Charlie Jarzombek Fatal Crash *Live With Announcement*

[bobo15377]

he was already gone. My friends from Connecticut were sitting right there when he crashed.They said you should have seen the blood dripping from the car..

[t8035]

man alot of ppl hav died in auto racing

[wolfeny1946]

This crash is still hard to watch all these years later. I knew Charlie J from the time he raced at his home track in Riverhead, New York. Racing lost a great driver and we lost a very decent man.

[twotoneify]

should have never moved hiss head until it was restrained but i dont think they really knew that back then

[xJohnx228x]

I understand this was an old crash, but it was just scary seeing the saftey guys trying to get a dead body out of a car to put him in the ambulance.

[BikerBonno]

It's incredible to see old footage of fatal accidents in motorsport and to just see how no care was given to any of the drivers, no risk asessment for injuries, they were just hauled from cars and like the guy in this vid the marshal just pulls his head back.

[CliffField]

@BikerBonno Yeah it's pretty difficult to watch. I think there's a bit of panic going on (unsurprisingly). Scary stuff.

[69mankini]

OK, thats why you don't race in a chevy cavalier. DURRRR. Hell, I wouldn't even do 30 mph in a chevy cavalier.

[nascarfan88242914]

@69mankini dude fuck off every video i see you have somthing negitive to say just shut the fuck up have some respect

[T1122w]

@69mankini Man are you uniformed on auto racing..the only part of that car that was a Cavalier was sheet metal..a modified has to resemble a street car in those days..So if you ran a 427cu inch chevy..you used Cavalier sheet metal..He died because he hit the wall a ton..not because it was a Cavalier

[chuckflynnjr]

It's a combination of both. Charlie wore a white suit with a red "T" shaped design over the chest and across the shoulders. You could see the blood on it as well, but it wasn't all blood.

[TheTornado1999]

@1:11 Is that blood or the suit scheme?

[abcdefghijklmnop6728]

a very sad day indeed. charlie was an opponent of my late grandfather, james hendrickson who drove the x3 modified on long island. a major loss to the sport. god bless all that we have lost, evans, baldwin, jarzombek, park, hendrickson and so many others either racing or fam of us...always remembered and always missed..

[wolfeny1946]

@abcdefghijklmnop6728 Thanks for those memories... I grew up in Riverhead and remeber all those drivers. Those were the good days when drivers races for the love of the sport and not the money.

[nuclearthreat545]

all that blood on his suit wow

[ThePwig]

Oh man he appears to have bled out onto his racesuit when they show the closeup around 1:00. Wow. Basalar skull fracture I assume.

Great video with the interviews, too.

[BJFalcon88]

@ThePwig Dale Earnhardt died with that very injury. I wasn't born yet when Jarzombek died, so, yeah, it might be basal skull fracture. Oof. Imagine being one of those paramedics at Martinsville having to deal with a dead body slumped over the steering wheel. Makes 'ya sick.

[t8035]

@BJFalcon88 yeah, i was thinking the same thing. all we hear is that somebody dies but the paramedics hav to see whats left of these guys. its not a pretty site, believe me. i saw one where a f1 car hit a track worker and it split him in half. senna's crash was also awful to see.

[ThePwig]

Oh man he appears to have bled out onto his racesuit when they show the closeup around 1:00. Wow. Basalar skull fracture I assume.

[FlexaySexay]

1:03 that is graphic you can see his body, worst than that you can see his face i cant believe they got that kind of camera view

[tompwh]

how did he die?? he got out of the car and walked :s

[M3G4M4TT1]

@tompwh he didnt get out and walk he was lifted from his car

[firecrew10]

and that is why as a fire and safety worker at a race track

anytime we get to a car and the driver is not responding or is uncounches we tape there helment to the seat cut the angle bar and pull them out seat and all idk if that would have helped here but you can see when the crew pulled him up out of the car his head was floping around all over the place not good guys sorry to see this happen

[jeepnutnh]

@firecrew10 not at a track, but former FF here. had the same thoughts initially, but after thinking on it, im pretty sure the responders knew right away that they were too late. i think the guy who flipped his head up (1:10ish) was just trying to not let it be obvious that he was gone already :(

[dodoguru]

This was very sad. I still have my red Jarzombek fan club jacket. Saw many races at Islip Speedway in the late 60/early 70s..

