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I dont think I ever saw it either??anyone got it???

The Grunk!!!!

My most memorable one almost had me in it! At Terre Haute in 99 I believe some guy flew over the fence in turn one. As we were looking at him to make sure he was OK from the third floor of the camera tower going in to turn one all of a sudden this car come flying right past us at our level and it seemed like he only missed us by a few feet. There were quite a few people from this board that were up there as well so I am sure someone can remember who that was.

Joe

PS. I also remember Casey at Ventura when he flipped down the front straight. He seemed to get as high as the top row of seats. JJ at Manzy when he broke his arm when he flew out of turn 3 and seeing Gaunt do a Superman to jump the fence to get to him! I guess when you have been around this for 20 plus years there are just too many scary ones to remember them all! Rick Hendricks in the midget down the back straight at Perris!

does any one have krusemans flip from the cal expo back in 94? i heard it was a nasty flip and would like to see it...

Grove Hill of Quality Race Video has the best angle of it. Here is an infield angle of it shot by Steve Hazleton. click here

Jeff Kristensen
www.racewayvideo.com 

once again you came through with a great clip..... You are the man....Did anyone count how many flips he did??? that was alot of them....

The Grunk!!!!

14? there are times you can see his helmet and arm flailing outside the car..healed up -maned up became USAC champ...adversity sometimes leads to greatness in life...at Cory 's School you get more than a car and a track to drive it on ..you get a champion to learn from

I can understand wanting to watch the Dave Crowell's deal at Santa Maria because it's simply amazing. It should be the opening shot of every "......and they walked Away!" type video. However, I just can't bring myself to watch any of the other stuff you guys talk about. I don't like seeing people I know hurt.

Maybe it's because I was working on 2 of the cars that Joe mentions in his post. One guy was okay but the other guy wasn't.

Maybe it's because Cory's car came to a stop flipping right in front of where I was standing and he didn't move.

Maybe it's because I could clearly see that his hand was pointing in the wrong direction and laying on the exhaust.

Maybe because I know that was a $150,000 hospital bill

Maybe because I've seen too many of these crashes where the people didn't move for a very long time and the worst goes through your mind.

Maybe because I've seen crashes like this where they never were the same.

Maybe because on more than one occasion, the guys never moved again.

I guess to each his own, but I'll pass on watching Cory's deal again. It's been burned to memory and I get to watch the replay every time I don't want to.

Amen to that... I never saw the expo flip / however when my brother and I were little we grew up at ascott.. We witnessed a couple of fatalities that I remember like it was yesterday... I know what you mean when you say you could go the rest of your life without seeing it again.... sorta scars your brain in a way that is not good, and at the same time gives you tons of respect for these so called "MEAN MACHINES"

The Grunk!!!!

Rich, you expressed it better than i could ever have. Seen this question last night and wanted to comment how i never ever wanted to see that crash (Cory's) ever again. Got that same sick feeling just thinking about it that i got when i saw it live. It still amazes me that he survived that one, let alone went on to become one of the best racers the left coast has ever seen!

It was one of the most horrifying and stomach turning things I had ever seen. The worst was seeing him crawl out...it looked to me like he lost the use of his legs. To see him up and around later was nothing short of miraculous. This was the third worse thing I ever saw at Santa Maria.

Only seeing my friend Bud Stanfield get hit by a sprint car only minutes after talking with him on the track during a red flag was the worse... It was surreal and I was in denial for weeks and perhaps years. The images still hurt to this day. The Bud succomed to injuries later. His was the first and only fatality to date at Santa Maria. We remember Bud at our July SMS Grand Slam. Eddie his son is often there and used to support the race with added purse in memory of his dad.

Gene Manhire's fire was a close second, only because he had a happy ending. But seeing him struggle and the flames die down only to be revived was heart wrenching. Seeing him win before retireing was inspirational.

Tony Simon having his hand smashed at Santa Maria was one of the worst things ever too. I was really young then so although I saw the reactions of people. My friend pushed his car on the trailer and saw the aftermath. It was seeing him race with a hook on his hand that it made an impact on me.

The other thing that many don't remember but back in the 1970's ('77 I think) Santa Maria announcer Jim Pluhar was also a photographer and got run over by Doyal Dunnivan's black sprint car, and he obviously survived but after surgeries. Just like Bud, Jim couldn't get out of the way. Say high to Jim and buy one of his programs- dude has paid his dues.

"Junkyard" Jimmy Thompson also is on one of the video highlights his rookie season of 1999. He took a turn 3 tumble and his helmet ended up deep in turn 4. Scarey looking. He climbed out worried about his grand parents who he had talked into coming see him race for the first time. His chin strap was tight...his grand parents bought him a new helmet and came to see him win later.

Racing is dangerous and sometimes we do things to make it more dangerous. I am happy though that serious injuries are few and far between. One is too many though.

I agree, I cannot watch that stuff. You put it so well. The older I get the less tolerance I have for anything like accidents. I admire those who can survive accidents like Cory only to be better. Like Nikki Lauda, Hans Schtuuk (spelling is bad), and others who became champions after devestating wrecks, it is inspiring. But too often we lose people in whole or often worse in part, all too soon.

Dale Earnhardt, Josele Garza and others have been lost in accidents where we expect someone to climb out.

We have a Bandit champion struggling with money and pain issues after a relatively innocent flip. AJ Burgin sufferes more after a botched surgery to repair a disc hurt in his flip, he tried to come back but he is waiting he can afford another surgery as the racing insurance said they are done.

I can't say that I disagree either. I do however see a value in these shots. Out of all the drivers that have seen these clips over the years (they have been around awhile and shown on national TV), if just one of them pulls off the track because his belts came loose instead of continuing on as Dave did, thats a good thing. If one driver that saw Cory's flip, throws away his out-dated or frayed arm restraints and buys new ones, thats a good thing. (I don't know thats what happened to Cory or even if they used arm restraints in 94, but thats irrelevant)

I personally don't like crash tapes and have not produced one in about 10 years. After watching one for 10 minutes, I want to see them race! My rule of thumb when I did make them was that the driver had to have raced again, or at least walk away from the crash. I have some shots that no one except family members, promotors and insurance companies have ever seen.

Crash tapes are big money makers however and if I ever do make another one, trust me a good percentage will go to some drivers benevolent fund.

Jeff Kristensen
www.racewayvideo.com 

I realise I am preaching to the choir on this board but for those who go to the races hoping to see this sort of thing (and there are many) need to be kicked out and never readmitted. Make sure they fall down the stands as they are being escorted out.....

Joe,

how can you forget Vuky's crash @ Mesa Marin...... we were helping a young Dennis Rodriguez that fateful day................ I had just spoken to him in the pits before hot laps & the hung throttle......

I know many fans who live for the crashes but I like the others here can live without them. It is amazing though to see the ones where they walk away but all the ones where they didn't keep me from wanting to look........

I've seen way too many Midget, Sprint, LAte Model, Motorycycle, Sports Car, Vintage car crashes live as I've been attending races since before I could talk but Vuky's is still the only one where the driver didn't make it........... that day still haunts me as I was sitting inside of Turn 3 right wher he hit & in the aftermath I helped a young Jeff Gordon push his car back to the pits.