Bobby
Nitro Member
Wayne Bailey Top Fuel Crash US Nationals 1995 at Indianapolis Raceway Park - YouTube
have you ever seen anything like it?
have you ever seen anything like it?
wayne bailey sand drags (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter Bobby
- Start date
BaldyLochs
Nitro Member
I knew Wayne and his family personally from when I lived in Oxford. That car you see, was pieced together by him, in his garage. It's half of an old Connie Kalitta chassis, and I think part of it is also from Jack Ostrander and I think the wing is from Clayton Harris and some Della Woods parts too. He used to joke that nothing on the car was new except for the fuel. Wonderful man, with more drive and dedication that anyone I've ever seen. You can't get any more low buck and grass roots than Wayne was. I think his proudest moment ever was when he got by a tire-smoking Gary Ormsby in round 1 at Indy
Just Paul
Nitro Member
I think his proudest moment ever was when he got by a tire-smoking Gary Ormsby in round 1 at Indy
I don't know who was happier, Wayne, or Joe Amato.
Nitrohelper
Nitro Member
I was tuning the car at that race , and Joe gave Wayne some major engine parts as a reward...
Before he went to the event , Wayne said all he ever wanted to do was to just qualify for the US Nationals...
He wasn't ready for the results & reward...
Wasnt Wayne killed in that car a year or two later?
I was fortunate to meet Wayne at an IHRA at Tulsa. What a great guy. He had the oldest triple axle trailer you ever saw and it was missing the middle axle. I asked him why no middle axle and he gave me the biggest grin and said "It rides better". Who would have ever thought of that?
Les
Nitro Member
One of the gnarliest Top Fuel drivers of all time! He spun his car out like that at Norwalk in 1992 as well. The final round in Tulsa in '96 he had the motor mounts break and was full throttle with the engine trying throw itself out of the car! I remember the mustache and suspenders, grease and dirt from head to toe...and an old blue Chaparral trailer dwarfted by the 53-ft monsters. I was so bummed when he got killed. Long live Wayne Bailey!
I bet the Safety Safari Sh*t their Pants when they saw Wayne drive on the grass like he did! Never met Wayne, just remember he was an IHRA regular. He was killed in Shreveport right?
One Question though....did his Fuel shut off not work?
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I don't know who was happier, Wayne, or Joe Amato.
That was '89 right? Your right about Amato he made up 4 rounds that race, it was Ormbys to lose up till then!
vegasnitro
Nitro Member
No ... that was pretty wild and you will never see anything like it again, because of the concrete guardwalls at all tracks now. Don't get me wrong, the tracks are safer now, but this is that one rare incident that would have turned out worse had there been guardwalls in the shutdown at Indy at that time.
my friends call me Zappy
Nitro Member
A fine example of why I'm against track side guardwalls. Yer right, with them, this could have been worse.
vegasnitro
Nitro Member
You are right Zappy, in this ONE instance the guardwalls would have made it worse ... but 99% of the time, it is a good thing they are there. Racing is safer with walls all the way to the sandtrap.
PS I was thinking about this some more ... How did Wayne even spin the dragster? How do you get enough steering input quickly enough to make it go around? Was it some weird thing he did with a handbrake like a rally driver? How did he even think of that? If the same set of circumstances presented themselves today, could it be accomplished in a modern top fuel car? HUGE tip of the cap to Wayne.
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