Motion Pictures Killed Myself When I Was Young

wow.............

 

Francisco, Well said.

 

Man thats tough to watch...

 

Finally got myself to sit through the whole thing. I have always found the Duke Nalon footage to be particularly chilling, even knowing that he wasnt killed.

 

...which one was the Duke Nalon clip?

 

Whats just as crazy and dangerous was the way spectators could stand on the side of the track. Scary

 

Same here, maybe it comes from growing up with a dad who raced. My first circle track memory was around 73 or 4. I was no older than 5. One of our pals flipped 8 times end over end in front of all us kids and the wives in Minot ND. I remember dad coming up to the stands and sending the families home. Pissed me off, I wanted to see more racing not crashing. Dads pal Herb survived just fine.

The other one was about 86 in Jackson MN, some crew guy turned his back as a sprinter came at him on the front stretch. car landed on top him like a cat pouncing on prey. We knew for sure the guy was dead but found out later he lived as well. I was old enough that time I got that sick feeling inside.

 

A horrendous wreck is what caused my pops to stop driving and start building instead back in the 60's. He never would talk about it either. All I know is that he and his car ended up in the stands. Affected him greatly. He walked away from it, so judging by the way he dealt with it I'm thinking someone else didn't. I've seen my brother and numerous other drivers wipe out or go end over end, and it never ceases to turn your stomach. The modern advances made in safety make things much better, but it's always a roll of the dice.
Being dead ain't traditional. Safety should always come first.

 

When I was young, my mom & dad would take us to the dirt track to watch the races on Saturday night and one night this Sprinter came around the corner sideways and his tires caught a groove in the track and he came flipping toward the stands. He must have shot at least 11 feet in the air but the only thing that kept him from getting into us was a wire fence that was VERY much like chicken wire. Thing is, when you're a kid you just think it's a car coming at you and don't really think what the guy driving it was going through!

 

I guess a view of that video will answer the questions of those who continue to ask me why I have a roll bar on a race car that didn't have one "in the day". I also wear a HANS device. But, I recognize that, in some situations, anything short of a cage isn't going to do it.

 

The Novi sliding backwards into the wall and catching fire around 1:42. Horrendous looking crash.

 

damn I love that picture!

 

Think thats Wilbur Shaw going over the wall about 44 seconds in.

 

Seen a few of these from the other side, the emergency response to the accident. I used to sit for hours at Phillip Island in my ambulance for everything from 50cc Two stroke bikes to V8 Supercars to Semitrailer racing.
If you are there long enough it happens, even with todays safety sometimes its not pretty. I guess I have been de-sensitized to it, watched the video and all I could do was sit there trying to guess what injuries they were likely to have!!

Doc.

 

I learned years ago from experience that you can't drive from the passenger side and when the car makes that sudden turn to the left, that's where you'll be without being strapped in. I'm now a hard core seat belt user.

 

Jim, I hit a Bridge at 70 mph on I90 20 years ago right after watching Days of Thunder, my first thoughts were "shit, this is gunna hurt" Compare to teh movie if you like.............belts rock!

 

JOE!
So good to hear from you!!!! I think of you and your son everytime I am up your way, but unfortuneately I dodge I-95 as much as possible anymore!
Enjoy!
Calvin "OldCarFart" Lowell
Clinton, SC

 

wow !!!!! sad to watch

 

Maybe I won't build a roadster...

 

Just put in a roll cage and seat belts. No shame in that.

 

Safety equipment was often more dangerous than safe in the old days due to a lack of testing. I believe Snell is named after a young man that was killed by a faulty helmet.

 

I watched this with a since of awe and a bit or regret too. I have been on both sides of the fence with this. Was in a Serious Wreck last year and should have died. But through Sheer luck or grace of God... Whichever you all personally believe... I am still around and still possess my mental state. I see what these guys did as accepting the risk they thought was necessary to do something they enjoyed doing. And I am glad the cost they paid in lives and broken equipment has paved the way for a lot more safety when it comes to the sport of racing! And I'll return the soap box now so someone else can have a turn. REALLY GOOD footage!

Thanks..

 

Any time I make it to Fomoso I spend a little time in the grove. Every tree has one of these under it.
http://hotimg23.fotki.com/p/a/134_20/11_89/Mike.jpg

 

Wow, that was almost tough to watch. Those dudes really got hurt. There was definitely a lack of safety back in the day. It looks like many were not even wearing seatbelts.
Those were some badass racecars though!

 

Could only watch one minute of that video. I got spit out of a Triumph Spitfire convertible as a passenger with no seat belt when it barrel rolled 3 times. Broke my back in 3 places, along with other bones. I drive carefully, but when you are a passenger, you're at the driver's mercy.

 

Man that was ruff. Racing in the old days took a real big set. My hats off to all the old racers.

 

It would be best had I not seen the movie in the first place....these images of shock I will not be able to get out of my mind for a while...and it's going to be a long time before I consider buying a hot rod or a roadster, as mentioned before by another HAMBer on here. Until now I've never seen rods get into serious accidents with people killed...god bless those who gave their lives for racing.

 

Before they even rolled over they looked dangerous to being with hopping around on the track losing control

 

Found this somewhere on here. It says a lot.

 

Those guys are warriors! Can't believe some of that carnage. Hard to think that some of these guys lived through these wrecks! Insane!