[zackfan]

such a tradgedy.. what a driver he was too...Do you recall what "Greg Sacks" did with that #5 modified? He won alot of races for Willsberg. fast car he had... Art Barry told meon restarts he hides from you. lol. he gets out front then you can't get near him..

[zackfan]

Does anybody know.Did that happen before,or afterNascar made them install the mandatory "kill switch" in the cars? Any body know? He would have still been alive if he was in a "Wheylen" modified tour car.There just so much safer today then they were back then."Corky" would still be alive and Richie as well..

[SirWallyWally]

@zackfan this was WELL before kill switches, or most safety innovations. Kill switches were introduced to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (Whelen Engineering, maker of police safety lights, is the series sponsor) in approximately 2002, as were HANS devices. As you can see from the video, full face helmets weren't even in vogue. There are many safety features that are common sense now that weren't instituted until someone died, in all racing series.

[zackfan]

I'm pretty sure he was already gone..However,Nascar will never admitt he got killed there.. just the way they are..

[jeremy2033]

Charlie J was an awesome modified driver with a good heart and good spirits. I was at martinsville speedway on this sad day. I feel like he's in a better place now, in no pain. I most defitnely miss Charlie and Richie Evans as well. 

[bt578076]

howlongwastheredflag



[Kayiko]

Wow. When i saw the man grab Charlie's helmet and pull his head back, my tummy felt sick. 1987 was not -that- long ago. We had knowledge of what moving someone like that could do to them. The close ups. At the time, I don't think he was dead. It's easy to say that now cause we have hindsight. This video is a lesson at what NOT to do when someone crashes. They might have helped in killing him.. ,if the crash didn't instantly.

[Kayiko]

@Kayiko At the time, They didn't think he was dead** i meant to type.

[blackjack21211]

Its amazing head restraints took so long to be invented. Hundreds of drivers across the world died from something that was easy to prevent

[doctordangermk]

took them forever to red flag it...

[goomba1982]

he was a rag doll and got dragged out of a car that couldnt help much people are stupid

[fatriani]

@goomba1982 he died on impact, atleast they didnt just leave him in the car like they did to francois cervert at watkins glen in '73. he was jsut so clearly dead that they didnt even bother

[altfactor]

Did the race ever resume, or was it called off after the accident??

[erasetoimprove]

@altfactor it resumed probably, they usually never call off the race due to this unless it's near the end

[ROBLOXdude95]

@erasetoimprove Wheldon died at Las Vegas, and it was lap 13. They cancelled.

[erasetoimprove]

@ROBLOXdude95 the red flag was already out to repair the track so the drivers found out about the death. Normally the info is kept from the drivers until the race is over but in this case the race was already stopped.

[jazzbo1974]

Why in gods green earth did they move him like that at the beginning I guess they were sick the day they taught rescue after a accdent wtf ,,,

[spudracer13]

@nascarfan789 you have to realize this is 1987... people involved didnt know any better

[lanebelue]

hans only came too late for charlie rest in peace great driver

[mrmootheirrev]

What the hell kind of cars are those?

[jaked812812]

@mrmootheirrev modifieds

[SaintBEEP]

@mrmootheirrev modified stock cars

[dcjlove]

Was not expecting the bloody driver close-up... yikes.

And that has to be the hardest Martinsville wreck I've ever seen!

[TOPGUNCANADA00]

there tribute to him at the end of the video was very well done

[MrShawnsquatch]

Why in the world are they moving his head around? That could have been what killed him....

