Motion Pictures Killed Myself When I Was Young

My dad told me about a motorcycle crash he saw at bridgehampton race way one time. i trully think he is haunted by the scene and the last words of a fellow rider, through the blood" i want my mom". Racing sucks a pefect sunny sunday can go so dark so quick. ten years and a couple of days ago Mr.Earnhardt lost a life in a crash that shouldent of killed him. He was gone just like so many from Senna to the kid at your local motorcross track. If you watch any form of racing enough you are gonna get one of those silent moments where you just hope they come out fine, sometimes they do sometimes they dont. Part of the game? I guess but its why racing sucks.
I love motorcycle racing in any any fourms, but seeing drivers rolling around on the ground in this video or just laying there shure reminds me of many motorcycle crashes i have seen.
racing is something i love, always will. But its hard to many many times.

 

Whew!...that is too damned hard to watch. It took some tough old boys to get on a track and do that. I pay homage to these pioneers. Not me though...no way, Jose.

 

I was in Memphis one year at the Mid South Nationals. John Force was going down the track and his car pretty much just blew up and went up in flames when he was coming to the line. Then he went off the end of the track into the pit and tumbled over and over. I thought he was a gonner. But then here he comes back up the track in the return lane with his car (what was left of it) loaded up on the back end of a flat bed tow truck waiving at the crowd.

I couldn't help but think what would have happened in the early years before all the safety advances.

Brass Balls indeed.

 

Scary to watch Bossman but opens my eyes and I'm sure others' to to make sure whatever we are building is SAFE.

 

What a great video. Thanks for posting...The old footage is amazing and probably the only automobile racing I'd watch. BUT, I'd I have to admit, I only watch racing for the "action" especially for NASCAR-ap.. Driving in a circle does nothing for me...

 

I have to admit some of that was hard to watch...

 

Watching the Duke lay his Novi against the wall and burst into flames reminds me of what a wicked machine the front wheel drive Novi was. Wicked but GLORIOUS!

 

I dont follow Nascar, so I dont know what changes there have been made for safety.

What I do know is that when Earnhart Sr., who was very outspoken against HANS Devices, died of a basilar skull fracture it was a very good day for the HANS Device people.

Now it looks like even the lower ranks of amateur car racing ( much slower cars, and in the case or Road Racing, longer run off areas ) will be forced to buy and wear these things.

( afterall, there is some money to be made...)

And we already have the situation where vintage race cars have to be drastically altered for safety, to conform with some types of motorsport.


As if the lives of the current drivers ( which I hope to be one of again, soon ) are somehow more important than the lives of the original drivers of these cars...

I see some arrogance in that.

 

reminds of a tape i watched many years ago called faces of death, very disturbing to say the least. i only watched it out of curiosity, but wished i hadn't. racing is racing, and everytime a person gets into or onto a racing machine, they know that the end result may not be exact outcome they had planned that day, so more power to them, they have my upmost respect.

 

That was hard to watch, I put a roll bar in my roadster last year now I'm going to get better seat belts.

 

wow crazy how these guys didnt have much for safety equipment! just crazy!

 

The guy flying at 2:22 man... Much respect to those racing pioneers. For these racers who gave their lives for the sport, may they rest in peace.

SEAT BELT: NOW IT'S INVENTED SO USE IT!

 

I was in a wreck sitting shotgun in my buddy´s 30 A sedan during a dirt track race.
My friend Tom took it seriously and ended up in a rollover , without seatbelts that hurts bad. But that was nothing compared to the danger these guys were facing race after race... Here´s the link to the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1TTzMKK0gE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAHo8Ymhshs

Chris.

 

Racing is, was, and will always be dangerous, so are lots of things in life! BEER, CIG's, SEX, GUNS, thats why they all come with warnings now! But in the grand scheme of things so is life, no one gets out alive. Live it to the fullest, do what you want, you only go around once! Yhea watching it is hard, but anybody who has ever raced knows the dangers involved, thats why its not for everybody, and those who have raced before, now, or in the future know these risk's! I ache everyday due to my past, do I regret it HELL NO! Am I sorry I got hurt, HELL NO,do I still take risks, everyday, just not as big as I used to.. ! Do I DISREGARD SAFETY? not as much as I used to..lol LONG LIVE THE THRILL SEEKERS, and THE RISK TAKERS!

 

For many years Smokey Yunick hounded nascar and anyone that would listen advocating softer walls and went so far as to design them,,no one would listen,,,

Sadly it took the deaths of a lot of drivers but ultimately the most revered driver Dale Earnhart sr. death on the last lap of the Daytona 500 ten years ago for nascar to wake up. and mandate safety rules and implement soft walls.

