Moments In NASCAR Where Time Froze Part 5

In the last episode, I started the video with an incident that happened with Jeff Gordon in 2008, when he hit the inside wall at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with such force, it was amazing he was able to walk away from the crash. I believed that this hit was one of the most brutal accidents to happen to a car hitting the inside wall at an intermediate race track. That was until I scrolled down the comment section and found user ColombiaballNASCARfan55 suggesting a crash from 1997 involving Steve Gr

issom. I decided to type it into the search bar not knowing what I was going to witness, but when watching the footage, I’m surprised this incident is not talked about more often as the crash looked eerily similar to what Jeff Gordon suffered 11 years later. Steve Grissom was a champion down in the Xfinity Series in 1993, but could never find the same success when moving up into the Cup Series. Although he was able to rack up multiple top 10 finishes throughout the years, Grissom could best be d

escribed as a journeyman in Cup. By 1997, Grissom was looking to compete in his 3rd full time season in Cup as the year prior, he was let go from Diamond Ridge Motorsports midway through the year. He would drive for Larry Hedrick Motorpsorts in the #41 machine in hopes to bounce back in his career. Only to have a terrifying crash in the 4th race of the season. Near the end of the Primestar 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, all seemed normal in the race as Dale Jarrett retook the lead at lap 270 and

had a clear path towards victory lane. That was until the cameras caught a crash that was forming on the backstretch. It seemed like any other accident, that was until more cars joined the frame leading to this shocking incident. On lap 284, Jimmy Spencer lost control coming off turn 2. Mike Skinner hit and climbed over Spencer's car, while Grissom was sent spinning toward the inside wall where there was an opening. Grissom slammed back into that said opening, tearing the entire rear end out of

his car, causing the fuel cell to launch and burst into flames. Grissom’s car would tumble down turn 3 and lay motionless upside down with everyone watching in horror. Medical crew rushed onto the scene as Greg Sacks pulled up next to Grissoms car, looked into the car, then slowly pulled away. Leading people to 2 conclusions, either Steve was alright, or Greg Sacks did not like what he saw inside the car. Steve Grissom would be rushed into the infield care center and was released in less than 4

5 minutes with the only injury he sustained was an aching left ankle. Similar to Jeff Gordon, Steve Grissom was overall okay after the wreck, which shocked many as everyone thought that Steve suffered gruesome injuries. In the end, it turned out the track took more damage from the wreck itself rather than the driver. An overall great outcome to a scary situation, but at the moment, when Steve Grissom made a hard impact to the inside wall and caused his fuel cell to burst into flames, the racing

world held its breath as it became a moment in NASCAR…. Where Time Froze. 2015 was an interesting year when it came to superspeedway events. It seemed like nothing but controversy struck both the race tracks of Talladega and Daytona International Speedway. Each racetrack has two race weekends in the season, and each of them suffered moments in 2015 that all could be worthy candidates for this series, except for maybe the 2nd Talladega race, but that race in itself is frozen in time for how bad t

he race ended rather than a more terrifying moment. However the other three weekends did fall into the prior category. In Daytona speedweeks in that February, Kyle Busch was running in the Xfinity Series race for Joe Gibbs racing in the 54 car. He was running near the front, but it was evident that a crash was going to happen any minute by how anxious drivers were getting on the racetrack. With less than ten laps to go, chaos would happen in the tri-oval, causing Kyle Busch to get sideways and h

ead into the inside wall with no safer barrier…. Kyle Busch would not be knocked unconscious nor receive life threatening injuries, however, the wreck would leave Kyle Busch with a compound fracture in his lower right leg and fractured left foot. He would be out of the car for 11 races, but would wind up winning the championship thanks to a waiver he received from NASCAR. In the first 2015 Talladega race weekend, the NASCAR Arca series would run its fifth race of the season at the 2.67 mile race

track. Eerily similar to what happened in the Xfinity Series a few months back, Austin Wayne Self would spin out in the tri oval near the front of the pack. It looked like everyone was going to get through, that was until Brad Smith in the 48 ran out of room on the high lane, making heavy contact with the spinning vehicle. This impact left the car without steering and brakes as it flew towards the inside wall. Without slowing down, the car would slam into the inside wall, causing the car to be d

