This incident happened while Owens was qualifying for a race, the process where cars individually run the track as fast as they can and their respective times are used to determine starting position for the race. Owens was from the area and raced this track frequently in competition and practice.
Owens lost control of his car in a turn, and went up on two wheels. Sprint cars of this design (wingless) can reach ~100mph (160kmh) reliably, but he was likely going much slower. I would guess he hit the fence at approximately 40mph (65kmh), still a very hard impact in a 1200lb (550kg) vehicle. The vehicle initially hit the cement barrier with the front right tire, and flipped up, causing the top of the car to impact the cement barrier and the fence. During the initial impact the top of the car's roll cage appears to have been damaged severely, as his helmet can be seen exposed as the car rolls up the fence. the car rolls once along the fence on the way up to the apex, and an additional time on the way down. As the car slides down the fence Owen's helmet appears to be what takes the impact of the top of the cement barrier. If he wasn't dead by that point, he surely was after that. The car then lands upright on the track, the announcer accurately says "and he is over big time!", and McDonald's rolls in to help.
Yes, the small towns in the USA do sponsor their event rescue teams with fast food chains, and no they do not usually see the irony.
Slavshit
Sandshit
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
That white truck was bringing him McDonalds.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Lmaoooo
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
More options
Context
I shouldn't but I don't care. I live just 10 minutes from the speedway. I have been to 90% of the races and heats they've hosted in the last decade, and was there for this one. Honestly the crash doesn't even look that bad versus some of the ones that I have seen. I didn't know Justin too much, I had spoke with him at the bar once or twice and a few times in the pits. He was a pretty nice dude and it really sucks to see him go.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context
Snapshots:
archive.org
ghostarchive.org
archive.ph (click to archive)
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context