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IndyCar
MILLER: Blindsided
It was nothing, just a harmless spin on a road course. Ninety-nine times out of 100, it's not even a local yellow. But on a blind, fast corner, all hell broke loose.
It was nothing, just a harmless spin on a road course. Ninety-nine times out of 100, it's not even a local yellow unless the car stalls or goes into the gravel trap and needs to be towed.
But what happened last Saturday morning at Infineon Raceway was an anomaly.
It was the worst case scenario: one of the only places on this scenic 2.3-mile road course where something bad could happen, did.
On a blind, fast corner, all hell broke loose.
Nelson Philippe's lazy sideways slide coming over Turn 3A turned into a three-car nightmare that ended two driver's seasons and destroyed two cars. "I'm lucky to be alive, I know that," said Philippe on Monday from his hospital bed in Santa Rosa, a few doors down from Will Power.
Philippe, who had spun off the track at the same place earlier in the practice session but drifted into the dirt, didn't release the brakes this time and stopped at the most vulnerable place: on the side of the narrow track where the cars crested the hill at 120 mph.
Two seconds later, E.J. Viso came over the brow, just caught a glimpse of that green car, cranked the wheel and sliced into the nose -- ripping off a corner of his HVM Dallara.
Some five second later, Power came pounding onto the scene and over the rise. He pulverized Philippe's car right at the dashboard bulkhead. It was a frightening impact that knocked both drivers out, as Power's car continued on down the track until grinding to a stop with its front end disintegrated.
The whole thing only lasted 12 seconds yet the damage was massive as Power suffered a broken back and Philippe a fractured foot and leg.
"There was no way I could miss him but I didn't see any yellow flags on top of that hill and they should have warned Will because he was way behind me," said Viso.
Therein lies the problem.
A corner worker was seen waving a flag but it was down below the turn, on driver's right, and the drivers are looking left and up as they head for the outside apex to take the proper line. Supposedly, a strobe light system near the top of the hill was functioning but it's quite a ways from the edge of the track and not exactly in a driver's sight line.
All Indy cars are equipped with lights on the dash that flash on for a full-course yellow but, according to the Team Penske crew, their telemetry showed Power's light didn't come on until after he'd already made contact.
"I had no warning on any kind or, obviously, I would have backed off," said Power. "I came over the hill and there was Nelson."
And, while it was a bang-bang situation, those eight seconds that elapsed before Philippe came to a stop and the big impact were crucial.
"I think we need to look at the safety over here and what can be done differently with spotting or whatever," said Ryan Briscoe. "Turn 3 is a dangerous corner."
But, of all the tracks on the IndyCar schedule, it's classified as low risk so orthopedic magicians Dr. Terry Trammell and Dr. Kevin Scheid were not sent to the race.
"I got a call about Will's crash so I went to my computer and reviewed the black box data from Will's car. It was a 75G frontal impact and a 27G vertical so I called our nurse Denise Titus and told her Will had a high risk of having broken his back, based on that data," said Trammell.
"Will's injuries are very similar to Vitor's (Meira) injuries at Indy this year and we will most likely treat Will the same with a back brace and therapy. The healing time is four to five months."
Bruno Junqueira, Jason Priestly, Tom Wood and Craig Dolansky all suffered similar spinal fractures earlier this decade and Trammell & Company have worked with the Delphi Safety Team and IndyCar officials to try and lessen injuries.
"Between better seats, posture, the safer wall, attenuators and the HANS Device, we've come up with a pretty good plan for protection with rear impact," continued Trammell, who expects to see Power on Thursday or Friday when he's flown to Indy.
"It's not done yet but it's better."
As for the frontal crashes?
"The seats and belts are designed to keep a driver from being thrown out of the car, so if we can couple the body to the seat, we can reduce the injuries on frontal impact. We know we have a problem and we know what we have to do to find a solution.
"It takes money and time and the economy affects us like everyone else. But we'll get there, hopefully within the next year."
