I have never had a quick release wheel come off in my hands during an event or even when driving in the pits of anything. One of the more entertaining stories I have heard in the racing world is the fact that Tonya Turk once had the wheel come off in her hand at Bonneville at like 250mph and she managed to reinstall it without delay. It is a virtually impossible thing to do and as you will see, self preservation can really be helpful when stuff goes wrong as it did all day for Dale Jr. in Talladega. Multiple crashes and badness all around made this one to forget but the video below will likely be remembered for a while.
As you will see Dale Jr. pulls back on the track after a weather delay and very soon into the return trip he has the wheel come right off in his hands. The quick release collar was not locked down and it got weird quick. After an initial WTF moment, Earnhardt grabs onto the steering shift to guide the car and then quickly gets the wheel lined up and locked back on.
We have seen countless drag racers wreck over the years because they never get the wheel back on with the car moving. It is a very difficult task for sure but Dale Jr. was up to it. Sadly the rest of his weekend was not so good. He crashed twice during the event and did not exactly set the world on fire with an awesome finish. Hey, you may not be able to win them all but you sure can impress them and that’s what Dale Jr did in this video!
just another day in the office
One thing the driver is responsible for…he “f’s ” it up! What a maroon!
He does have a bit of a ruddy complexion, now that you mention it.
It’s good publicity for whoever makes those skeleton gloves, at least.