BTW,,racing has become considerably safer but there is always a element of danger and possible death.

The words most commonly used for the old time Racers in the no seat belt or roll bar cars was,,THRILL SEEKERS. HRP

 

I'm sure that still is the outsiders' view of a racecar driver...

But a serious driver is not a thrill seeker in search of a place to crash.


Not the drivers of today, and not the drivers off the past either.

 

And yet the tradidional police still thinks seat belts spoil the "look" Duh. From the day I started driving at 16 I have never driven a vehicle without using them. In all that time, I only needed them once and was very glad they worked as advertised.

And as seat belt users (racers and crazy kids alike) also know, being tightly strapped in drastically improves your car handling skills, as you don't have to hold yourself in the seat when trying to corner or brake and can concentrate more on the finer points of driving. Gary

 

Damn, that was indeed stomach turning. Awful.

 

Wow that was rough. The song on the other hand was great, who was that?

 

I'm sure that seeing these kinds of accidents are exactly the reason why my grandpa (a very good jalopy racer in his day), refuses to let me go on the track each week without seeing my equipment and making sure everything is top notch. he lost a lot of friends and saw even more get injured badly in his racing career. he has several photos of what looks like "dogpiles" of cars. one photo, he explained to me, was a crash that sent debris through the floor, cutting off the better part of his heal.

doesn't make me want to race less, just makes me want to think about ways to be safer on and off the track.

 

From early on until fairly recently, the ability to make horsepower was way ahead of suspension, brake, chassis, and safety technology.

In the '50s, pretty much every year at least a couple drivers died during the month of May at Indy. I once read a listing of Indy 500 winners from the old days and what happened to them. I don't remember the numbers anymore, but the majority of them later died in fatal racing crashes.

In the early 50's the max lap speeds at Indy were in the low 150s. But, max speed on the straights were around 180 MPH. The speed difference is due to how poorly the cars handled, and had to be slowed to make it through the turns.

F1 cars in the '30s were capable of 180+ MPH, but like all race cars of the era, had very crude suspension. Some even had swing axles!

Two time Indy 500 winner Mauri Rose once said he was lucky he wasn't killed driving on the tires they had back then.

Although not a good bet in today's cars, at one time you were often better off being thrown out of a crashing car rather than remain in it. There were cases of drivers saving themselves by intentionally jumping out of the car rather than staying with it.

 

And as seat belt users (racers and crazy kids alike) also know, being tightly strapped in drastically improves your car handling skills, as you don't have to hold yourself in the seat when trying to corner or brake and can concentrate more on the finer points of driving. Gary[/QUOTE]

I second this, no way could i drive my circle track car if the safety equipment didnt have me firmly planted in the seat. you will actually catch yourself pulling yourself to center with the wheel, and if you are using the wheel as leverage to hold yourself in with, you're probably not using it to handle the car properly!

Great point Gary!

 

I have never understood the notion that some folks go to the races to see a crash. I have been to NHRA, SCCA, F1 and even the Jalopy Showdown and Jalopy Drags. I always hope that everyone goes home in one piece. 2008 I was at Englishtown when Scott Kalitta was killed. I just had to leave. I was shaking all the way home. I love speed. I love cars. Drive safe HAMB folk. Slim

 

I love seeing old footage of racing, but like many I couldnt watch the whole thing, but I did notice myself feeling a sense of excitement to see a few guys walk away... one of the coolest was around the 2:00 mark when that guy flies out into the track then runs back to the side before the other cars came, talk about tough!

-Justin

 

Oh man that's stomach turning.....can't believe they did that!

 

I would like to un-see that. Man.

 

I watched the whole video. Yes, it was difficult at times. Especially when fire is involved. I'm all in favor of top-notch safety equipment.

 

No, this was not a good thing to see, I didn't finish it past a minute twenty. Watching a young man die is not so painful to another young man, ....maybe. Watching a young man die when you are an older man is devastating, truly devastating....an older man knows what the young man has lost. He knows the definition of the phrase his life. Holding his newborn child, taking his little one to school, watching them grow. A man's life is like a distilled spirit, sharp and with a bite when it is first introduced, mellows as it is exposed to the influences of life, then smooth and patient and mature in the end. You broke my soul a bit today friend, but that's part of the journey.

 

the one thing i worry about is being upside down and on fire. i have been in a car that rolled twice @ high speed and was totally disoriented when the car stopped moving.

Francisco Plumbero - good words.