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Latest NascarCrashes Stories

Brickyard Moments: Trouble in Bodineville

Posted: Jul 22nd 2008 2:12PM by Geoffrey Miller (author feed)
Filed under: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, NASCAR Videos, Sprint Cup

1 COMMENT
Sunday afternoon, the Sprint Cup Series makes its 15th trip back to the place where they said stock cars will never race, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. All this week, FanHouse will relive the best moments we've seen at the Brickyard.

On Monday, we watched as Jeff Gordon took his No. 24 Chevrolet Lumina (Talk about a throwback...) to victory lane at the legendary speedway in the inaugural running of the Brickyard 400. It was a great moment for NASCAR and its fans in the mid-west.

That same race, though, hosted another moment that will live in NASCAR lore for a long, long time. For Geoffrey Bodine its a memory he'd like to just forget:



Ah, Indianapolis. The city of non-brotherly love.
Continue Reading Brickyard Moments: Trouble in Bodineville

2008 Spin Mirrors Gordon's 2002 Daytona Spin

Posted: Jul 8th 2008 8:26AM by Geoffrey Miller (author feed)
Filed under: Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports, Daytona Int'l Speedway, NASCAR Crashes, NASCAR Videos, Sprint Cup

1 COMMENT
Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona wasn't the first Jeff Gordon has lost a big race at Daytona thanks to a spin on a late race restart.

And it wasn't the first time that Gordon caused the wreck himself. First, we'll start with Gordon's most current mistake at Daytona:


As Kyle Busch restarted the race, he kept the field at a slow pace, messing up 2nd-place Gordon's timing as they came to the green flag. That allowed Carl Edwards to get a run on the inside of the No. 24 as they exited the tri-oval, and when Gordon threw the block, his left-rear clipped Edwards' right-front fender, spinning the No. 24 out of the race.

Gordon had led 46 laps in the 160-lap event and appeared to have a car that could overtake Busch for the win, but the late race mistake during the green-white-checkered finish left Gordon with a 30th-place finish, just as the same move cost Gordon a shot at winning the 2002 Daytona 500:
Continue Reading 2008 Spin Mirrors Gordon's 2002 Daytona Spin

What Did Kyle Busch Really Mean?

Posted: Jun 29th 2008 8:10PM by Geoffrey Miller (author feed)
Filed under: Joe Gibbs Racing, Kyle Busch, Sprint Cup

42 COMMENTS
After watching the interviews and reading them online following Sunday's Lenox 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, I'm confused about what Kyle Busch was saying.

And because I'm confused, I'm not going to make false assumptions. Speculation, though, is definitely going to happen.

Kyle was undoubtedly in horrible spirits after finishing 25th in the rain-shortened event. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has won five times in 2008 and leads the point standings, so he's just not used to running poorly.

Add to that getting knocked around under caution by Juan Pablo Montoya, and you can bet Busch wasn't going to be too happy in his post-race interview. Luckily, though, he obliged to the media's request and talked about his race. That's, though, where his comments got a little quirky:
"We missed something all weekend. I knew it was going to be a dismal day and I was trying to make the most of it," Busch said.

"If we had stayed out, we could have won the race, but I just didn't feel that was the right way to win a race. I didn't feel like we had a shot to hold off the guys that were going to be behind us."
So is it safe to assume that Kyle simply didn't want to win the race? Was he the one who made the decision to come to pit road when his brother didn't?
Continue Reading What Did Kyle Busch Really Mean?

Video: Montoya Unleashes on Kyle Busch

Posted: Jun 29th 2008 6:33PM by Geoffrey Miller (author feed)
Filed under: Juan Montoya, Joe Gibbs Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, NASCAR Crashes, NASCAR Fights, Kyle Busch, Sprint Cup

37 COMMENTS
Juan Pablo Montoya's brutal honesty is so, so refreshing.

Following Sunday's Lenox 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, JPM fully admitted that he intentionally spun Sprint Cup point leader Kyle Busch late in the event under caution after the two had bumped on track. Before we go any further, watch below at 0:46:



As you can see, the discontent among the two began when Busch drove JPM up the hill in turn one. The two continued to make contact down the backstretch and when the caution came out for the crash between Clint Bowyer and Sam Hornish Jr., Busch banged into Montoya's drivers side.

