2008 Texas qualifying Michael McDowell Hard Crash

[BrickGrease]

dang it, I wanted to take a look at the guy that walked out of that race car a few minutes ago

[EaAddict360]

Thats what you get for counter-steering. :D

[TheSalvador201]

i saw this part on tv

[MyLittleBigToe]

its like.. japan !

[ScottXC91]

Wow, the angle that's shown at 1:51 really is a testament to just how safe NASCAR has made the sport for the drivers these days. What a brutal hit.

[SlamDuncDrummer]

Four Words: Safer Barrier, HANS Device.

[jeffsig4]

i was there

[PneumaticTire]

@Zadan Proof? And why would NASCAR wan't their drivers to crash? Just because the cars are so safe today doesn't mean it's impossible for drivers to be injured or worse. Elliot Sadler lucked out a Pocono earlier this year. You are seriously messed up for thinking up something like that.

[UNpilot15]

It's really amazing how much safety has imrpoved ever since Dale Earnhardt's death in '01. God, please look after good ol' Dale, and thank you for watching over Michael in this horrible crash.

[Gforcebond]

oh yeah i counted 8 barrell rolls

[Gforcebond]

if u look to he hit the wall head on at 187. I mean imagine hitting a wall head on at 100 then at almost twice that speed.

[Gforcebond]

that's the hardest hit i've ever seen a stock car take...unreal impact un freeking real. I've only seen f1 and indy cars take harder hits

[larz83drummer]

@Zadan dude, you cant rig 43 cars with 43 different people on a track.. besides, they show on tv what happened to cause the cation. that, and youd think that one of the 100,000+ fans there every week would catch it. get your shit straight b4 you bash something.

[royalty890]

186MPH hit 0:13

[Twebb7771]

How come i can only hate a man in this country if he's white?

[Stags80]

If not for the COT and safe barriers the McDowell, Reutimann, and Sadler are dead as we speak.

[barneynward]

1:52 that car didn't sound so good at the moment he loses control.

[immortalclaws]

it was a toyota,no wonder

[HiVultage01]

If I were Michael (My first name happens to be michael, lol) I'd say to myself, "I lived!"

Its good that he's was okay. I wouldn't have raced until I felt okay getting into a car after this.

[dtr2racerVLR18]

20 years ago hes gone no question about it, thank god for the new safety in NASCAR

[gp75motorsports]

@dtr2racerVLR18 Hell, 10 years ago, he'd be dead.

[ToroRosso20]

It is strange to see how this car turned right just like the late Indy Driver Gordon Smiley who crashed during qualifying for the 1982 Indy 500 and sadly died.

[GoldSilverLead]

@ToroRosso20 I thought of that wreck too, but was more impressed with how the strenght of the COT and use of the HANS device is keeping many young men from dying simply doing something they love. Take a look at Kasey Kahne's wreck in Turn 3 at Indy in I believe 2006. Almost Identical to Smiley's accident and in the same turn.

[BigJustinFuller]

i have the article of the #3 Crash as well. It goes well in depth. Can't post links in YouTube but if you have another way of contact I will send it to anyone

[photohawk48]

to the guy who commented about mcdowell telling his crew the car was way too tight -- it's common knowledge that often when a car is running tight, trying to fight it into turning will cause the rear end to break loose and come around. so mcdowell probably was right.

[stablerzero]

take some wedge off

[beallhigh26]

@stablerzero wedge isn't going to help him. he needs lower spring, errr well a new car :p

[clintcheif2009]

this crash shows that this car would have saved Earnhardt, Bonnett, Baldwin, Alexander , Irwin,Petty,and all of the other deceased drivers.

[jawsflounderace]

of there was no HANS, there would be no mcdowell

[ajsg09]

your an idiot

[packisbetter90]

187 MPH HIT

[Gevvyiihto]

Not to mention the steel is almost touching the concrete and the foam is fully compressed, and the nose of the car crumples to half its normal size.

@jawsflounderace, yep this was basically Dale Earnhardt's accident, but you can strap a driver down as much as you want but without SAFER barriers and crumple zones your vital organs are going to slam into your ribcage and cause massive internal damage in an accident like that.

