We can't prepare for everything and that certainly is a freak occurrence, but it's a grim reminder that we all need to be aware of what's going on around us when competing. Triple check your ride and gear weekly to be ensure it as safe as possible.
Not on the same level as her accident, but I saw a guy twist one in half in a 12 second car near the end of 1/8th mile. The front half stayed attached to the trans long enough to rip the trans bell housing off (it was a TH350, so it split the case) and beat some holes in the floor board. One of the holes was a couple of inches from his foot. The interior was covered in transmission fluid... they don't play.
Keep in mind that safety rules are minimum safety rules. Nothing says they can't run a tunnel as well as the hoops. The owner of the car makes that call.
that recent photo of the long trailing arms under a chevelle is another helper.. live axle physics suck.
I thought twisting a slip joint in a rig was a crazy sight.. these cars are playing with an axle that can go one way, and stay there, and a front half that can go another.. and an engine twist snapping at everything.
the split shaft with a hoop is even found iun a 90hp subaru with a hard mounted rear end.
the setup is and always will be crazy for the live axle/single shaft cars...in a bizarre way, it is yet another reason I like 4 doors for bigger power in the RWD.
never call a failure rare. change the rules to stronger/smarter. those damn shafts play with a perfect circle of physics more than strength.
Previously boxer3main
the death rate and fairy tales cannot kill the nature left behind.
This same exact thing happened to a New England based racer named Steve Paquin at the Dutch Classic a few years back. Except his incident happened in the burnout box! It tore the crap out of his arm. He's gotten some use of it back but not 100%
Her arm and the drive shaft were entangled. I am surprised it didn't pull her arm out of the socket. Her arm was wrapped around the driveshaft probably twice.
My guess is, that car probably has aluminum panel floor pans and/or a removable trans tunnel in the car that is not quite as robust as a normal unaltered steel floor pan.
You never know how a modification will screw things up. Last year at the 25 hours of Thunderhill a crew had noise problems. So they changed the exhaust dump, so that it blew on the driveshaft. Driveshaft failed, punched holes in the fuel cell and turned the car into a flambe'. Driver was lucky to get out with extremity burns.
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