The ADRL tour passed through Norwalk, Ohio recently running their wild equipment down the strip at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park. The most violent occurrence of the weekend was the wreck you will see below. Robert Patrick a long time door slammer competitor in everything from NHRA and IHRA Pro Stock and now in the Pro Nitrous ADRL ranks suffered a massive crash that saw his car pinball off one wall after a huge initial impact and head directly into the other across the track. Amazingly, Patrick only suffered bruising and a broken bone in his foot after this calamity that easily could have resulted in more serious injuries.
The car crosses the finish line (remember ADRL is an 1/8 mile series so the finish line is the center point of the quarter mile track in Norwalk) and then just heads left across the track impacting the wall with sickening ferocity. Glancing off of that wall it then shoots across the track, center punching the right wall. The chassis builder and safety standards involved here need to be lauded, because without them this could have been substantially worse for Patrick.
For anyone who doesn’t think the ADRL’s eighth mile program is exciting, we really beg to differ.
Press play below!
This is why they shouldn’t run fast cars on tracks with steel guard rails. The first hit would have turned it into a ramp.
Its everyones own choice to decide whats safe enough for his or herself. Rather that comes to the track or the safety equipment inside the car, if it was left to the racers themselves to decide expense would be way down and fan attendance would be way up.