That was enough to break Montoya's last straw.
Continue Reading Video: Montoya Unleashes on Kyle Busch

Video: Kevin Harvick's Infineon Dive Bomb

Posted: Jun 24th 2008 11:59AM by Geoffrey Miller (author feed)
Filed under: Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, NASCAR Videos

8 COMMENTS
Kevin Harvick was on a mission during the closing laps of Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350k at Infineon Raceway. Simply, the Richard Childress Racing driver wanted to gain as many spots as possible before the checkers waved.

With that in mind, Harvick was passing David Gilliland coming in to turn 7 and forgot about the brake pedal -- until it was too late. Watch below at 0:45.



The casualties from the move included Tony Stewart, Jamie McMurray and Ron Fellows. Harvick spun as well. Somehow, Gilliland and Jeff Gordon managed to squeak by.

Continue Reading Video: Kevin Harvick's Infineon Dive Bomb

Crash Video of the Week: Montoya's Cookout

Posted: Jun 13th 2008 7:28AM by Geoffrey Miller (author feed)
Filed under: Juan Montoya, NASCAR Crashes, NASCAR Videos

1 COMMENT
Juan Pablo Montoya certainly wasn't expecting Clint Bowyer to spin out in front of him Sunday at Pocono Raceway, but I would imagine he was expecting a little more help from his friends in red jump suits once his flaming No. 42 Dodge stopped.

Yep, it's time to play "armchair safety worker" with Juan Pablo's marshmallow roast of a crash on lap 82. Watch below and you decide at 0:33 when JPM gets his car stopped and he scrambles out if the response was adequate.



After the TV announcers jumped on the case of those safety workers that were plainly in view of Montoya's car, NASCAR made sure to note that those workers -- the ones in the red suits with fire extinguishers -- were not responsible for going on to the race track.
Continue Reading Crash Video of the Week: Montoya's Cookout

Richmond a Big Shot in the Arm for NASCAR

Posted: May 5th 2008 11:59PM by Geoffrey Miller (author feed)
Filed under: Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Sprint Cup

40 COMMENTS
Sure, Denny Hamlin may have led gobs and gobs of laps during Saturday night's Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400. And sure, the race title was ridiculous to say (and from here on out, will be referred to as the Dan Lowry 400).

But boy did NASCAR need a race like the one race fans were treated to at Richmond. Throw together the entire weekend and its not looking too shabby all the way around.

First, NASCAR's newest bad boy in town Kyle Busch started things off nicely Friday night during the Lipton Tea 250 when dude got into with Rusty Wallace's probably-never-going-to-make-the-Sprint-Cup son Steven Wallace. The two did the post-race tango after beating and banging on each other during the final laps with Kyle Busch getting offended after his helmet was grabbed and Wallace calling Busch a "girl".

Priceless.

Then, Saturday night, Denny Hamlin was on his way to securing one of the most dominating Sprint Cup wins in a long, long time at his home track, until a tire started to go late in the event. Apparently, karma catches up to you after leading some 381 of 410 total laps.

Prior to Hamlin losing the race that was his to be won, those fans who watch just to see smashed up fenders and bent roll cages were treated to a massive pileup in Turn 3 that took Matt Kenseth from his Richmond misery and drop kicked Jimmie Johnson from a good finish. Those fans can check out the video here.

Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon had one of those nights for the first half of the race that his haters love to see.

The No. 24 was a lap down early and struggling -- raising the haters' hopes for further Gordon bad luck. However, Jeff played the storyline well and brought his big core of fans right back into the race when he got a lap back and battled through the field to a ninth-place finish.

And then, there was Michael Waltrip showing his now-annual display of over-aggression after Casey Mears lost the No. 55 in his blind spot and sent them both into the wall. Waltrip then gunned the accelerator and pushed Mears into the turn one wall, drawing a "you're done for the race" penalty from race control. Remember, Waltrip slugged Lake Speed in 1995, had this YouTube gem in 2004 (1:35), and got into it with Jeff Green a few years ago at Darlington.

Once that all sorted out, it looked like Hamlin was cruising to a victory in front of the home crowd until the tire faded his chances. When Hamlin caused a caution and subsequently penalized, the race was between that Dale Earnhardt Jr. fellow and Busch.

The two made a little bit of contact going for the win, which kicked the most popular driver from the win and allowed Clint Bowyer to sneak in from nowhere past Busch for his second-career win.

While it wasn't the 2007 Daytona 500 finish, Richmond brought out storyline after storyline late in the event -- which is exactly what a race fan wants. By no means was Saturday night's finish predictable.

