Hillary Will Crashes (2 Viewers)

[marlin]

Wow....So glad Hillary is ok...Thanks Don for keeping us informed,,,

 

[Jeremy Hershey]

wow, good to hear shes ok

JR

 

[Jim Oberhofer]

Hey everyone, Jim "O" here. I just wanted to let everyone know that most importantly Hillary is ok except for a bruise on her right arm. Hillary is one tough girl, all she wants to do is get back in the car. Our Attac race car did everything it was supposed to do and that was to keep Hillary safe. The engine did not blowup, no rods out, no supercharger explosions, nothing. From what it looks like a major amount of tread came off of the left rear tire and took out the rear wing. Goodyear, NHRA and everyone at Kalitta Motorsports and KB Racing are looking at everything to make sure no stone is unturned with this incident. The Las Vegas Saftey Safari did a great job getting to Hillary very quick and for that we all thank them. We will be putting together our spare Attac car and hopefully make some half track runs on Monday before we head for Pomona. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers for Hillary, I know it means a ton to our whole team.

 

[BaldyLochs]

Thanks Jim for the post! Go get 'em buddy..... I know you guys will be ready for California. GIRLPOWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Fueler32]

Hey Jim, Thanks for the update, She was a Little worried so Thats why I asked you to step into the Ambulance and speak with her, Your a class act, If you get a chance, Come see me on the starting line in the Safety Truck,.

Donie

 

[d'kid]

Thank you Jim... and I've got to say, Hillary is totally awesome to even want to get back into that thing. Ya'll field a great and safe car... geezzz, She's got more guts than I do. Now, go win Pomona

 

[Sully]

Jim O - take a look at David Allio's outstanding photo sequence of the accident on DRC. In the first two photos, it appears that the chassis is broken behind the driver compartment early in the crash. Both tires and the wing appear to be intact at first look, but the left endplate and part of the left side of the wing are is missing and the left rear tire appears distorted. The back half is still pointed down the track in the first two frames, but the front wing is near the centerline and there are sparks from under the car. The wing supports appear to be undamaged until the third photo in the sequence.

Hillary Will

Wild ride, I am glad Hillary is okay.

 

[Nitrohelper]

I have thought about this scenario a few times, and have wondered why nobody has made a serious attempt at developing a "mud guard/fender" that goes around the rear tire to deflect any stray rubber/tread that may fly from the tire at high speed.

If the wings were smaller & two feet lower the tires wouldn't come apart ! No need to hang more parts & weight on these cars. Also make the front wing half size. One magneto would also make the cars lighter & reduce tire loading in the first 300 feet.
We didn't have tires that came apart in the "old days".

 

[Shan]

Hey everyone, Jim "O" here. I just wanted to let everyone know that most importantly Hillary is ok except for a bruise on her right arm. Hillary is one tough girl, all she wants to do is get back in the car. Our Attac race car did everything it was supposed to do and that was to keep Hillary safe. The engine did not blowup, no rods out, no supercharger explosions, nothing. From what it looks like a major amount of tread came off of the left rear tire and took out the rear wing. Goodyear, NHRA and everyone at Kalitta Motorsports and KB Racing are looking at everything to make sure no stone is unturned with this incident. The Las Vegas Saftey Safari did a great job getting to Hillary very quick and for that we all thank them. We will be putting together our spare Attac car and hopefully make some half track runs on Monday before we head for Pomona. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers for Hillary, I know it means a ton to our whole team.

Thanks for the update, Jim O. You're one of the best out there. Can't wait to see you in Pomona. Best of luck to the whole team!

 

[r2]

Larry
I would like to see these photos, but they are not there...

Jim O , Thanks for not just sitting back and not saying anything about this incident/issue I applaud you for having the nads to say what you believe to be true, and not like all the other wallflowers that lurk here and never post on a topic or issue of their own, for legal reasons/whatever...

I looked at pics, listened to eyewitness accounts, and played that blurry video FULL SCREEN over and over again... To come to my conclusion, I would like to see these pics that Larry is talking about however, because that chassis did not come apart as designed in the rear...
The right side somewhat did, the left, did not...

 

[Triple Nickel II]

In the video something definately leaves the right side of the car in a big hurry, but as Larry points out, the photos show the left side of the car having trouble (missing spill plate).

Jim says no rods were out, so that rules out engine parts. Could the item coming out the right side of the chassis be a pressurized bottle that came loose when the chassis broke?

 

[Jer]

Thx Jim O--thats great she is ok,shes tough. Good luck at Pomona next weekend!!

 

[Chris]

Thanks for the update Jim-O
Glad to hear any first hand news on how Hillary is doing

 

[HEMI6point1]

I'm glad that Hillary is OK. I hate to see any driver crash.

 

[steve]

I've been fortunate to have worked with drivers, (Chuck Beak, Don Lampus) that were very fan friendly. They always had time to talk and sign things for the fans. I've watched Hillary and she is the same way, for that I've always liked her and hoped should does well.

I'm surprised when I read that some people question how she got the seat, and question her driving ability. I hope that if something good comes out of this crash, it's that the questions will stop.

I'll be impressed if she gets back in a racecar, I'm not sure I would.

 

[Just Paul]

Here is a photo of the Engine up against the fence. this is quite far off the actual track and yes the engine did go up about 50 feet in the air. I was on the right side of the track and I had my brother and a friend with me. and they concure about the hight. And again we can't stop thinking how lucky she is to be safe. I can't say nothing about tire delamination. as it didn't look like from our vantage piont wich was better then most as we were on the side were the frame blew out.

But as I said before it looked like the engine blew and something broke the chassie. one other thing I didn't put before was the rearend seperated from the car and the wing broke when it was tumbling down the track following the car. We were more worried about Hillary and after I looked to make sure where the tub was I watched the engine roll to a stop about 400 feet from us. And then we rolled down toward the end of the track to check on her to make sure she was ok.. we were pretty stunned.

Here is a crappy photo I took with my cell. sorry for the quailty. I normaly take my Nikon with me and shoot alot of photos. but this time we had just finished a late breakfest and decided to run out there fast.

The side of the engine I shot here is in tack with no rods out the side. The fireball got out attention pretty good and it happend so fast it's hard to imagine how far the engine flew. I have been going to the drags since I was 12 or so and was in Reading when Kenny blew through the air and broke apart there.

again sorry for the bad photo but it's a cell pic.

I know Ken Black and Greg and the guys over there. And if any knows Ken knows safety is #1. and I hope they can figure out what happend.

I tried to up load it here but can't figure out how it insert and image. let me know how to add it and I will try.


I am new to the the board and am not sure how it works. or if some one wants to do it I will email it to them and they can upload it some where people can see it.

E-mail them here [email protected] I'll host them and put them up.

 

[Just Paul]

This crash reminds me of Eddie Hills crash at Sears Point back in 97?

The tires were full of air, but the harmoics and vibrations from the tires coming apart while going 300 mph was enough to break up the chassis.

 

[twok4hd]

First and most importantly, I am glad that Hillary is fine.

If you watch the video that is on YouTube, at 2:13:22pm.27, you can see something launch from the left side of the car. You have to click the pause button at the right time to see it. Hard to tell if it's part of a tire or not.

 

[Toejam]

I had to watch the Vid 3-4 times before I realized that Hillary and the Chassis went left while the Motor/Rear-end went Right. I wondered why all the Safety Safari stopped on the Far end of the Shut-down when I saw the Parachutes on the Right of the view.

 

[RAPID]

Thanks for everyone's input. I am very glad she is ok. It was cool to get the news first hand.

Best of luck to her and the whole team.

Rapid