Seattle 2025 (7 Viewers)

[LoPony]

Buddy Hull in the sand, Hunter Green slaps the wall, and just now Shawn Reed blew a tire and went into a terrible crash. Hope he’s ok. Damn, that was ugly.

Turns out he was running the deflectors. Hmmm.

Edit, just saw a replay and hard to tell if the tire blew first or maybe the engine blew and took out the tire.

 

[Nitro Cane]

Hope Reed is OK . I was wondering why live timing stopped

 

[Chili]

Rob Wendland said the wind was knocked out of him and he has a laceration on his hand. Sounds like he avoided serious injuries but things can pop up after the adrenaline wears off.

 

[Butch]

Any of those have backup cars?

 

[Chili]

Any of those have backup cars?

Hull is sitting out Q3 but plan on running Q4. Chassis was not damaged at least on initial inspections. Hunter Green’s wall slap appeared to have minimal cosmetic damage. I’m pretty sure they have a spare body. Reed could be a different story. Not positive if they carry a second car and if they do, there isn’t a guarantee that Reed is cleared to drive this weekend. Also this is a huge financial hit for that team. For all the on tour cars, I’m sure he has the smallest budget.

 

[Paul]

Been awhile since we saw a TF wreck like that, best wishes to Shawn.

 

[LoPony]

Been awhile since we saw a TF wreck like that, best wishes to Shawn.

Yeah, Paul, it’s been what like over five years since we’ve had a bad top fuel crash.?

 

[Topfuel386]

If I heard Rob correctly yesterday, this was a brand new car as of Seattle.

 

[Topfuel386]

Hopefully everyone is okay

 

[Chili]

I’m also seeing some rumors that a fan was either hit by shrapnel or the front tire that broke loose during the accident and they were airlifted out.

 

[Nunz]

I’m also seeing some rumors that a fan was either hit by shrapnel or the front tire that broke loose during the accident and they were airlifted out.

Watching the slow-mo of Shawn's crash, I was watching that front wheel go off toward some spectators at the end of the track, I sure hope that it didn't hit someone.

 

[TSK]

What a brutal crash. Seeing that front tire going in to the RV area was sickening.
It’s bad enough if a driver gets hurt but it’s even worse when a fan is injured.
I hope whoever was airlifted out recovers quickly.
I wonder what caused the puff of smoke from the right front tire before the crash.

 

[LoPony]

Wendland said the motor was fine, so the spark we saw must have somehow come from the tire. Or the front tire, Ted? I didn’t see that puff, but I did see the tire flying through the air. Time will tell.

He has a backup Car.

The helicopter was for a non-track med emergency, coincidentally. I guess that was for the spectator? Imagine that. So I don’t think Shawn was airlifted, he was driven to the hospital, but yes he was taken. His hand was f’d up.. maybe he can make it tomorrow.

Horrible crash. He was lucky. This is about 6 tire failures in the last year and a half. Hmm. WTF?

 

[TSK]

Wendland said the motor was fine, so the spark we saw must have somehow come from the tire. Or the front tire, Ted? I didn’t see that puff, but I did see the tire flying through the air. Time will tell.

He has a backup Car.

The helicopter was for a non-track med emergency, coincidentally. I guess that was for the spectator? Imagine that. So I don’t think Shawn was airlifted, he was driven to the hospital, but yes he was taken. His hand was f’d up.. maybe he can make it tomorrow.

Horrible crash. He was lucky. This is about 6 tire failures in the last year and a half. Hmm. WTF?

Chris,
The track announcer mentioned that puff when showing the slow motion replay of the wreck on the big screen at the track.

 

[XPilot]

Wendland said the motor was fine, so the spark we saw must have somehow come from the tire. Or the front tire, Ted? I didn’t see that puff, but I did see the tire flying through the air. Time will tell.

He has a backup Car.

The helicopter was for a non-track med emergency, coincidentally. I guess that was for the spectator? Imagine that. So I don’t think Shawn was airlifted, he was driven to the hospital, but yes he was taken. His hand was f’d up.. maybe he can make it tomorrow.

Horrible crash. He was lucky. This is about 6 tire failures in the last year and a half. Hmm. WTF?

There’s a slo-mo on YouTube where you can plain as day see the cap separating from the sidewall and totally let go in 3-5 revolutions of the tire. Funny header flames as you would expect with a motor unloading but nothing went bang.

All the best to Shawn and anyone hurt down track. Hope they’re ok and bounce back quickly. That one could have been a lot worse if not for a good driving job.

 

[LoPony]

Shawn is going to be OK, as we obviously are going into analysis mode.

1. Do we think something flew off the front tire and blew the rear tire?

Maybe.

2. Or the back tire blow on its own?

Maybe?

3. If #2, would the air deflectors have had anything to do with it? I didn’t see any other car running air deflectors.

Has anyone blown a tire without air deflectors? I don’t think so. If #1 is negative I see air deflectors being disallowed in the new future. While Goodyear works to improve their tread design.

Edit,

Ted, yeah, there was something going on with the front right tire, but are they vapor trails? But weirdly, they happen once every revolution of the tire. So maybe not. Looks like both tires on the front flew off the track and into spectator land somewhere. Watch very closely and pay attention to the front right tire versus the front left tire. Also look at Kalitta car, and his front tires, which have no puffs. Edit: (These are reflections due to flexing body panels!).

 

[XPilot]

Shawn is going to be OK, as we obviously are going into analysis mode.

1. Do we think something flew off the front tire and blew the rear tire?

Maybe.

2. Or the back tire blow on its own?

Maybe?

3. If #2, would the air deflectors have had anything to do with it? I didn’t see any other car running air deflectors.

Has anyone blown a tire without air deflectors? I don’t think so. If #1 is negative I see air deflectors being disallowed in the new future. While Goodyear works to improve their tread design.

Edit,

Ted, yeah, there was something going on with the front right tire, but are they vapor trails? But weirdly, they happen once every revolution of the tire. So maybe not. Looks like both tires on the front flew off the track and into spectator land somewhere. Watch very closely and pay attention to the front right tire versus the front left tire. Also look at Kalitta car, and his front tires, which have no puffs.

I don't think anything is going on with the front tire. If you look just behind it, it appears what looks like the puffs you're describing are body panels flexing due to a vibration going through the chassis.

Wendland will have this figured out in short order. Dude is a genius.

 

[BaldyLochs]

Gosh that’s rough. Only 11 TF cars competing; and if Shawn doesn’t compete today ….. man; when’s the last time we saw a 10 car top fuel elimination ladder in NHRA?

 

[Chili]

Gosh that’s rough. Only 11 TF cars competing; and if Shawn doesn’t compete today ….. man; when’s the last time we saw a 10 car top fuel elimination ladder in NHRA?

Well it would still be a 11 car ladder with Ashley getting a bye if Reed is unable to make the call. While I have yet to see an official announcement, a betting site still have first matchup odds for Reed vs. Ashley in the first round. Betting sites usually have the latest up to date information.

 

[Chili]

Shawn Reed was not in attendance for pre race. Nothing was mentioned about him at all so far.