NASCAR Cup Sequence driver Alex Bowman will sit out this weekend’s race at Talladega after a crash at Texas Motor Speedway left him with concussion-like signs. He joins a rising listing of drivers to have suffered comparable accidents behind the wheel of NASCAR’s new Subsequent-Gen machine — which is an especially dangerous signal simply earlier than probably the most crash-prone races of the yr.
Finally weekend’s TMS race, Bowman was operating in eighth place within the race’s first stage when a tire exploded, sending him backing into the wall.
Whereas the crash didn’t look horrible, these seems are form of the issue. Crumple zones have been decreased in these Subsequent-Gen automobiles; prior to now, an accident like this possible would have totaled a automotive, because the vitality of the impression would have been dissipated by way of damaged bodywork. Now, the impacts are rattling drivers.
Bowman stated on the radio that it was “the toughest I’ve crashed something in my whole life.” His concussion-like signs after the occasion will now go away him sidelined for Talladega.
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Bowman isn’t the one driver to endure a head damage this season, although. Kurt Busch’s qualifying crash at Pocono this summer time has left him sidelined for the previous 10 races, and it’s not clear when — or if — he’ll get again within the automotive this yr.
Kevin Harvick has additionally voiced his issues, as reported in RACER:
“I believe while you take a look at the issues that occurred with the accidents, I believe these are the precise issues that the drivers had from the very first day we noticed the automotive,” stated Harvick. “There hasn’t been loads of development aside from we modified among the rear clip stuff; we modified among the impression stuff. However these automobiles don’t crash like the opposite automobiles crash. They’re violent impacts, and so they really feel loads completely different than what the crash knowledge g-load is. It goes straight by way of the driving force’s physique.”
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Harvick harassed that nobody however the drivers understands the extent of how dangerous the hits are. He stated there have been instances when there was a full extension on the HANS machine after a driver rear-ended one other automotive on a restart.
“And it takes you a second to actually determine that your hood’s not caved in and the ductwork remains to be in it and issues which have occurred,” Harvick stated. “I don’t assume anyone actually understands, apart from the drivers which have crashed into one thing, the violence that comes within the automotive.”
So, whereas the Subsequent-Gen automobiles have include an look of security and a few structurally sound bodywork, there are nonetheless loads of issues happening within the cockpit.
As Harvick said above, there have been issues about security because the daybreak of the Subsequent-Gen automotive. Jalopnik reported on rumors that sprang up on social media relating to the “loss of life” of the crash-test dummies utilized in Subsequent-Gen impression assessments.
Whereas NASCAR adamantly denied these claims by noting that the dummy “functioned nominally” after the crashes and driver Chase Briscoe deleted his Reddit feedback confirming the dummy “loss of life,” the structural security of the automobiles are nonetheless being questioned.
You don’t need to look far to see it. Finally weekend’s Texas Motor Speedway race, blown tires resulted in a record-setting variety of cautions in the course of the race, and buildups of tire rubber have triggered fires. In terms of crashes, it additionally appears as if hits to the rear clip are notably harmful, with a number of drivers complaining about ache and soreness after a rear-end impression. It has resulted in two Playoff-eligible drivers to sit down out key rounds that might have led them to a Cup Sequence championship.
That these points are prefacing a race at Talladega can be regarding. The monitor is understood for inflicting “The Large One,” or huge, multi-car accidents that may gather important parts of the sector in a single go — and that inevitably means we’ll see some drivers maintain rear-end collisions and, probably, additional accidents.
The No. 48 will likely be pushed by Noah Gragson this weekend at Talladega.