Could NASCAR or Indy Car racing experience a 1955 Lemans like tragedy?

[Greg]

If the wording on the poll choices are confusing, just go with the "bold"
words for clarification.

-No

-Rarely

-Some

-Very Concerned






For reference if needed


The 1955 Le Mans disaster occurred during the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race, when a crash caused large parts of racing car debris to fly into the crowd. The driver (Pierre Levegh) was killed, as were 83 spectators.[1] A further 120 people were injured. In terms of human toll, it is the most catastrophic accident in motorsports history....

For more on the example…..just click the above Wiki link....





Discuss and post amongst yourselves

 

[Magnethead]

Can it? See: Carl Edwards v. Keselowski

Will it? That is a circumstancial question. All it takes is a failed fence.

 

[kkfan91]

Sorry the wording on the poll choices is kinda confusing. It could happen sure, Allison 87 I think came closer then Keslowski did because the fence was actually gone after that. As I told my fiance when we were at Daytona in July if a car is coming at us get down and hope for the best.

 

[Greg]

Sorry the wording on the poll choices is kinda confusing. It could happen sure, Allison 87 I think came closer then Keslowski did because the fence was actually gone after that. As I told my fiance when we were at Daytona in July if a car is coming at us get down and hope for the best.

Sorry about that, I would reword them I could, but I did add a note to help on the O.P.

 

[wilson89]

Could it? Yes it very well could. It would mostly likely occur on a restrictor plate track like Daytona or Talladega in Nascar, although I do remember Truex hitting the retaining wall I believe at Richmond in the Nationwide Series several years ago so I would say you could never 100% rule out the possibility.

As for Indycars yes, we seen how those cars fly and terrible things happen when those cars get air bourne. I would think it would most likely occur at a mile and a half or larger oval sized track but once again I would say you could never 100% rule it out even at a road course. (Little note Infineon road course has very small catch fences around certain turns and an indycar race I attended a couple years ago had an accident right at the top of the hill involving several cars, had one of the cars got air bourne there it would of been pretty disasterious given the fact the fence there looks to only be about 10 feet high and with the air I seen the cars get at Vegas it could very well be a straight shot into the stands).

 

[dpkimmel2001]

Absolutely it could happen and it's not just a possibility at the restrictor plate tracks either. I think that it could happen just about anywhere they race. I think it would be foolish to think otherwise.

 

[MOEJOE]

That was in a day with no safety equipment. I would be more worried about going to an air race.

 

[FlFlash]

It's always a possibility you never know when the perfect scenario for something like this may occur.

I beleive the most likely venue would be one of our local short tracks where safety tech and track facility's are somewhat lax. At todays race speeds modifieds/Latemodels and sprints can be traveling well over 100 mph even on small tracks, combine that with not so up to date or poorly planned/installed walls and fences with the stands 10-20 feet behind them. It could be bad.

 

[SST55]

Na$car has been lucky. Look at Petty rolling along the fence followed years later by Bodine in a truck at Daytona. Allison and Brad K come to mind along with Ernie Irvins deck lid flying into the stands mandating the use of tethers.

3400 pound car traveling at 190+mph is a lot of mass for a chain link fence to stop even with cables interwoven. .

 

[robbybee]

Spectators being injured or killed is always a concern. No safety measure is 100% safe. Engineers and designers do the best they can, in most cases (provided that they have the funding, of course). If y'all watched the Bathurst race you saw what can happen when a full fuel cell gets ripped open. If raw fuel spews into the stands...

I don't like to sit near the fence anyway. I wanna be up high.

It's like going to a baseball game. A bat or a foul ball can find you without warning. A flying racecar will do a lot more damage than a flying bat, obviously...

 

[HoneyBadger]

Spectators being injured or killed is always a concern. No safety measure is 100% safe. Engineers and designers do the best they can, in most cases (provided that they have the funding, of course). If y'all watched the Bathurst race you saw what can happen when a full fuel cell gets ripped open. If raw fuel spews into the stands...

I don't like to sit near the fence anyway. I wanna be up high.

It's like going to a baseball game. A bat or a foul ball can find you without warning. A flying racecar will do a lot more damage than a flying bat, obviously...

It happened in NHRA last year at Firebird.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Don't forget the crews either. A car goes in the grass and goes airbourne towards the pit wall and it could be bad. Imagine if the ARCA wreck a few weeks ago occured on the frontstretch of Talladega. NASCAR's pushing their luck with this "have at it boys". The cars are safer, but there's always a risk in racing and NASCAR is increasing that risk by encouraging people to wreck each other.

 

[toledo47]

I beleive the most likely venue would be one of our local short tracks where safety tech and track facility's are somewhat lax. At todays race speeds modifieds/Latemodels and sprints can be traveling well over 100 mph even on small tracks, combine that with not so up to date or poorly planned/installed walls and fences with the stands 10-20 feet behind them. It could be bad.

A good example of that from 2008 at Can Am Speedway in New York. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJSDCooCH5E They don't just hold local races at that track either. I think in 2008 they had a World of Outlaws late model series race.

 

[basscatcher89]

There have been latemodels go over the fences at a couple tracks in illinois and kill people. They started pushing the grandstands futher back after that happened.

 

[SpeedPagan]

With all the safety measures they've taken over the years, I doubt it. It's still probable, but not really possible.

 

[buckaroo]

With all the safety measures they've taken over the years, I doubt it. It's still probable, but not really possible.

Don't you mean that it's possible but not really probable? Freak accidents can happen at any time, any place. Racing is a dangerous sport mostly for the drivers and crew, but spectators have always been included now and then. I used to sit very close to the track at our local track and get hit now and then by rubber from the tires, but not much else. This year, a car almost went into the stands but stopped just short. A couple of years ago, while practicing, one of the mod had a throttle stick and the car went up over the railing and took out two or three sections of fencing that was a good 20 back from the track. In both of those accidents, no one was injured, but most of us were more worried about those fans who sit on the front row.

One thing about safety is that it costs money. When you are talking about the big time, they will always find a way to get the money and justify it. However, at lower level racing/local, safety measures have forced some owners to close up their shops and sell the equipment.

I have no doubt that NASCAR has the most strict rules governing safety, but they can't find everything that will happen at sometime in the future.

 

[basscatcher89]

One thing about safety is that it costs money. When you are talking about the big time, they will always find a way to get the money and justify it. However, at lower level racing/local, safety measures have forced some owners to close up their shops and sell the equipment.

Thats a sad but true fact. I know guys that run the bare minimum for safety that the truck requires and it aint much. Helmet and firesuit is about it. Gloves optional and there are guys that refuse to wear gloves. At the asphalt track near by ive seen drivers get out wearing blue jeans but a coat from a firesuit.