[lazerpod66]

I ignored that Charlie J crashed in the Wilsberg car! Charlie was a big fellow, they shoud have cut the rollcage to extract him from the wreck......RIP.

[crazeejosh]

I like how they did this instead of making it such a sob story these days.

[rpgct1]

@Crisgo3d It was Corky COOKMAN who died later that year at Thompson Speedway.

[Crisgo3d]

@rpgct1 Correction, had the name wrong. Its unfortunate we have lost some great drivers in Modified racing. I wish Madhouse would not refer to these cars as "WEAPONS" people have died racing these cars.

[machdaddy78]

This video is very necessary as a historical account of how many drivers nascar had sacrificed because they didn't seem to care enough about this type of injury. Shame on Nascar for letting so many drivers die of this same injury. They had to kill their cash cow before something was done.

[machdaddy78]

Charlie was my very 1st racing hero. After moving from NY to Florida I lost track of the NY modified scene. When I heard Charlie was killed. I was heart broken. I am glad I have finally got to see how it happened. Charlie is still a champion. I loved him as a boy. God bless him and his family.

[goodrdg]

This entire video being posted is completely unnecessary and disrespectful to the family! It should be taken down immediately! Imagine how you would feel if the death of your loved one was posted on the internet for continuous viewing! How absolutely thoughtless and disrespectful this is!

[ILikeCheeze24]

R.I.P Charlie and BP

[lricker561]

As a Charlie Jarzombek fan I would plead that you please remove this video from You tube out of respect for the Jarzombek family and his many fans. Please give us this respect.

[BigJimW10]

This video offends me. Not to the poster of this, but the way they showed Jarzombek in that close up shot. The guy was already dead.

I knew the greats personally working for Thompson International Speedway back in th e late 70's early 80s. Jarzombek, Geoff Bodine, Fred Desarro, Bugs Stephens, Richie Evans. I lost a lot of friends who were drivers. Jarzombek was one. Seeing this footage is just sickening to me. :(

[azbobbybooshay10]

Were they trying to pull him out of the top of the car by his head????? Terrible job there by the safety crews.

[braves15]

That close camera shot was completely unnecessary, especially when you consider that this was a tape-delayed broadcast. They knew that the crash was fatal, yet they still chose to show the footage of them getting Charlie out of the car.

[sspeed30043]

This crash is what brought the front frame rail redesign, if you notice there was no crush, Charlie took all of the impact. Same with Richie Evans. My dad knew both of them when he was working on Fred Harbach's modified.

[99boyz]

never move the head what dumb pepole

i mean he was already dead but still

[AutoRockinRacing94]

Dave Rezendez the Camping World Truck Series driver was in that series in the 80s.

[WillG75]

Horrible crash. From what I've heard, his head was nearly knocked off my the impact.

[e521soediv]

Disturbing. Is that blood on his suit at 1:11?

[NASCARWWEclubpenguin]

i think it is

[aceofdaplace24]

yeah it is....thats how hard he pounded the fence

[BigJimW10]

@e521soediv Yes it is. Jarzombek died with what is known as a basilar skull fracture, the same way Dale Earnhardt died. Basically, the base of the skull fractures, separating the skull from the base of the neck, causing the blood vessles to tear, basically draining the blood from your head. If you looked at any pictures of the interior of Earnhardts car, you would have seen it as a bloody mess. Same thing happened to Jarzombek

[wardaddy08]

@BigJimW10 How did your ignorant ass see interior pics of Earnhardts car!? They were never made public!

[BigJimW10]

@wardaddy08 Yes they were. Dumbfuck.

[BigJimW10]

@wardaddy08 Fuck you, you piece of shit

[wardaddy08]

@BigJimW10 Old Pussy!

[BigJimW10]

@wardaddy08  Fuck you, you piece of shit

[TheMooseJuice]

@BigJimW10 There were two or three pictures made public, you can see blood in them but it's not a "bloddy mess" as you make it out to be