Michael McDowell Interview after Crash @ Texas Qualifying

[fergiefergieable]

safety barrier made the biggest difference I reckon, absorbed a FUCKLOAD of force!

[donutdude42]

I just did the richard petty driving experience and after experiencing those gs i can understand why dale earnhardt

[JimmythePlumber]

@jaqua524 I'm not preaching I am merely stating that while the cars are safer now, there have been worse wrecks that people have walked away from. Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt, Ernie Irvin were all in wrecks that were worse than Petty, Irwin and Earnhardt's fatal crashes. You think thats an accident? You think that Petty's throttle hung on accident? Why did Irwin, Petty, and Irwin die when the othera didn't? God's plan. Plain and simple.

[pakhomovalexey]

@JimmythePlumber

It's because McDowel wear HANS device and Earnhardt didn't. He call it "that damn noose"... If McDowel didn't wear HANS - basilar skull fracture and immediate death is guaranted to him. Respect the safety, and no need for God's plans.

[JimmythePlumber]

@dmr1988 did you read my entire comment? Yes NASCAR needs safety but it is ultimately God's choicr who lives and dies. Earnhardt, Petty, and Irwin all died in lesser crashes. It was just God's timing.

[jaqua524]

@JimmythePlumber no...earnhardt died because he was old school, and chose not to wear the head and neck restraints and hans device..unfortunately, it was his own doing (rest in peace)..adam petty's throttle stuck..head on impact, and the cars were not as safe back then in 1999...god didnt kill him..a little thing called the law of inertia did, same for irwin a year later..look..im get ur relious beliefs, i have my own opinions (kept to myself)..and its great that you have faith..dnt preach here

[tanrammingpaving]

@JimmythePlumber it has nothing to do with god

[CrimsonKing5298]

haha i could imagine him cussing about wrecking while flipping at over 80 mph

[gobackto82]

Thank God that he let NASCAR make these safer cars but ummm..... minus the wing lolz

[Tristin471]

I thank NASCAR for adding all of their safety devices and saving this young guy's life!

[JimmythePlumber]

People can thank the safer barriers all they want. Don't get me wrong, it is a much needed improvement. but God saved him in that wreck! People have lost their lives in much less. God has a plan for Michael's life. Praise God for his safety!

[dmr1988]

@JimmythePlumber Well with that thought why don't they all race with no seatbelts, helmets and cars made of wood. Then god will decide who lives....moron.

[khevvin48]

wow he didnt mention the safer barrier :/ that was a big part of it too, idk glad hes ok

[TAH2719]

Thank God He's Ok.

[TAH2719]

Thank God he's OK.

[rockerboy2001]

It was a combo of everything that saved him from being seriously injured.

[MaverickXSE]

that guy just took the ride of his life and those idiots keep bugging him with 20 million silly questions. that is so retarded.

by the way neither nascar nor the irl developed the hans device that was actually a project initiated by CART back in the days

[sjames500]

cars that look like that after a wreck should be retired behind a barn, untouched for years.

let the bastard rust in peace

[superjed2]

at 2:36 they showed the car covered up like it was a dead body. may that car RIP

[ewertjoe]

Dale Earnhardt saved Michael McDowell's life. Plain and simple. The changes made after Earnhardt's death saved Michael McDowell form being killed.

[nascar244831]

i was thinking that when i first saw this crash a few months ago. this might sound bad, but if it wasnt for dale earnhardt's death, mcdowell wouldnt be alive today.

[superjed2]

Yes Dale's death help but so did all the other drivers that lost their lives around that time to. Like Kyle's son, Adam.

[tunnelrat1900]

For all of the uninitiated, please read: "The Physics of NASCAR: How to Make Steel + Gas + Rubber = Speed by Diandra Leslie-Pelecky" - fantastic information of the advances in technology in driver safety. After reading, you'll understand why Michael survived and maybe what caused his loss off control on that turn. GO NASCAR!

[Mayfieldrockz36]

I'm glad Nascar start making drivers wearing hans device. I don't want see another driver's career taken away.

[jaqua524]

well, with all the saftly stuff now, i think its pretty safe to say that wont happen

[hyperacti]

i've read that book! but i pulled out more of the stuff on what things like the spoiler and all does and used it on making my cars (online) go faster ;)

[aaronthelegend4]

awesome wreck, hans device saved him

[pokemonbreeder18]

he doesnt mention himself untill 51 seconds in! is so unselfish!

