Kyle Busch Proves the Safety of the COT!
By: Drew Hierwarter
When NASCAR introduced its new race car a couple of years ago, dubbed the “Car of Tomorrow”, it was received with much criticism, mostly from the fans. Although it was closer in appearance to an actual street car than what had been run before, many fans didn’t like the way it looked. The new rear wing drawing the most ire.
Once the car reached the race track it was the driver’s turn. Several didn’t like the way the car drove and said as much in interviews. Car builders complained that NASCAR’s tighter regulations for the new car forced them to work inside a very small box. Innovation and creativity was being stifled.
But the one feature of the new car that nobody complained about was the additional safety built into it. Being wider and taller than the old car meant drivers were not seated as close to the door bars as before. This, in addition to larger windows, also made it easier for a driver to extricate himself from the car after a wreck. The car also featured some strategically placed impact absorbing materials and several other innovative safety items.
So far, in the season and a half that the new car has been on the track, we’ve seen several instances where the safety features of the car have proven themselves. But none of these previous crashes have demonstrated the safety of the new car like Kyle Busch’s last lap crash at Daytona on Saturday night. Busch took not one, not two, but three extremely hard impacts, any one of which by themselves could’ve resulted in serious injuries to the driver in a less safe race car.
After an ill-timed second attempt to block to Tony Stewart as both drivers raced toward the checkered flag, Kyle’s car was sent hard into the wall driver’s side first. The impact was severe enough to momentarily lift the car off the ground. Then as he was sliding to a stop, he was rear ended at full speed by Kasey Kahne. This impact sent Kyle’s car back into the air, landing on the hood of Kahne’s now destroyed car. But still the crashing wasn’t finished. Joey Logano, unable to see through the smoke and debris of the multi-car crash and still traveling at or near full speed, slammed into the driver’s side door/A pillar area of the nearly stopped Busch car.
When all the crashing finally was over, and the smoke and dust had cleared, Kyle Busch unhooked his belts, unplugged his radio wires and other connections to his now completely destroyed race car, and climbed out unhurt.
In the first race ever run for this car, Kyle Busch was the winner. In his victory lane interview, when asked what he thought of the new race car. His response was succinct and to the point; “It sucks”, he said. I wonder what he thinks of it now?
July 7th, 2009 at 6:02 am
What a very well written and concieved article. Thank you.