MORE SONOMA STUFF
Mike Conway and Mario Moraes have both been a blend of speed and inconsistency this year but they finally put together solid races. Caught up in the opening lap accident, Conway stormed from the back all the way to third to finally give Dreyer & Reinbold a podium. Moraes, who lost his father to cancer two weeks ago, started 14th and patiently carved his way to fourth place for KV Racing.
For the first time, there were actually fans at Infineon -- not a packed-house NASCAR crowd but a damned good one. The best by far in IndyCar's five years of running at Sonoma.
If 3G Racing ever scores a big sponsor so it can afford all the latest and greatest equipment, Richard Antinucci may turn some heads. The rookie battled all day with lots of people in Greg Beck's car and finished on the lead lap. Very respectable, all things considered.
Indy Lights driver Gustavo Yacaman suffered an upper thorasic compression fracture of his back last Sunday when his car got airborne and slammed back to earth. He's already seen Trammell and is out for the season but doesn't need surgery.
Looks like Takuma Sato will make his IndyCar debut at Homestead in a second car for Luczo/Dragon. The ex-Formula One shoe is hoping to be part of Gil de Ferran's new IndyCar effort in 2010.
Eric Bachelart lost Philippe's car but still has one ready for Kosuke Matsuura for Motegi and isn't sure yet about who might drive the Conquest Racing entry in the season finale at Homestead.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, SPEED, FOX, or NewsCorp.
Robin Miller became an Indy-car junkie in late 1950s and stooged for his hero, Jim Hurtubise, at the 1968 Indy 500. He went on to work as a vent man and board man on Indy pit crews from 1971-77. Miller bought a Formula Ford from Andy Granatelli in 1972 and raced it in SCCA until 1974 when he purchased a midget from Gary Bettenhausen, competing in the USAC midget series from 1975-82.
Robin flunked out of Ball State College in 1968 and began working at The Indianapolis Star sports department in 1969, covered motorsports there from 1969-2000.
In addition to his broadcast work. Miller's also covered IndyCar racing for Autoweek, Autosport, Car & Driver and On Track magazines over the past 35 years.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
But what happened last Saturday morning at Infineon Raceway was an anomaly.
It was the worst case scenario: one of the only places on this scenic 2.3-mile road course where something bad could happen, did.
On a blind, fast corner, all hell broke loose.
Nelson Philippe's lazy sideways slide coming over Turn 3A turned into a three-car nightmare that ended two driver's seasons and destroyed two cars. "I'm lucky to be alive, I know that," said Philippe on Monday from his hospital bed in Santa Rosa, a few doors down from Will Power.
Philippe, who had spun off the track at the same place earlier in the practice session but drifted into the dirt, didn't release the brakes this time and stopped at the most vulnerable place: on the side of the narrow track where the cars crested the hill at 120 mph.
Two seconds later, E.J. Viso came over the brow, just caught a glimpse of that green car, cranked the wheel and sliced into the nose -- ripping off a corner of his HVM Dallara.
Some five second later, Power came pounding onto the scene and over the rise. He pulverized Philippe's car right at the dashboard bulkhead. It was a frightening impact that knocked both drivers out, as Power's car continued on down the track until grinding to a stop with its front end disintegrated.
The whole thing only lasted 12 seconds yet the damage was massive as Power suffered a broken back and Philippe a fractured foot and leg.
"There was no way I could miss him but I didn't see any yellow flags on top of that hill and they should have warned Will because he was way behind me," said Viso.
Therein lies the problem.
A corner worker was seen waving a flag but it was down below the turn, on driver's right, and the drivers are looking left and up as they head for the outside apex to take the proper line. Supposedly, a strobe light system near the top of the hill was functioning but it's quite a ways from the edge of the track and not exactly in a driver's sight line.
All Indy cars are equipped with lights on the dash that flash on for a full-course yellow but, according to the Team Penske crew, their telemetry showed Power's light didn't come on until after he'd already made contact.