[Brian211978]

25 years ago, he would be dead in that kind of crash!

[ClamChowderWebCast]

dude, 5 years ago he would have died in a crash like that! Nascar has come a long way in safety. Just not rules

01 deserves it

[Nokomis215]

oh yea he would be toast

[vettedude418]

5 years ago they would be picked his head out of the engine bay!

[CourtyardPigeon]

shit...2 years ago he would have died

[jarrettfan8844]

5 years ago he would be dead in that kind of crash

[ENGLANDNEWENGLAND007]

Yeh He Would Have

[bder4000]

the part where he initially hit the wall is almost the same as dale sr. fatal crash.RIP Dale Earnhardt

[Brian211978]

That was the same if not worse, because not only did he flip, he went head on, at a faster clip than earnhardt did. McDowell didn't even have time to slow down it was so sudden and such a sharp turn.

[itsalleternal]

Correct, the initial hit was much harder than it was in Dale's hit (probably about 20-30 mph more). That had to be about 130 G's. Without the SAFER barrier and HANS device, it is almost impossible to survive such a hit. NASCAR has come a looooong way.

[monster271]

NASCAR didn't develop anything. IndyCar developed those things. With testing help from the University of Nebraska, IndyCar developed the Safer Barrier, and the Hans Device. NASCAR fans always try to take credit for stuff that other leagues do.

[taktikal24]

LOL fuck you dude, at least NASCAR has a fan base. He didn't give credit to NASCAR for developing anything. NASCAR has just come a long way, which it has. The COT probably helped just as much as the SAFER barriers, doubt your precious IRL did much to develop that.

[AutoRacer5]

IRL has a fanbase too, just try not to sound like a retard denying it.

[Shaggychurchshoes]

130 G's....thats a bit much i think..prolly not more than 10Gs

[leobold1]

Yeah, I think he meant 13 Gs, not 130.

IRL/CART did develop the HANS, but SAFER was made specifically for NASCAR and ARCA.

Both series did a lot to improve safety. I even saw a news spot that they're thinking of putting in SAFER barriers in some of the IRL Road courses in the accident prone corners, just to be proactive.

[whiteangel132]

lol 13 G's rofl the guy said 130 G's is more correct

[AutoRacer5]

The SAFER barrier was developed by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the University of Nebraska, and it was first brought up for Indy car racing, not NASCAR and ARCA.

[tjbrown97]

@AutoRacer5 no NASCAR developed with the help of University of Indiana. Do some research on it.

[AutoRacer5]

@tjbrown97 Why don't you do some research?

From wiki:The SAFER system was developed by engineers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln starting in 1998, sponsored by the Indy Racing League.

I accept your apology.

[golfinguy55555]

your an idiot its more than 10Gs dont be stupid

[eesaylor]

he truly was the Aaron's Lucky Dog after that one!

[Theguyof93]

If not for that safer berrier, how wouldn't have survived

[HRFTG]

I almost dies but I feel bad for my team. That's a racer.

[MorningRevival15]

that's a very bad crash however he was very lucky

[Brian211978]

Yeah, and he qualified 13th! And had to go to the back!

[burtonfan2]

13th out of 15 at the time

[kivideos]

hahah

[TheCoolDudeLL]

When he was talking the sound was behind lol.

(do not reply)

[septal]

you should become a detective

[truthsmiles]

LOL! Are you kidding? He's ALREADY a detective!

[carledwardsnascar]

CONGRATS MICHAEL love to have you alive

[PeterMullock]

I didn't like the look of the COT. But man, this car is S.A.F.E. And that's a good thing!

[darius28z]

cot is just a body change mostley its just a differnt fiberglass shell its all the other safety improvements made is why he is alive like the soft barrier.

[korn37411]

WAY different chassis then the old car. look at one side by side with the old car and they r completely different.

[burtonfan2]

i think the main thing is the hans device. the BSF would have killed him.

[Iceman2692]

I will bet anything, that if that cash happened last year, he would be laying 6 feet under right now. if you look at the telemetry, he was doing 195 when he hit the wall. It woulda been another Adam Petty or Kenny Irwin Jr. if it weren't for the COT's.

[itsalleternal]

Both of them hit the wall at much slower speeds too (at New Hampshire at the fastest part, the cars are at least 50 mph slower). At the end of the straightaway at Texas, cars are going over 200 mph! It was probably going about 180 mph when it first hit the wall.

