Crash Picture posted by Robb ( the nerve of that guy! )
Robb Lowe
if you havent already, go over to the alt.binaries.pictures.drag-racing
newsgroup and check out the picture and story I posted there.(two posts, same
story just did one of text for the aol'ers) After the discussion we had about
what these pictures and videos mean I thought this would be a great example,
and it captures a moment in time that ended an era.
-=Robb
crossfire
Here is why it is good to analyze available data, the bent member seems to
me to clearly be a wishbone link (a support member) and not the steering
link. the tire also seems to be seperating, or coming apart. With out
seeing other stills, this one could suggest that the car made impact with
something on the track.
Dennis
Jim Harvey
interest in posting this filth!.
Jim " Hey, no one was complaining" Harvey
P.S. I don't get alt.binaries.pictures.drag-racing on my server so why don't
you post it here ( like all the other pictures that get posted here)?
Robb Lowe wrote in message
<199809120640...@ladder01.news.aol.com>...
Robb Lowe
etc > be posted to non binary newsgroups. I am gonna email you the picture
directly.
And I believe your right < someone earlier, sorry didnt catch the name > about
that being a wishbone instead of steering linkage. I always took it at the
caption in the magazine < I think this picture ran in the early 90's in Drag
Racing Illustrated, maybe in color? > but see? your gettin it.. the idea of him
hitting something before this shot makes sense.
-=Robb
"The Nitromessiah"
Patron Saint for those who cross the centerline... on purpose!
DRAG340
>hitting something before this shot makes sense.
>
>
>-=Robb
>"The Nitromessiah"
>Patron Saint for those who cross the centerline... on purpose!
Gang,
Just my two cents, could this be a wheel bearing failure? Perhaps that
would shed the tire upon lockup, and impart quite a bit of force on the front
axle.
There goes that pesky nitromessiah, makin' us think again!
.
Mike Davis, crew chief
for
Glen Ely's Dueler II
Twin engine AA/FD
We put the double in AA/Fuel
MALIBU RAC
under the car just in front of the motor?
TF 392
>under the car just in front of the motor?
That is the "Vacuum Cleaner" that was supposed to create more downforce on the
car. I believe that is what you are seeing. More downforce blew the tire that
bent the radius rad which caused the crash. If you look close, you will
notice that the other front wheel is also very distorted. Juat my 2 Cents.
TF 392
Robb Lowe
knowledge that this is NOT the Vacuum Cleaner car in fact. The device on this
particular shot is just a airdam. The VC car was said to have a tunnel/scoop
the length of the car... hopefully someone will produce a shot of it as well.
RACECARART
Hmm, might be the VC car but not the vacuum cleaner device. The VC box didn't
run the whole length of the car. I have an article on the VC setup, I'll have
to dig it out. But someone else'll have tro post it for all to see if you so
desire.
Joel
RACE CAR ART
JDMMFR
folks want to look at but a car rolling on top of a guardrail tells you nothin
about how it got there. This pic is an instant in time just before the crash
where cause might be determined. It eeriely resembles the pic I saw of Shirleys
front tire rapping itself around the front of the car while both her hands are
up by her helmet. The steering jerked from her hands. Could it be that while
the ground effects caused the tire to leave the rim the actual cause of control
loss was the same ?
James
Robb Lowe
whats gonna happen next.
" Ya know its Anthony Perkins!! hes the psycho!!! "
this is more than a crash picture. Sure, his brains are still in the helmet,
His limbs are all still attached, and his heart although beating rapidly and
filled with adrenalin is still pumping blood. You want I should post that shot
of Sush Matsubara where the cars tore all to hell on the guardrail? Cant tell
alot about why, but its a very wild shot. Yeah, Petes not dead yet.. but theres
alot to learn here.. if someone went out to the shop after looking at it and
checked those often neglected front wheel bearings.. was it worth it? I think
so. Maybe next saturday night someone will take a second tug on their helmet
strap. And just maybe someone will see what a real racer looked like, and what
he put on the line every pass. You can bet your sweet ass Sneaky Pete woulda
never run brackets. So in retrospect, sure.. you can see whatever you want to
see. Be it lessons, ghoulish pleasures, or just a fan of all things drag
racing. I see Pete Robinson doing what he did best.. pushing the envelope -
this time it pushed back a little too far. I am sure theres a reason he was
still running a front motor car.. that has never been told. Garlits had been
kickin ass in his for sometime, and although arch rivals, there was enough
respect there that had one had a better idea the other would listen.. < unless
garlits was losing, then he would cry! LOL > If someone had asked, would you
rather die in a plane crash, on the Titanic, old age, or behind the wheel of a
fuel burning dragster he < and most of his contemporaries > wouldnt have
blinked twice before answering.
An interesting side note.. I have heard that Petes widow still lives in what is
now downtown Atlanta. Same house, and at least one car still there. I have
heard < in rumors only mind you > she has been offered tons of money for the
land as well as the car, not to mention the SOHC ford stuff.. but refuses to
sell any of it. Someday I hope whoever does get it, understands its true worth
and not just collector wise.
Robb Lowe
JDMMFR
still running a front motor car.. that has never been told. Garlits had been
kickin ass in his for sometime, and although arch rivals, there was enough
respect there that had one had a better idea the other would listen.. >
Robb, check your timing, this was when Garlits 1st had the RE car, most of
the feild at Pomona was still FE.
James
Robb Lowe
if it was going to make someone go faster, Pete was on it like ugly on an ape.
Jeff Rice
A couple of tid bits for discussion.
1) Probably wasn't wheel bearings.
2)Probably was the motorcycle tires. At that time there were a lot (and I
mean a lot) of tires getting thrown off cars. And I don't mean just diggers.
Dick Harrell was killed because of a front tire failure on a flopper.
Shirley Muldowney's accident pushed it over the edge and mandated race only
tires, but I remember a lot of rear engine cars tossing front
tires....Mostly right after they set the front end down at half track.
3) Pete's car(s) were well built and well thought out, but they were real,
real light.
He was a thinking mans drag racer.He had jacks on his dragsters in the early
sixties. I still have a picture somewhere (hafta keep looking) of a sheet
metal bar he put in front of the butterflies after he hit a sea gull in Long
Beach (around '68?). I still think he meant it as a joke for the photogs.
Sad picture, but good discussion. Reminds me of John Mulligan's last pic's.
Hey, post a pic of Jim Nichol's clutch job at Indy...
Who was it that welded the casters on the top of the roll bars after going
over the top twice on the starting line and ending up on his head? (around
'70 or '71?)
Jeff
Lyle Greenberg
I think the roller skate wheels on the roll cage was Jimmy King - King &
Marshall
Jeff Rice wrote in message
JDMMFR
>
>I think the roller skate wheels on the roll cage was Jimmy King - King &
>Marshall
>
I also think that Clayton Harris did it to Jack Mckays New Demension car
after a couple of roll overs in a short period. If I remember right (memory is
going) King did it after an over backwards wheelie.
James