[mysaveloy]

aye you can tell hes a rookie, saying to his guys "way too tight" and the car got loose on him

[tommytom1125]

he hit the wall at 186mph. pause at 0:13 and look at the tracker on the bottom of the screen

[bmh297]

lol i acually think he ws at 187 i have it paused at 0:14 and the speed on the tracker says 187...good to see any driver walk away from a bad crash..i hate to see them get hurt

[ajsg09]

nice eye

[TAH2719]

omg thats scary.

[red03mitsu]

man i still cant believe he walked away from that. no safety barrier and hans device and that man is a gonner

[cousinearl216]

gotta love the dramatic fog when he steps out of the car.

[buck5m]

go big or go home i guess

[zadok217]

that new barrier wall saved us another

death.!!!!!!!!!!! good job NASCAR

[AEMoreira81]

Actually, the SAFER barrier was developed in association with the IRL or CART. This venue also hosts the IRL.

[HiVultage01]

@zadok217

It's just too bad they couldn't have added the barriers before 2001. You all know where I'm going with this.

[xpure2hx2]

ohh myy gosshhh =O

[dem0925]

you know if they had these safety innovations in the past maybe earnhardt and adam petty and alot of other drivers would still be alive today

[tylerhead24]

well also if earnhardt's seat belt hadn't failed... yeah...

[deijr1238]

@jeffgordonsuckz Wrong. Do a little research. The full accident report on Earnhardt's crash is out there, it's about 350 pages long. I've personally read the whole thing, and it goes into great detail about the seat belt "dumping", as well as providing pictures of the actual seat belts in question.

[jeffgordonsuckz]

@deijr1238 ok can you get me that article?

[deijr1238]

check your messages, for some reason it wouldn't let me post the link here.

[Brucie526]

He should have been killed instantly. DW said the same thing about his brothers crash at Bristol 1990. I've never seen that in my life. That is the hardest crash i've ever seen though and he is the luckiest man alive.

[otacon1000]

well if u like drivers to die every 5 years fine by me but most of the reasons nascar isnt as good now is because of the tires and track changes i do miss the old nascar but thats my opinion

[mikejmoe]

Congrats to Mike McDowell for winning the Stewie award for the year's most spectacular crash. This of course was the crash of 2008.

Thank God that you are still doing well after such an incident.

[Frigus5]

Dude, the guy doesn't even have a ride for 09.

[tiddynezz]

at least he has his life for "09"

[LanceCampeau]

wow... maybe Nascar doesn't suck after all....

[summerschoolgrad]

and u do not see somthing like that doing qualifying eather

[MidniteHaze1]

WTF WTF WTF HOW TEH F**K does he even no where hes at right there?

[PeaceNChocolate11]

oh, wow. i heard about this when my classmate told me about the really bad crash he had during quailifying and i went on here to look 4 it and i didnt think it was gonna b as bad as it looked. he was lucky to get outta that car un-hurt. they made the new cars alot safer. wow. . .

[UltimateEEnEFan]

Good Lord Man! LOL. Glad he walked away! The COT is REALLY SAFE!

[3fan4eva]

Somethin tells me that the track crew did not clean up that speedy dry properly. Because it looks like the car broke loose seconds after he said he was tight.

[raulv04]

The COT, according to NASCAR, was a five year development to address things like this, among other. I think it is a very, very good design with safety for the driver, which was tested on this crash. I'm really glad the driver walked away from it. If this accident had happened ten years ago, we would be talking about another dead driver in NASCAR. I don't like NASCAR too much myself, but I think it's the safest motorsports category to race in.

[Winston2003]

The COT may be good for safety, but it has just totally ruined the racing. NASCAR used to be good racing and now it just sucks, along with NASCAR's crap decision of tires and the truncation of of the tracks (Bristol). I miss the old NASCAR.

[aterminatorz]

Why didn't he get off throttle when he felt the car get loose? He also hit the throttle going into the wall.

[louieakaslip]

The ticker, or what ever you call it, isn't spot on. There is a delay from when McDowell actually hits the gas, and when it shows on the ticker.

[scottishcello27]

To all the people who say that NASCAR isn't a sport, how can you walk away UNHURT, let alone alive, and not be an athlete?