estroyed on the driver side, then having the car drive erratically to turn one, having little to no control. This left many to wonder if the 46 year old suffered even worse injuries than what Kyle Busch suffered just a few weeks back. But to everyone's shock, Brad Smith would be able to survive the accident with only a fractured left ankle. This was thanks to the safer barrier being installed on the inside wall, which absorbed most of the impact. This image shows just how much force was absorbed

from the safer barriers. If the safer barrier was not there similar to Daytona, then perhaps this outcome would have been entirely different. But even as bad as both these accidents were, neither are comparable to the crash that happened at the Daytona Coke Zero 400 in July. In the 17th Cup Race of the 2015 season, the race at Daytona was already overstaying its welcome as weather plagued the racetrack all weekend long. Somehow, NASCAR was able to get the race going late into the night in hopes

that they would be able to give the fans an epic conclusion to the race. In the final laps, Dale Earnhardt Jr was in the lead holding off three different lanes of impatient drivers trying to fight their way to the front. Coming out of turn 4, it seemed like the excitement was at an all time high as it was clear that Dale Jr was going to be the one to win the race…. However, what many didn’t know was that the excitement was about to turn into true horror. Coming to the checkered flag, Austin Dil

lon in the #3 car was hit in the left front tire by the spinning car of Denny Hamlin and from behind by Clint Bowyer, causing him to flip into the catch fence over two rows of cars. The car hit the fence at about 190 miles per hour and came to an almost complete stop on its roof before he was hit again by a spinning Brad Keselowski. Everyone at the track presumed the worst, as a wreck of this magnitude was never seen before. Teams rushed over to the car to see if anything could be done for the d

river in the number 3 machine. What could only be described as a miracle, Dillon climbed out of the car unharmed, except for a bruised tailbone and a bruise on his forearm. No fans had lost their lives in the crash itself but five fans were injured by flying debris. In the end, everyone would be able to leave the race track that night with their lives, and Ausin Dillon was credited with a seventh-place finish even though the car was destroyed beyond belief. Tommy Herbert's car literally explodes

and spins on its top for hundreds of feet after striking the backstretch guardrail during the 1960 Daytona 500. It is widely known that guardrails were the original structures of walls around NASCAR Racetracks. During the 1940s and early 50s, guardrails were suitable enough to hold the vehicles within the racetrack. However, as time went by, it was clear that the cars were getting faster and faster, while the guardrails remained the same. Darlington was a prime example of this as there have bee

n multiple cases of cars either flying over the guardrails or worse, driving through it. But as bad as these accidents were, they pale into comparison to ones at Daytona intl speedway. Daytona was added onto the schedule in the late 1950s, and to the shock of many, the vicinity decided to add guardrails around the turns rather than concrete walls. Although concrete walls were a much harder impact for drivers compared to guardrails, concrete could still hold up to the speed of cars going around t

he superspeedways. And NASCAR would learn very quickly how costly a mistake this would be. One year after the inaugural Daytona 500, many were excited for the 2nd running of the race as the first put up such an exciting finish, that a winner would not be confirmed until later in the week. 81 cars would attempt to qualify for the event, and 68 would wind up starting the race. One of those drivers that made it into the main show was Tommy Herbert, a driver who only ran two races in his entire care

er, the 1960 Daytona qualifier, and the 1960 Daytona 500. There is hardly little known about this driver other than he was from the Florida beach area and that his car number was the #25. However, when you look up this driver's name into Google Images, this is the first photo that you see…. An image of a car upside down and the front end ripped off. Tommy Herbert had gotten sideways on the back straightaway and ram his car into the outside guardrail at full speed, leading to this violent crash..

On lap 118, everyone in the sport watched in horror as many believed that Daytona Intl Speedway claimed its first casualty in a NASCAR Event. Once the car made impact, the front of the car would shred into pieces and violently spin 75 feet into the infield grass. Other drivers wrecked trying to avoid the flying debris but none of them were injured. This allowed personnel to focus their efforts on Tommy Hebert to see if he could be saved after a vicious crash. Herbert suffered a broken arm and s

evere eye injury, but was alive. An incredible sight to see as no one expected a driver to survive that kind of impact. Tommy Herbert would never race in the NASCAR Cup Series again and seemingly disappeared as fast as he showed up, while NASCAR itself would focus on the elimination of guardrails around super speedways when another frightening accident would happen again only a year later in the qualifiers. Similar to Tommy Herbert's crash, no one was fatally killed in the accident, but it would

