September 30, 2009
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
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I know I have often talked about how glad I am that NASCAR has made their race cars so safe. We see wrecks these days and fully expect to see a driver lower his window net and pop out of the window, regardless of the condition of the car. When Carl Edwards hit the fence at Talladega, his car was shredded, but he walked away with his trademark smile.
Joey Logano's crash on Sunday was nothing short of spectacular and reminiscent of Michael McDowell’s crash at Texas two years ago. Logano was nudged from behind by Tony Stewart to get the accident started. Reed Sorenson then hit Logano broadside and at just such an angle to get the car rolling onto its side -- and from there it just kept rolling. In the end, it was seven complete flips before the car came to rest on the driver’s side -- and then slowly tipped over back onto its wheels.
It was the first such crash for the 19 year old rookie, and when he climbed out, he looked a little bit dazed.
The “old pro’s” also involved in the wreck, along with Sorenson, Martin Truex Jr. and Robby Gordon, climbed out of their cars, made a quick stop by the infield Media Center and were quickly out standing with the media telling their side of what happened.
But with Joey, a few things struck me that I had never considered before.
I was standing in the media viewing area on top of the media center in turn one when the crash happened. I turned just in time to see Joey go airborne, and the No. 43, No. 1 and No. 7 make contact. It was like everyone froze for a moment, and then a bunch of folks, including myself, took off at a very fast pace for Turn 3, where the cars had come to rest.
By the time I got to the Sprintvision screen at mid-track, they were showing Joey get out of the car, so I knew he was ok, and I slowed my pace to a walk. By the time I arrived just outside of the infield care center, the ambulance, with Joey, was pulling up, and I watched as the driver of the No. 20 Home Depot car, climbed out of the back and walked into the medical facility.
The former driver of Logano’s ride is the one who actually sent him spinning, and when he saw the end result, he was a little shaken himself.
"I wish I had saw that coming," said Tony Stewart, who led the 20 team to two Championships before leaving to start his own team this year. "I don't know how to say 'Sorry' enough to Joey. I don't know what happened. He just had to check up and I didn't see it coming."
Robby Gordon, who was the first driver out of the Infield Care center, watched the incident unfold and was concerned for the youngster even as his own car was sliding to a halt nearby.
“I was…watching that thing flip and flip and flip and flip down the hill," Gordon related. "When it would land on its side, I said “Man I hope that thing doesn’t catch on fire.” Then all of the sudden it just popped back on its wheels, so good for him.”
Photo By Kim Roberson
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Johnson Celebrates With Crew
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Ironically, the man who eventually won the race didn’t know what had happened to Logano until after he had celebrated in Victory Lane.
“I didn’t even know he was in that wreck,” said Jimmie Johnson in the media center when asked for his reaction to the rolling No. 20 car. “I didn’t realize all that took place. Wow, seven times? That’s exciting. I can’t wait to see the clip.”
But it wasn’t the other driver’s reactions to what happened that made an impression on me Sunday...what I saw after that reminded me that for all the crashes we see each season, there are some that bring it home that this is no ordinary event.
First was a woman…a fan of Joeys, who was on her cellular phone when I walked up. She watched closely as Joey got out of the ambulance and then turned so I could see her. She was crying, and telling the person on the other end of the phone “He’s OK...I just saw him go into the infield care center and he’s OK.”
I don’t think I have ever seen a fan so worried about their driver that they were crying in concern.
Then came the thing that really grabbed my attention. I turned as a golf cart screeched to a halt behind me, and Joey’s father, Tom, got off the cart and took off at a full blown run for the crash scene. Someone stopped him and told him Joey was already in infield care, and he took off at a sprint for the front door.
Soon after, Joey’s mother arrived, followed by J.D. Gibbs and Joe Gibbs, all looking very concerned.
And then it hit me. This wasn’t just a driver -- this was a son. And these were his parents. And they had just seen their 19 year old child flip so violently in a crash that everyone in the stands stood up and held their collective breaths -- and then when he walked away. They all applauded.
It took considerably longer for Joey to leave Infield care than the other drivers, and I have a feeling that was almost as much because of his parent’s well-being as it was for his own. When he did walk out, he was flanked by his parents, the Coach, and his boss. When he finally approached the media, we were told he was only going to talk once because he needed to go recover.
Photo By Kim Roberson
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Logano OK After Violent Wreck
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“I’m fine. It just really scared the heck out of me," said a shaken Logano. "I’m not sure I want to see a replay. It started rolling and I was in there and like, “Damn, please make this thing stop.” And it wouldn’t. It just kept going and going.
“It was the wildest ride I’ve ever been on. You can’t go on a rollercoaster any worse than that. I’m still shaking. I’m not even sore, which is really surprising after all that. I’m just happy it landed on its wheels. When I was on my side, I was worried for a minute, but it came back down. Thank the good Lord was with me on that one.”
As they left the area, Tom Logano still looked a little shell shocked. He originally was going to talk with ESPN, but instead went off to be with his son.
I think a lot of fans tend to forget that these men we watch week-in and week-out aren’t just the men we root for or against, they are sons, brothers, fathers, husbands. They have family who love them just like we do, and who have to watch them crash and wonder for that brief moment, until they climb out of the car, “What will I do if he’s really hurt?”
Some fans call into radio shows or talk on message boards how they wish someone would put a driver, that they don’t like -- into the wall. But what they often don’t take into consideration is the harm that can be done when that car hits the wall -- even in this day and age of SAFER Barriers and the COT. I think Michael Waltrip explained it very well when he went out of the race Sunday when his No. 55 Toyota Camry hit the wall hard -- in a place that used to just be solid concrete.
“I’ve been racing for a long time and I don’t ever take the softer walls for granted," said Waltrip. "But at Dover when you blow a right front, and hit what used to be a concrete wall, it could have been career ending. We’ve seen people just not be able to race again because of it. And here I stand talking to you. Dr. Melvin, Dean Sickling, NASCAR, Tony George -- from the bottom of my heart, a guy who has hit real walls before, I thank you.”
So the next time you feel the need to root for a certain driver that you don’t like -- to hit the wall and go out of a race, or want your guy to put another driver in the wall, to pass him, remember the look of Tom Logano’s face after seeing his teenage son flipping down the concrete banks of the Monster Mile.
And be thankful that 99.999% of the time, we don’t even have to consider any other option than the man will climb out of his car and walk away.
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