[MJBCOIL]

about 187 u can see in some replays, which is amazing. and hearing him say he was mad haha....that's something.

[kse862]

he just over corrected gettin loose goin into the turn, but amazing he walked away from that

[Tman8466]

wasnt there an oil spill that caused the crash?

[Purducci12]

yeah, they put some of that speedy-dry to clean up the oil but the track was still slick. the oil came from another car's qual run.

[sxhxixtx]

This goon is a labelboober and you can expect him to tear up a lot more cars.

[GruntofAction]

Hes a rookie, even pro's wreck every once in awhile. I'd like to see you become one and not wreck any cars on your first year of driving in nascar. Jackass.

[Ezekiel336]

Not so sure it's luck man..lol..Someone is watching over him..all Glory to God for this...

[Atrain757]

yea. Thank God that this car of tomorrow and those safer barriers. If this had been at the start of the decade, Michael may or may not have survived but one thing for sure he sure wouldn't have walked away.

[ZX6Rdriver]

its safety preactions and technology not god

[irishboy445]

lucky to be alive hes lucky to walk away 2 be fine.Thes cot can take so much impact like gordons crash a couple weeks ago. If it was a couple years ago he would be dead rite on impact with the wall maybe when the car took the nasty turn tgowards the wall. But even though all of that that kid is lucky to be alive

[MorningRevival15]

bad wreck, even worse than jeff gordon's a few races ago

[traceycollier]

WOW! What a race car.. Amen for that safer barrier

[mavsman15]

man, i saw this crash and I thought of Sr. This kid is lucky to be alive.

[Blitz350]

So did I. If this had been even 5 or 6 years ago he would have been dead.

[phenixkell]

oh bullshit.... you understand there was other things invovled with dale's death right? and its not that bad of a crash i have seen worse with F1, touring cars, drag racing, and really they need to get away from these stupid cars, i feel like i am watching a shitty version of prototypes with less of a battle between the cars THEY ARE ALL THE FuCKING SAME! what happened to the good old days of nascar?

[Blitz350]

I completely agree with you. It is no longer stock car racing and that is stupid, however you can't deny that there have been a huge amount of safety improvements in the COT platform. There have been huge amounts of safety improvements in drag racing as well. There have been several major incidents in the NHRA where the drivers said they could feel the difference that John Force's research after Eric Medlen died resulted in.

What the hell did happen to the good old days of NASCAR?!

[jeanetdun]

ROFLAMO

[djpedy]

lol @ 0:44 sat the shot of them fixing the wall

damn i am happy this guy lived on.

crazy crash

[Romero101]

dude he was thanking the guys that basically saved his life sorry he didnt wanna talk about that crash which is def a top 5 worst crahses ever he hit the wall goin 190...i actually saw a guy die today at thompson mortor speedway in thompson ct..it was in a NEMA midget..shit wasnt cool he was 27 with a wife daughter and mother who were all there to c it..god speed

[joeyunity]

ok so more or less that interview sucked. He was so busy sucking his sponsors ass and all the guys who worked their asses off to build that ride.

I understand you have to do that but i wanted to know more about how it was riding through that crash. He just washed his 5 minutes of glory right down the tube.

[AlfaRomeo20081979]

good comment. some truth is in there.

[anthonystuart69]

this is the kind of thing that can really make or break a career. Micheal needs to be cautious, but he needs confidence more than anything, and depending on how he takes this, it may just give him the confidence he needs to jumpstart his career(which i think was already headed for a sprint cup title within 4 years)

[mbelcher987]

it didn't show his pants. or his eyes during the wreck

[Wormtail81]

I believe his eyes were actually open the entire time, in case you were implying something else.

[joe24chevy]

I Glad he is ok, but he said that he reas "mad" during the crash. I would be scaried s**tless. And he felt bad for holding up qualifing, I think that the other drivers will make an exeption...he just fipped around 8 times on the race tack. Nascar has made the right call on making te Car Of Tomorrow. Racing wise needs improvement, but saftey its all there. Great video!

[Keeper1st]

When I had my rear tire blow out while doing 65 mph on a busy three-lane highway riding my motor scooter on the way to an important event, I also was simply mad even though my life was in serious peril. "Dammit! Why now of all times?" as the back end shimmied side to side at greater and greater angles with cars all around me. It's funny how the mind works!