Unwanted Consequences of Going Faster

[Charlie_Francis]

@NumberTwo

From CNNSI.com:

"There is no doubt that speed is a seductress for audiences. But, unlike the IOC, other organizations have put hard limits on how dangerous sports have to be. In 1987, stock car driver Bobby Allison was traveling at 200 miles per hour at Talladega Speedway when his engine blew and dropped beneath his car. His back tire hit it, split and sent Allison’s car airborne - a tumbleweed of sheet metal - as it crashed tail-first high up on the steel screen in front of the grandstand and showered the crowd with debris.

Somehow, Allison survived. But the sight of the horrifying crash - as spectacular as it was - ushered in the era of the restrictor plate, a piece of aluminum with holes punched in it that limits airflow to the engine and inhibits speed. The result? As it turned out, fans didn’t miss the death-defying speeds because the competition - the pure racin’ by the drivers - was enough of an attraction."

The real issue here was a horrible design out of the corner with a low wall and steel posts within a few feet of the edge. if the turn had curved over higher at the top for 50 more feet, he would have survived and, be sure, if Formula One provided a corner like that and someone died, the organizers would be under arrest!
It appears the corner has been fixed now from what I saw.