[ScottXC91]

@scottishcello27 No, that's a testament to all the safety measures that NASCAR has put into place. It's the things like this that just make me laugh when people claim NASCAR is just a bunch of rednecks and idiots racing in circles. But those so-called "idiots" sure know how to get the safety down.

[slowhand2448]

You have to be so thankful for these new cars, SAFER barriers, and the head and neck restraints. That looked a lot like Dale Sr.'s crash, except for the flipping. I was watching when it happened and it was wonderful to see him get out of the car under his own power with only a light limp. Props to NASCAR, the owners, and the safety equipment manufacturers.

[aerxx]

ANY other race car....no walking away..

[24gordonfan24racing]

thank god hes ok

[TKECrew]

i was watchin this live when it happened and was just shocked if you listen to DW's voice you can hear that he thought we lost another drive in that one

[whh87]

Eight years ago they would have been having a moment of silence for Michael McDowell at Sunday's race. It's crazy to look at the comparatively less harmful crashes that killed Dale, Adam Petty, and Kenny Irwin and then see somebody go from 180 to sideays in less than a second. I hate what COT has done to the competition, but if it keeps us from losing another, it has my support.

[EricGTP]

If anyone is questioning him being tight to getting loose, Your fucking fools and it shows why your not in that car. Being tight does not mean you cannot get loose, Every part of that track is different and many things will add to what happened. Like adjusting the line. Whatever is wrong with the car going around the track you compensate for it. You adjust your line to keep the speed up. Just because a car is tight doesn't mean its never going to get loose.

[vsteppe]

scary shit.. everyday after this is a blessing.. but you gotta get back on that horse..

[neo3nfsmw]

THERE IS GUY COPING YOUR VIDEO CHECK IT OUT..... HIS NAME IS ////Lospttad ////

[Altamonteric]

Everyone is uploading this, so some vids might be the same

[Aaron11579]

kinda like what gordon smiley did at indy but he died ..thank god for safety..

[calhounbros]

some spelling errors in description

[Altamonteric]

Oops sorry let me fix that

[sixflags48]

i cant even tell thats a race car any more

[WWENASCARFAN]

Thank God for the soft walls.

[Altamonteric]

And the COT

[mikejmoe]

I agree. What happened to Dale back in 2001 may have saved lives like Michael and future generations to come.

[Blume43]

What's sad is that safety wasn't an issue until Earnhardt's death.Until then a death was considered a part of racing. If safer barriers were installed after Neil Bonnet died, drivers like Adam Petty, Earnhardt, and Jerry Nadeau ,to name a few, would still be racing.

[TweetyBet]

It def saved Jeff Gordon's life in Vegas. If he hadn't had the brace by his head, his neck woulda been snapped.

[stephinwolf]

Thank God he walked away from that.

[SurfSkateSnow713]

shit...that guy has got to feel lucky that he walked away from that one...

[thunderbearr]

Damn. That reminded me of the crash in Ricky Bobby. Without the running, of course.

Damn Good Car!!!

[spartancaboose]

he was going at least 190 when he hit the wall!

[ajskaterboy111]

thats fucking scary

[ralphiemayphan]

I counted 7 flips.

[sixflags48]

it is 8

[Zxzm]

You know, it looks like the car is kicking up dirt at the entrance to the turn. I wonder if he didn't get his tires dirty and lose grip on entrance.

[demariojason]

hey..didn't he say; "way too tight" ??! It seems that you can hear his radio right before he gets loose. And I can see the dirt kicking up also! Man, this is a blessing he survived,...if you look at the MPH, he hit it at 185!!!! DAMN!!!!

[Slickdrac]

Not only survived, but WALKED AWAY and had nothing wrong except a few bumps and bruises. That's just amazing how far safety in NASCAR has come.

[demariojason]

amen......

[Altamonteric]

You heard he said the car was way to tight, so he was probably just about to spin out

[Zxzm]

Dude, the back end stepped out before he over corrected. Back end stepping out = loose. The car itself might have been tight, but it got instantly loose when the tires got dirty. Watch all that dirt kicking up upon entrance.

[legonascar88fan]

HOLY SHIT!!hard hit like brad kesolowski at california in 2007

a true testament to the safety of the safer barrier and the cot.

[yowaso13]

damn and it's friggin texas and that was a talladega, daytona flip

[rustyshackleford01]

one hour 12 minutes to be exact