"I had no warning on any kind or, obviously, I would have backed off," said Power. "I came over the hill and there was Nelson."
And, while it was a bang-bang situation, those eight seconds that elapsed before Philippe came to a stop and the big impact were crucial.
"I think we need to look at the safety over here and what can be done differently with spotting or whatever," said Ryan Briscoe. "Turn 3 is a dangerous corner."
But, of all the tracks on the IndyCar schedule, it's classified as low risk so orthopedic magicians Dr. Terry Trammell and Dr. Kevin Scheid were not sent to the race.
"I got a call about Will's crash so I went to my computer and reviewed the black box data from Will's car. It was a 75G frontal impact and a 27G vertical so I called our nurse Denise Titus and told her Will had a high risk of having broken his back, based on that data," said Trammell.
"Will's injuries are very similar to Vitor's (Meira) injuries at Indy this year and we will most likely treat Will the same with a back brace and therapy. The healing time is four to five months."
Bruno Junqueira, Jason Priestly, Tom Wood and Craig Dolansky all suffered similar spinal fractures earlier this decade and Trammell & Company have worked with the Delphi Safety Team and IndyCar officials to try and lessen injuries.
"Between better seats, posture, the safer wall, attenuators and the HANS Device, we've come up with a pretty good plan for protection with rear impact," continued Trammell, who expects to see Power on Thursday or Friday when he's flown to Indy.
"It's not done yet but it's better."
As for the frontal crashes?
"The seats and belts are designed to keep a driver from being thrown out of the car, so if we can couple the body to the seat, we can reduce the injuries on frontal impact. We know we have a problem and we know what we have to do to find a solution.
"It takes money and time and the economy affects us like everyone else. But we'll get there, hopefully within the next year."
MORE SONOMA STUFF
Mike Conway and Mario Moraes have both been a blend of speed and inconsistency this year but they finally put together solid races. Caught up in the opening lap accident, Conway stormed from the back all the way to third to finally give Dreyer & Reinbold a podium. Moraes, who lost his father to cancer two weeks ago, started 14th and patiently carved his way to fourth place for KV Racing.
For the first time, there were actually fans at Infineon -- not a packed-house NASCAR crowd but a damned good one. The best by far in IndyCar's five years of running at Sonoma.
If 3G Racing ever scores a big sponsor so it can afford all the latest and greatest equipment, Richard Antinucci may turn some heads. The rookie battled all day with lots of people in Greg Beck's car and finished on the lead lap. Very respectable, all things considered.
Indy Lights driver Gustavo Yacaman suffered an upper thorasic compression fracture of his back last Sunday when his car got airborne and slammed back to earth. He's already seen Trammell and is out for the season but doesn't need surgery.
Looks like Takuma Sato will make his IndyCar debut at Homestead in a second car for Luczo/Dragon. The ex-Formula One shoe is hoping to be part of Gil de Ferran's new IndyCar effort in 2010.
Eric Bachelart lost Philippe's car but still has one ready for Kosuke Matsuura for Motegi and isn't sure yet about who might drive the Conquest Racing entry in the season finale at Homestead.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, SPEED, FOX, or NewsCorp.
Robin Miller became an Indy-car junkie in late 1950s and stooged for his hero, Jim Hurtubise, at the 1968 Indy 500. He went on to work as a vent man and board man on Indy pit crews from 1971-77. Miller bought a Formula Ford from Andy Granatelli in 1972 and raced it in SCCA until 1974 when he purchased a midget from Gary Bettenhausen, competing in the USAC midget series from 1975-82.
Robin flunked out of Ball State College in 1968 and began working at The Indianapolis Star sports department in 1969, covered motorsports there from 1969-2000.
In addition to his broadcast work. Miller's also covered IndyCar racing for Autoweek, Autosport, Car & Driver and On Track magazines over the past 35 years.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
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