Carnage and controversy on a short track? Now that is.

Kevin Lepage States Case for Idiot of the Year

Posted: Apr 26th 2008 5:20PM by Geoffrey Miller (author feed)
Filed under: NASCAR Crashes, Talladega Superspeedway, Nationwide Series

100 COMMENTS
Preface: The hardest part of this post was coming up with headline. Everything from "Kevin Lepage's $4 Million Mistake" to "Kevin Lepage Proves Worthlessness" to "Kevin Lepage Nominates Himself for Darwin Award" were all considered. Got an idea? Leave a comment.

As the headline stated, Kevin Lepage made a mistake that most normal human beings don't make when they travel down the highway everyday in Saturday's Nationwide Series event at Talladega Superspeedway.

Also unlike most human beings, Lepage's crash took out no less than 16 race cars from the lead pack. Most amazingly, though, Lepage failed to take any responsibility for the wreck.

The melee began when Lepage had to pit for a loose wheel. Upon coming off pit lane, Lepage's spotter told him that the field was coming out of the tri-oval and that he should stay low. Low for Lepage must have meant right in front of the entire pack as it barreled into the corner at full speed with Lepage still well off pace.
Continue Reading Kevin Lepage States Case for Idiot of the Year

Franchitti Transported to Hospital After Crash

Posted: Apr 26th 2008 3:50PM by Geoffrey Miller (author feed)
Filed under: Dodge, Chip Ganassi Racing, NASCAR Crashes, Talladega Superspeedway, Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series, Dario Franchitti

2 COMMENTS
UPDATE: Team owner Chip Ganassi said that Franchitti is currently undergoing X-rays on his ankle. Larry Gunselman was also later transported to the hospital.

Original: Sprint Cup Series driver and 2007 Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti was helped to a waiting ambulance after being involved in a drivers-side impact Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway during the Aaron's 312 Nationwide Race.

The impact occurred after Franchitti cut down a rear tire on his No. 40 Chip Ganassi Dodge entering turn 3 on lap 10. Franchitti's Dodge snapped sideways and brushed the nose into the side of Nationwide point leader Clint Bowyer.

The No. 40 then slid down the track -- nearly to a stop -- when Larry Gunselman plowed into his left side.

From video replays, I can't understand how Gunselman didn't slow down any more than he did. There was no tire smoke and no last second attempt to swerve out of the way.

Had Gunselman missed Franchitti, Dario's car likely could have continued in the race. Instead, he hobbled to the ambulance in obvious pain.
Continue Reading Franchitti Transported to Hospital After Crash

Video: Michael McDowell's Huge Texas Crash

Posted: Apr 4th 2008 6:35PM by Geoffrey Miller (author feed)
Filed under: NASCAR Videos, Michael Waltrip Racing, Sprint Cup

64 COMMENTS
NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Michael McDowell was involved in a huge crash Friday during qualifying for Sunday's Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

McDowell, who will start his second career Sprint Cup race Sunday at Texas for Michael Waltrip Racing, lost control heading into turn one on lap two of his qualifying effort. Watch below at the 0:20 mark as McDowell careens into the wall at 180mph and then flips violently down the track.



McDowell walked away from easily the most violent crash of the Car of Tomorrow era in the Sprint Cup Series. The new car is designed to protect drivers even more in situations like this one.

Following the crash, McDowell was released from the infield care center and interviewed on SPEED Channel:
"Fortunately, I'm OK. That's one of the worst wrecks I've seen in awhile," said McDowell. "I feel great. Nothing's broke, I didn't pass out, I just wish I didn't over correct."

After viewing the replay, the rookie McDowell was quite thankful.

"Thanks to the guys back at the shop. They work hard to make these cars extra safe," said McDowell. "I will count my blessings after this one."


The impact damaged the SAFER barrier -- a wall that absorbs an impact by allowing foam blocks to take the energy away from a car -- and halted the qualifying session for over an hour as crews worked to fix it.

SPEED television commentator Darrell Waltrip called it the "wildest wreck I've seen in years" while his brother, McDowell's team owner, made a good point about the safety of the sport.

"Just think about the money. There's a lot of people that have spent a lot of money to make that car safe and those walls safe so that kid could walk from it. You can't put a price on that," said Michael Waltrip.
Indeed, McDowell's wreck was one of the scariest-looking crashes in NASCAR in a long time, and for him to walk away from it so easily truly says something about the safety advances of the sport. Sorry, No Photos

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