http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/jalopnik.com.png http://jalopnik.com/tag/michael mcdowell http://jalopnik.com/tag/michael mcdowell

Our friends at Popular Mechanics have put together a list of what they consider the top ten most influential crashes in NASCAR history, complete with video. These ten smash-ups were influential not in how they changed the course of a single race, but in how they got us to today's "Car of Tomorrow," a race car that is to "stock car" what the Republican Party is to "conservatives." That is to say, it's become nothing at all like a real for-sale car, and therefore not-at-all interesting to most hardcore gearheads. But maybe we all just need a reminder of how the "sport" got to be where it is today. Popular Mechanics has put together this list, with video clips, of ten big wrecks that provoked change in NASCAR. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5052495&view=rss&microfeed=true

Michael McDowell, a 23 year old rookie with Michael Waltrip Racing proved once again the main reason for watching NASCAR is the crashes. McDowell slid into the wall at the Texas Motor Speedway last Friday during qualifying laps for the Samsung 500 and proceeded to roll down the track, by our count, eight times. McDowell incredibly walked away from the wreck and credited the safety advancements like the Hans device, new designs in the car of tomorrow, and the SAFER barriers with his not being turned into a hamburger patty. We like to think his lucky Pine Tree air fresher dangling from the rear view mirror had something to do with it. [Dallas Morning News] More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=376729&view=rss&microfeed=true