end the career of one of NASCARs first legends in the sport. 2004 Rick Hendrick Plane Crash Aviation is not something most fans think of when it comes to stock car racing. I mean, why would they as it is something entirely unrelated to the sport. However, when you look at all the race tracks that NASCAR goes to throughout the year, then you start to realize that many pit crews and teams rely on flying to get from race to race. It is one of the safest and fastest ways to travel. With that being

said, there is always a risk when it comes to flying as any type of issue can lead to certain death for anyone onboard. Sadly for NASCAR, they have had plenty of aviation crashes that have taken the lives of many in the sport. Some include the 1992 Champion of Alan Kulwicki who would lose his life in a plane crash heading to Bristol Motor Speedway. The crash was caused due to the pilot's failure to use the airplane's anti-ice system to clear ice from the engine inlet system. One of the saddest i

mages in NASCAR was the announcement of the passing of Alan Kulwicki and having the Race Hauler leave the track before the start of the event. ← Another incident was a helicopter accident that same year at Talladega Superspeedway where Davey Allison’s Helicopter nosed up suddenly then crashed. Allison never regained consciousness after sustaining a critical head injury. Both these incidents in themselves are moments that are frozen in time in NASCAR infamy. With that being said, there is one avi

ation accident that affected the sport so badly that to this day some drivers pay tribute in victory lane to all that were involved in the devastating incident. It happened to one of NASCAR’s biggest teams, and that was the aircraft crash in 2004 for Hendrick Motorsports. During the inaugural Chase for the Nextel Cup, both Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson were looking to make up ground on the 97 machine of Kurt Busch in the points standings. Martinsville was a favorable track for the team as both

the 24 and 48 car were dominant on the ½ mile paperclip. Add on to the fact that this track was Hendrick Motorsports first win as an organization, and many quickly found out why this was a great track for the team. While the team was getting ready for race day, over in Concord, North Carolina, 8 members of the Hendrick Motorsports staff were climbing onboard a beechcraft Super King Air 200 aircraft en route to Martinsville speedway to cheer on their team. People on board that plane were team pre

sident John Hendrick and his twin daughters, Kimberly and Jennifer Hendrick; Ricky Hendrick, son of Rick Hendrick; general manager Jeff Turner; chief engine builder Randy Dorton, Joe Jackson, a DuPont executive; Scott Lathram, a pilot for driver Tony Stewart; and pilots Richard Tracy and Elizabeth Morrison. It seemed like business as usual for everyone as they went on many flights in the past…. That was until the plane was reported missing at 3 pm. Near the end of the race, news would start to a

ppear that a plane from Hendrick Motorsports went missing in the Virginia area. Rescue crews were sent out in hopes to find the plane and its occupants somewhere within the region. Midway through the race, a Civil Air Patrol team would fly by Bull Mountain’s peak and find the airplane wreck along the summit. NASCAR received word of the crash earlier in the race at Martinsville, but wouldn’t let the world know until the end of the race after Jimmie Johnson won. It seemed like it was going to be a

huge celebration for the 48 team, however that quickly changed when the news was given. When response teams were able to reach the wreckage, they found that everyone on board was killed.The result of the crash was caused by pilot error on that foggy afternoon. Unfortunately, nobody onboard stood a chance and some of the biggest members of Hendrick Motorsports were gone within an instant. The team had lost a huge chunk of their organization and many wondered how the team would be able to press f

orward as Rick Hendrick himself lost half his family in one day… In what has to be one of the best wins in Hendrick Motorsports history, Jimmie Johnson was able to do the unthinkable and win the following week at Texas Motor Speedway. A much needed win for the whole organization that left almost everyone teary eyed while in victory lane. In honor of Ricky Hendrick, Rick Hendricks' son, everyone turned their hats backward in remembrance of what was going to be the future CEO of the Motorsports te

am. A tradition that is still done at every race a Hendrick Motorsports team gets the victory. Although the tribute cannot heal the losses that were suffered that fateful afternoon in Virginia, it at least helps all who were affected every little bit for when that moment happened in one of NASCAR’s darkest moments in history. Thank you so much watching, and a huge thank you to my subscribers and commenters who left suggestions on which drivers I should cover next in my previous episode of the se

ries. This has led me to continue the series for more than five episodes and I’m excited to see what the future has for this series. Let me know down in the comment section on which events I should talk about in the next episode. Hopefully I have this video up before the Daytona 500 as I will be attending the event along with Phoenix in March. I appreciate all of your love and support and as always, you all take care.