The Special Flies
Through the Air
Your webmaster saw this accident.
Turn 1 at the modified Santa Barbara course was a high-speed left hander.
Harris got sideways, then clipped a trackside culvert. (Amazing the
lack of safety standards in those days!), and was catapulted 30 feet in
the air.
A whole grandstand-full of spectators
had a perfect view of the incident, as well as two other major crashes
that day, one of them fatal.
(1-15-09) From Bob Harris:
"I was in the modified main event, running
second or third. I went to pass the car in front of me, misjudged
and made a momentary four wheel departure into the dirt. After that, the
car didn't seem to be handling right. My pit crew noticed something was
wrong, and as I went by them they had their hands out as if to ask what's
wrong? I shook my head to indicate that I wasn't sure. As I approached
Turn 1, I decided to use extra caution as I knew something was wrong. Halfway
through the turn, the car just seemed to snap out from under me. Next thing
I knew, I was spinning at about 140mph. At that speed I knew I was in big
trouble. I clenched the wheel as hard as I could, bent down, and hung on.
The next thing I knew I had struck something and was airborne." |
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