STANTON RECALLS HARROWING ACCIDENT
Sat, 2010-07-03 12:50
Racing by nature, is inherently dangerous.
Bubba Stanton experienced the danger firsthand Friday during the first round of Pro Extreme qualifying at the American Drag Racing League’s Hardee’s Independence Drags IV at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kan.
Moments after Stanton finished his eighth-mile run in the right lane in 3.84 seconds at 192.77 mph, thing got crazy for him in his 1968 Camaro. Mick Snyder was in the left lane and clocked a 3.81-second effort.
“That run felt good and when I went through the (finish line) the throttle was stuck, so I reached and killed the fuel on it (the car) to get the throttle from being stuck,” Stanton said. “When the motor leaned out with no fuel it blew the blower off it. I was already jamming the brakes to try and get the car to slow down and I reached and pulled the chutes as it made a hard left hand turn. That’s when it (the car) hit the (left) wall and went upside down. He (Snyder) was far enough behind me that he got stopped before he got to my mess. I’m good, maybe a little sore. All the safety stuff did its job, that’s the good thing.”
The car actually slid on its roof for a few seconds before coming to stop, but Stanton wasn’t out of harm’s way at that point.
“I was hung in the car and I couldn’t get out,” Stanton said. “There was a fire in the car and I kind of panicked because I couldn’t do anything and I saw the fire by the blower. They (the safety crew) got there quick and put the fire out and that was good. I was thinking, ‘please somebody come here and put this out!’ They were able to get me out of the car when it was still upside down.”
Snyder was a little taken back by everything that unfolded.
“I saw something out of the corner of my eye and the next thing I saw was his car upside down running into the wall,” Snyder said. “I could see him and I just kept driving around all his stuff. I didn’t realize it was that bad until I got of the car. I drove around it all. I got lucky. As I was running up there (to his car), everybody else was getting up there as well. He was upside down and kind of trapped and I guess his helmet was kind of restricting his breathing. The car was on fire and they put the fire out and got him out.”
Stanton said the accident will sideline him for the weekend. Stanton’s 3.84-second time was good for third in qualifying after the first session and Snyder’s was second fastest of the day.
“Garret (Livingston) seems to think the chassis is not messed up that bad on the car, and he seems to think he can fix it,” said Stanton about Livingston who build the car. “I should be able to race in Houston (July 23-24), but it will have to be in my Corvette.”
Bubba Stanton experienced the danger firsthand Friday during the first round of Pro Extreme qualifying at the American Drag Racing League’s Hardee’s Independence Drags IV at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kan.
Racing by nature, is inherently dangerous.
Bubba Stanton experienced the danger firsthand Friday during the first round of Pro Extreme qualifying at the American Drag Racing League’s Hardee’s Independence Drags IV at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kan.
Moments after Stanton finished his eighth-mile run in the right lane in 3.84 seconds at 192.77 mph, thing got crazy for him in his 1968 Camaro. Mick Snyder was in the left lane and clocked a 3.81-second effort.“That run felt good and when I went through the (finish line) the throttle was stuck, so I reached and killed the fuel on it (the car) to get the throttle from being stuck,” Stanton said. “When the motor leaned out with no fuel it blew the blower off it. I was already jamming the brakes to try and get the car to slow down and I reached and pulled the chutes as it made a hard left hand turn. That’s when it (the car) hit the (left) wall and went upside down. He (Snyder) was far enough behind me that he got stopped before he got to my mess. I’m good, maybe a little sore. All the safety stuff did its job, that’s the good thing.”
The car actually slid on its roof for a few seconds before coming to stop, but Stanton wasn’t out of harm’s way at that point.
“I was hung in the car and I couldn’t get out,” Stanton said. “There was a fire in the car and I kind of panicked because I couldn’t do anything and I saw the fire by the blower. They (the safety crew) got there quick and put the fire out and that was good. I was thinking, ‘please somebody come here and put this out!’ They were able to get me out of the car when it was still upside down.”
Snyder was a little taken back by everything that unfolded.
“I saw something out of the corner of my eye and the next thing I saw was his car upside down running into the wall,” Snyder said. “I could see him and I just kept driving around all his stuff. I didn’t realize it was that bad until I got of the car. I drove around it all. I got lucky. As I was running up there (to his car), everybody else was getting up there as well. He was upside down and kind of trapped and I guess his helmet was kind of restricting his breathing. The car was on fire and they put the fire out and got him out.”
Stanton said the accident will sideline him for the weekend. Stanton’s 3.84-second time was good for third in qualifying after the first session and Snyder’s was second fastest of the day.
“Garret (Livingston) seems to think the chassis is not messed up that bad on the car, and he seems to think he can fix it,” said Stanton about Livingston who build the car. “I should be able to race in Houston (July 23-24), but it will have to be in my Corvette.”
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