Little E injured in fiery sports car crash

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superchicken

Gettin Bird Like On Ya!!
Little E injured in firey sports car crash

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was injured today in a crash in practice driving a corvette for the U.S Le Mann series . The car backed into the wall and fuel spilled from the cell a the exploded into flames . Little E was taken away by helicopter but was alert.
 
SONOMA, Calif. - Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffered moderate burns to his facial and lower extremities Sunday morning in an accident during American LeMans Series practice at Infineon Raceway.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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Track spokesman John Cardinale said Earnhardt was transported to the University of California-Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, Infineon's designated hospital for burn treatment.

According to an American LeMans Series statement, Earnhardt was driving a Chevrolet Corvette C5-R in a 30-minute practice session when the accident occurred. The car spun and impacted a barrier in the Turn 8 section of the road-racing track, then caught fire. Earnhardt quickly exited the car on his own, and was then assisted by safety crews.

Earnhardt, who regularly competes in NASCAR's Nextel Cup Series, was scheduled to co-drive in today's Infineon Grand Prix of Sonoma with veteran road racing driver Boris Said. The team has withdrawn the car from the race.

Stay tuned to NASCAR.COM for further updates
 
Just saw the video and J.R. is lucky to be alive. It seemed like he was out cold when the fuel ignited. They changed the fuel cells in all of the corvettes last night due to the fuel eating away the rubber in the fuel cell. His car broke loose and hit the wall backwards. Hope he can race at New Hampshire next week.
 
SONOMA, Calif. - Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be held overnight for observation after suffering minor second degree burns on the inner sides of both legs and on his chin. His injuries were sustained during a Sunday morning accident while practicing for the American LeMans Series at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California.

Track spokesman John Cardinale said Earnhardt was transported to the University of California-Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, Infineon's designated hospital for burn treatment.

A hospital spokesman said that Earnhardt was "resting comfortably" at University of California-Davis Medical Center and would be examined again Monday morning.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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According to an American LeMans Series statement, Earnhardt was driving a Chevrolet Corvette C5-R in a 30-minute practice session when the accident occurred. The car spun and impacted a barrier in the Turn 8 section of the road-racing track, then caught fire. Earnhardt quickly exited the car on his own, and was then assisted by safety crews.

"We had an unfortunate incident in morning warmup today with our No. 8 Corvette," Doug Fehan, program manager for Corvette Racing, said. "The accident was caused by a combination of many factors, including a slick race track, cold tires and a full tank of fuel. The hit was so hard that it broke the filler neck off the fuel cell and caused a fire. We know Dale Jr. wishes he could be back here at the race with us and we're going to try to win this one for him."

Earnhardt, who regularly competes in NASCAR's Nextel Cup Series, was scheduled to co-drive in today's Infineon Grand Prix of Sonoma with veteran road racing driver Boris Said. The team has withdrawn the car from the race.

"I'm bummed out and disappointed I couldn't run the race," Earnhardt said through a team spokesman. "I hope Corvette gets the victory."
 
JR was never out he just did not think something like this could happin at this level . In the nascar world it was not a big hit . This just goes to show how NASCAR has influenced racing . E. JR was very calm and cool not "out" !
 
like I said, it "seemed" like he was out cold. He looked stunned when the explosion happened because he didn't move at all. of couse it was a short piece of video. I heard he is not expected to miss any nextell cup events. that's good to hear.
 
according to michael waltrip he was out.
when i seen the video it lookes like he was out cause rule or no rule u aint gonna sit in a car and burn cause u gotta wait till the field clears thats nuts
 
I'm sure NASCAR will still have to do an evaluation on JR. to see if he can race at New Hampshire. Lets all hope he didn't suffer another concussion.I'd hate to see him not be a contender for the cup this year cause of a non NASCAR injury.
 
In the paper today it said as long as JR starts the race that he points will go to the driver. His team is talking about have Truex Jr. fill in if need be.
 
It looked to me that he was dazed when he hit because who would just sit in their car and burn? Thats just crazy like dirttrackracer said^^.
 
i heard he was out cold i also heard the corner worker went right for the the place the fire was coming from to try and put it out good quick thinking
 
good quick thinkin on the officials i think not. everytime i see the tape i get sooo mad cause ok he crashed didnt look like anything happened to him that the officials could see fine then it burst into flames and noone did a darn thing to try and help him. the guy tryin to put the fire out was putting out the grass fire looked like to me i guess the heck with jr. anyway jr had time to get knocked out sit there and burn come to and unbuckle climb out before anyone came over to help him rediculous good quick thinking from the officials give me a break looked like they were gonna let him burn and thats what he woulda done if he wouldnt have gotten hiself out. JMO
 
no he wasnt putting out a grass fire he was putting it out where it was coming from witch was a fuel line or something i also agree they should have had someone else run to the driver but, i heard somewhere that the where not allowed to do that for some reason witch is the stuipedest thing iv ever heard
 
Michael Waltrip made a good point about the car. He said that, unlike cup cars, the rear ends of these corvettes are really solid and do not have crush zones. That is why even though the crash did not look like much, it still not Jr. out.
 
A couple of points about the crash:

First, the ALMS cars each carry a complete Halon fire extinguishing system. Spray nozzles will douse the trunk area, drivers compartment and engine compartment IF the driver pulls the pin. Even cars at the amateur level of SCCA racing require these systems. Having witnessed an open fuel fire in a Mustang, the Halon systems are very effective. Cup cars don't carry these systems. Perhaps E. forgot it was there in the heat of the moment. Had he activated the fire suppression system at the first hint of fire, I doubt he would have been burned at all.

SCCA provides corner workers for nearly all amateur and pro Road Races in the country. The training and preparation they receive are second to none. Short track racers may not be able to relate to Road Racing proceedures because any on track incident brings out a yellow. In Road Racing a local yellow is displayed to slow down the field, then a double yellow or red is displayed depending on the severity of the wreck. One worker must continue displaying the yellow to prevent incoming cars from piling into the wreck while the other worker assists the driver. It appeared to me that the workers did exactly what they were trained to do.
 
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