Last week we bought you video of a new Cobra Jet Mustang launching off the starting line at Cecil County, pulling a bumper dragging wheelstand, and then crashing hard into both walls at the track. New video has surfaced of that crash, including some revealing in-car tape that sheds some light on the major contributing factor of the wreck. As you’ll see, the car comes off the line and instantly climbs the ring gear, aiming the nose at the sky like a Nike missile. The driver actually pedals the car but it hangs up in the breeze. As the car is climbing, it is also moving to the left, which is a problem because the lap is being made in the right lane. In what has to be a near subconscious reaction, the driver turns the wheel hard to the right before the car lands. When the front end does come down, it pushes for a second before the tires bite, sending it across the lane and face first into the wall. The CJ bounced off of that impact and then crashed into the other wall with the rear of the car. As you’ll see, the driver is OK and frees himself of his belts as the video stops.
It is easy to Tuesday morning quarterback this situation and say, “Oh the guy shouldn’t have cranked the wheel, blah, blah, blah.” We don’t know who the driver of the car was, what their racing background was, or any details. For all we know it was the first time the driver had experienced a wheelstand of this magnitude. We just don’t know. We would say that going forward, we don’t think that the wheel will ever get turned up in the air again, though. This seems like a lesson you learn once and don’t make the same mistake again.
Press play below to see the video of the in car camera and a track side angle of the wreck that shows how having the wheel turned made this wheelie into a wreckie –
That pretty much only works if you have a rudder. One less unmolested CJ.
Wow – the crash really didn’t look that bad from inside the car, but you can tell it hurt.
As is often the case, sometimes the best thing you can do is hold on. Wheel turn or not, that wasn’t going to end smoothly, and there’s just no way to know what *could* have happened.
Still, as PatricksDad says, turning the wheel in the air only works if you have a rudder, LOL.
When I know the brakes won’t do anything, my brain is still trying to put the pedal thru the floor. Any good recovery from that would have been a big mixture of skill and luck. That was a killer wheel stand tho. Just bad luck.
I’ll give the guy credit for this tho, if that had been me, as soon as the car came to a stop there would be a stream of profanity pouring out of that car to turn the air blue. All that guy says is “I’m fine.” Takes it like a man!
Watch closely – when you steer the wheel during the wheelstand, guess what happens when the wheels touch the ground
He had the wheel turned well after the car landed. Wheel turned with foot on the floor it only did what he told it to do.
If he would have just had the wheel straight when it landed he would have been fine. cross the centerline and no big deal.