the brakes to go, sending him hard into the inside barrier.

I guess my point was that it looked like McClure's initial contact might have damaged the car to the point that it either couldn't brake or that the throttle stuck.

 

As each week goes by I get more and more convinced that Dale J. will not win again.

 

Tony Stewart uses the blue font during his postrace presser at Talladega.
http://espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/notebook/_/page/MondayRundown20120507/nascar-monday-rundown-classic-smoke-screen-talladega-superspeedway

Some of the highlights...

 

Tony's done it so much better, and so much less obvious, than that. I was disappointed when I read that.

 

I remember when I talked to him years ago about Talladega, he was very quick to jump on his soapbox about how little he liked the place. Don't really blame him there. But there's no perfect solution. Restrictor plates suck, but unrestricted racing is too damned dangerous. Give me a nice short track like Richmond any day.

 

Except NASCAR managed to fuck up Richmond this year, as well. Stewart was the only driver that could pass cars on the track. Most everything else changed on pit road.