like when that young teen girl was killed in the NHL game. Her death lead to the netting that we now see completely around the ends of the rink.
A female spectator was killed after being hit by debris from Antron Brown's Top Fuel dragster today.
It was a freakish accident with his rear wheel coming off.
the risk and they know they can be hurt or killed. This is really bad - a very, very rare thing in drag racing for a spectator to be hurt.
like when that young teen girl was killed in the NHL game. Her death lead to the netting that we now see completely around the ends of the rink.
I haven't heard what hit the lady. I didn't go to this race. I've called a couple of racers who were at the track but they haven't returned my call. One of the teams is still in the hunt and they're done until tomorrow.
Phoenix is one of the tracks where the spectators are closer to the track and not in a raised section like some others (Pomona, LV). The video didn't show the tire going into the crowd although it might have. The catch net like in NASCAR and Indy would be a very good idea. Of course it won't stop a small fast moving projectile.
It looked like Antron's car was about 200 feet out - at that point it was going about 150mph or so (at 60 feet they're around 100) considering he was sideways and in trouble. So there was a lot of force generated by the impact with the wall.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, this is an extremely rare event in drag racing. Drag racing is the safest motor sport and especially for spectators. If you want to be scared - go to any number of NASCAR races and sit down next to the track. When I see some of the catch fences that have been there awhile (Daytona is an example) it worries me.
NHRA does need to step it up for driver safety. Phoenix needs to be repaved badly as the interviews with Greg Anderson pointed out. Maple Grove, St. Louis are others that need the bumps taken out.
I don't like the current management at NHRA at all and I've been in the sport, off and on, since 1965.
After watching the news story that Channel 15 did, they interviewed the guy who was standing next to the lady who was killed. He saw the tire/wheel assembly coming towards them and yelled for everyone to get down. Due to the fact, she was in a mobility scooter she could not get out of the way.
The area they were in was NOT in a viewing/stands type area.
Here is the news story with the video too. Click on the video to the right of the story.
Antron had the crash. He didn't see it happen but it was the tire that hit the woman. There are now several blogs and comments on ESPN that it was the tire that hit her.
He said that she was probably killed instantly from the talk around the track - that tire / wheel combo weighs 75lbs and it had tremendous force behind it.
Damn sad.