What's striking is that this story resides just below a most deserved homage to the late Steve McQueen. Now, imagine McQueen delivering the same "harrowing" story.
Interviewer: "So, Steve. We heard your car broke down on a hill?"
Steve: Shuddering, "Yes, it was nighttime and I was rather unnerved. I do believe I also delayed traffic a great deal, in addition to the very real possibility of imminent death."
And so the neutering of our society continues...
@theeastbaykid: Seriously? Is it anywhere on the internet? I would love to see that!
@connorlovesrozzo: The men you listed are indeed rally gods, but give this guy his due. The life he lives makes me insanely jealous and we could both come up with a myriad of reasons for why it should have been us instead of him. However, the fact is that he is living it, and we are not. Instead of expending energy on tearing Block down, maybe we should focus on rising to the challenge of besting him.
Grandpa put us to work!
Having built NHRA Pro Stocks for over 6 years and seeing quite a few Top Fuel runs in my day, I'm guessing tire shake played a big part in this accident. When you dial in too much clutch, one of two things happens: if traction is poor, you smoke the tires; if traction is good, the tire hooks up and starts to roll over on itself. It's difficult to see it in real time if you aren't familiar with it. I've never experienced it personally, but more than one driver has told me to imagine your head in a paint shaker.
That thing appears to actually work pretty well. Those lucky enough to acquire one most likely use it to immediately drive the hell out of such a miserable frozen craphole.
@Van Sarockin, rogue trebuchet: Um, I'm pretty sure George Barris is still alive - literally.
With all of the graphics, they certainly don't make you wonder what it is. But I do wonder about these "spy" shots sometimes.
I am not the biggest fan of NASCAR or Formula 1 for many of the reasons already stated here. However, I recently read a very interesting piece in Road and Track by driver, Marcos Ambrose, a man who has driven almost everything. Here is an excerpt:
"In my opinion, NASCAR is the best, bigger than Formula 1. The competition is fierce and the depth of talent is very high, with F1, Champ Car and NASCAR veterans all in the mix.
I’ve driven a lot of different race cars around the world, high downforce, low downforce, in the rain, on dirt…you name it. But high-speed stock-car racing is one of the toughest things you could do. I particularly enjoy the road races, which take me back to my old style of racing. [Ambrose finished 3rd at Infineon and 2nd at Watkins Glen in the Sprint Cup, and won the Nationwide race at the Glen.—Ed.]
These Cup cars have nowhere near enough downforce, way too much power and not enough tire grip.
Everything is maxed out. You need a lot of aggression to really get one around the racetrack.
There’s no easy weekend and there’s nowhere to hide out on a big speedway. Every weekend you’ve got to run on the edge. If the car is comfortable, you’re too slow. It’s possibly the only motorsport left in the world where drivers make a big difference, because the cars just don’t handle. And these guys are unbelievable drivers, willing to run on the edge with a rear end wagging around at 210 mph and still be aggressive.
There’s so much going on. The wind knocks you around in the draft, people bumping you and cars slipping around. You want to lift at every corner, but you know you have to stay in it. You’ve got to commit to yourself, to the car and to what you’re doing. You’ve really got to believe because any doubt in your mind and another driver is going to pounce. There’s no room out there for the weak of mind or the timid."
It may not be a Ferrari, but he still parks it like one.
1982 Corvette Special Edition - an exclamation point on the barrage of insults from the 70's.
That was the best crash compilation if for no other reason than not being set to some god awful German techno music. No offense, Germans, but that music. Come on. Stop it already. #cardomainblog
How about Vanishing Point? Kowalski is high throughout the entire movie on, um, amphetamines... #carmovies
"Guys! Hey, look! No, seriously! Look! I’m about to do something stupid!" said John Lingenfelter. #specterwerkscorvettegtr
Anyone notice that their "old and busted" car would be the equivalent of a 2001 these days? #kitcars
@the good dr zero: While I can appreciate your point, won't most of those shavings be recycled? #cobra
@Ben Wojdyla: Yes, it seems like old Larry could have saved himself a lot of money by soliciting designs from Jalopnik commenters. How'd a guy so dumb get to be a billionaire anyway? #cobra
I'm not seeing where it says he was banned for life.
