***Update on Shell*** As most of you would know, Shell had a heavy impact with the left wall yesterday. She is still in ED in hospital and will be for a while as ongoing scans and tests continue. What I can tell you is that we already know she is beaten up pretty bad on the left side of her body where she has sustained some extensive injuries, her left side shoulder is broken and has an AC joint dislocation, her left side rib cage has 17 fractures in it, she has a left side punctured lung and she also has a fracture at the base of her skull where it means the spine. She is in a lot of discomfort and pain and definitely has a long and painful road to recovery ahead of her but she is in the best hands and the best place at the moment. Please keep her in your thoughts. We have been totally overwhelmed with calls and messages thus far and I’m sure you can understand we can’t respond to them all individually. I promise you I will read every single message to her and let her know the love and support you all have for her over the coming days. I would like to thank all of the people involved in helping yesterday with Shell from the track safety team to to the Paramedics and everyone that helped in looking after her. She is tuff as nails, she is a soldier on all fronts and she will get herself back to happy and healthy. Once again thank you all for the love and support, She needs it right now.
I wish her the best, and all of you who are on her team. That's a hard thing for all of you, and her family. I cannot imagine how heartbreaking this is for so many people.
This was a wreck. John Force walked away from an accident when he crossed the center line. His chute got tangled up with the other driver's chute and sent John into the wall. This wreck was a hard lick. I don't know what the G force is but testament to the safety built around the driver. If that was a Ferrari they would mop you up. Basilar skull fracture is a game changer. It's what took out Dale Earnhardt Sr. That said Ernie Irvin got one. Continued racing after he healed. Nascar racing with one eye. Sardines in water or tomato paste. High in calcium super food.
I knew Mark for about 15 years as a great customer who purchased metal from me from me for this machine shop in Phoenix. Mark always has a smile and was super to work with. Her will be sorely missed for decades to come. RIP Brother.
I'm sure Michelle is in the best of care right now. Michelle, take each moment of strength you have to muscle your way through this. It may be a road to recovery but get on that road and with each day and step know you're on the road to recovery and back to what you love doing, which is drag racing. We're praying for you.
wow that smarts prayers for Her family and all friends and Fans may Gods healing be upon us all and I ask for your mighty healing hand upon this young Lady we ask for healing a fast recovery to see her back where she at her Best . Prayers
It always seems like the ones that don't look "as bad" are the ones that do so much damage. All prayers to her ad her family and a solid and speedy recovery.
@@grizzellor Yeah, looks like a hard hit. I am guessing those lanes are about 30 feet wide. She was right-of-center in her lane before it made a hard left. She covered at least 45 feet laterally in about 1.5 seconds before impact. That vector was 30+ feet / second, which is 1,800 feet per minute. So call it 20.5 MPH (minimum). I don't know how to calculate the rotation that also happened just before impact, but we can easily see it add to the violence of the impact. Contact with an immovable object at 20 +mph plus rotation is a hard hit, much more so when that energy is absorbed from the side.
Bravery.. is not the absence of fear..its knowing stuff like this can happen..and doing it anyway. If you were a boy I'd say youve got balls like basketballs. But you dont. So I'll just leave it this way.. you got some cojones. Just remember when you're going through the pain a lot of us look at what you do and what you are and enduring..and think think.. RESPECT. Stay strong. Wear your pain like a badge of honor.
I agree safer barriers should be installed on all tracks. It seems to me over many years of watching crashes that the initial barrier between cars should continue the whole length of the track. This would prevent crossing into the other lane as well stop the hitting of the other car and causing their accident too. Likely could save injuries and lives.
Why not install a SAFER barrier along the outside walls to reduce the severity of the impacts? Part of drag racing is retaining the skills necessary to keep it in your own lane, probably why the NHRA enforces penalties for that very particular driver error... Or nerf the world, whatever you think is best....
Can’t disagree Cody. That’s what i tried to say. Safer barriers both sides and a barrier between cars to stop the racer from contact😊 with the other lane.
Was she knocked-out? Assumption made based on the way the car carried on rolling after the hit. No attempt to stop. Yes, chance she was just in complete shock.
Assuming the fact that jersey barrier sections are typically 10 ft. long...seeing the sections on the far wall and guessimating ft. per frame, at 30 f per second. 8ft. per frame x 30 is 240 ft.sec. = 150 to 160 mph 0r 240+kph...they were traveling when it all went bad. Best wishes...
The barriers are specifically designed to keep a car from going over it. If you stay within the confines of the track you’ll be much safer than if you exit the lanes. If you get outside of the barriers you can barrel roll or get caught on other things.
Ever price the safety barriers? Drag racing isn’t anywhere near the spectator draw as watching cars go in a circle. That’s the main revenue stream. Tracks simply can not afford such a cost. When you strap in, you know what is ahead of you.
Ok for all you car guys. Right past the 60 foot mark the rear tires Broke lose , when she lifted it snapped left. That was vicious...hard lesson . Nitro Joe.
Added 2 cents. First, a speedy recovery to Michelle. Hope to see you up and about soon. Second, the car breaking loose is not the unusual thing I see in this accident. It's that second flick back to the right just before the car hit the wall. If that had not happened, it would have been a frontal hit, a direction that the car is designed to absorb. With that flick, the hit was right in the left door/rear quarter. Sadly there is not a lot of car there to absorb the hit and so the driver cops it. Not sure what caused the car to flick back to the right like that.
@@petert3355 Agreed. Same factor occured in the crash that ended Dale Earnhardt's life. The extra-quick spin that got added to the primary trajectory of the vehicle just before it encountered the wall. In Dale's crash it was Schrader's car impacting Dale's while it was spinning that put the extra "apex of force" into the impact. In Michelle's, it seems that it was just "(bad) luck of the draw" relative to the track of the car once the momentum was obtained and the horsepower & direction weren't under her control any longer. It was a really hard slam, and I pray that Michelle recovers well.
Watched the video many, many times. That last little flick to the right, TO ME, looks like a course correction. What anybody would do when an unmovable object is in the direct path of an approaching missile. AND, your sorry ass is in that missile.
Why was the dude waving the passenger door shortly before the race began? Could that need have been indication something might have been amiss? I raced many years ago, I know how much investment is lost if you can not perform. Safety is always utmost importance. If ever the driver has any doubts, concerns, or reservations then they need to withdraw.
@@largefather03 ok. You make this sound commonplace. I know it is done, but in my experience it was an indicator that something isn't quite right. It has been a very long time since I raced. Much has changed. However, my heart is still like a wheel. :)
It was the sudden spin generated the rear wheels biting the tarmac just before it hit that made this far worse than it would otherwise have been if she'd got into the barrier nose-first. That and something structural had already failed inside the car moments after she launched it off the line that caused the initial spin in the first place.
They need to add SAFER barriers at these drag strips when they can. Those carriers soften these hits so they are not as fatal or likely to be fatal. SAFER barriers also help prevent head and neck injuries. They might cause concussions, but a concussion beats a fractured skull.
Besides narrowing the racing lane substantially, current designs indicate that the speeds associated with drag racing would more likely cause a "catch and pivot" effect that tosses the vehicles back into the race lane. Add the fact that after almost every impact, substantial repair to the SAFER barrier would be required. According to drag racing forum "Yellow Bullet", most drivers seem to prefer concrete walls, and are willing to wait for SAFER walls designed specifically for drag racing.
