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Rollover crashes, and those involving multiples high-speed barrel rolls, are certainly the wildest and scariest of crashes to witness in racing. Despite how bad they appear and the destruction that results, rollover crashes tend to be less dangerous for the driver than a head-on impact with an immovable object (like a concrete guardrail) because the forces of the crash are absorbed as the car rolls, rather than those forces coming to a sudden and destructive stop. Note that we didn’t say they aren’t dangerous, just less so according to all laws of physics than a sudden stop.
This crash recently uploaded to YouTube from 1996 shows one of the nastiest rollover crashes we’ve ever seen, as IHRA Super Rod (9.90) racer Ross Hartley loses control of his Dodge Avenger just past the finish line during the IHRA Grand American Nationals in Tulsa. Hartley’s machine turned onto its roof on the racing surface before rolling over into the grass off to the right side of the shutdown area. The car gained momentum as it struck a ditch off of in the grass, sending it flipping violently side-over-side and end-over-end roughly eight times by our quick count.
Immediately following the crash, one of the top end cameramen made his way over to the wreckage to get an up close and personal view of the remains of the car before Hartley had even been removed from the cockpit. What ensued were a few less-than-friendly words between safety personnel and the cameraman who they they thought was a bit too close at such a tense moment.
Fortunately, as a testament to how well the roll cages in these cars were and are built, Hartley survived the horrifying crash with just some broken bones.
At the next event on the IHRA calendar in Maryland, Hartley indicated that he’d be back once he was healed from the crash, and sure enough, at the Summer Nationals in Indiana, Hartley was back on the track behind the wheel of a Super Stocker. Said Hartley in an interview with ESPN2’s Bret Kepner: “People have just been wonderful and overwhelmingly warm to support us in any way that they could. While I’m feeling better and I’m healing, I have no wheels, so whatever they’ve got, they’re offering, so it’s [racing in Super Stock] better than watching.”
