The Tire Testing Tragedies
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- Опубликовано: 12 июн 2024
- In NASCAR Cup Series history, there have only been two drivers that have been fatally injured in Tire Testing and they both happened within 6 months of each other. The up and coming drivers, Billy Wade and Jimmy Pardue, respectively finished 4th and 5th in cup series points in 1964. At the time of the tragedies, Wade was just 34, and Pardue was just 33. Although a great amount of parallels can be drawn from the drivers’ stories, they were two very different individuals that had completely different lives.
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My cousin, Don Bumgardner, was driving for Robert Yates, (Pre Davey Allison) and had won 20 out of 22 races that year. Unfortunately, while testing tires at a local fairground track in SC, he suffered a double blow-out, car left track, and he suffered career ending injuries. Multiple head injuries, and hand / arm injuries.
Brutal
By any chance are you also related to Madison bumgardner? Long shot I know but usually athletes run in a family
@@david-468 Not that I know of, but I'll ask my Dad . Never know...
RIP to both drivers
RIP to both drivers
What's even scarier is that both drivers were part of 6 who died within 14 months after NASCAR's only Cup race at Augusta International Raceway
That race was cursed
Wait how exactly was it cursed? Only what happened after or what happened in it too?
@@abl892 “Six of the top seven finishers would lose their lives before the next racing season: Glenn "Fireball" Roberts, Dave MacDonald, Joe Weatherly, Billy Wade, Larry Thomas, and Jimmy Pardue; the seventh driver was Ned Jarrett.” - 1963 Augusta 510 Augusta speedway wiki article
@@lukelyall5879 I just saw the photos, Augusta Speedway looks like the outline of China
@@lukelyall5879Ned Jarrett is still alive and well he's 91 years old and lives in south Carolina
I learned a lot about Jimmy Pardue here, thanks. I had no idea he shared my birthday. But he died 13 months before I was born.
Rumor has it Pardue wanted to set a new speed record, had the car lowered in the front and when the tire blew the car came down of the k-frame cross member causing a lose of control.
A steering component must have broken.
The operative word here is "rumor"
@@pauljacques8756
It's probably true if you consider the clever modifications that Smokey Yunick created.
Very well said and detailed. Well done 👍
RIP Jimmy and Billy ❤
From Brazil here. Always had NASCAR as my fav racecars. But now as discovered your channel it added so much to this pure american world. Gret great job. Congrats
It's CRAZY how much the actual cars in NASCAR have changed. Well, EVERYTHING has changed in NASCAR.
I thought that I had a brilliant point that I was making..... Nevermind.
Very interesting video.
RIP to them both
Both Jimmy Pardue and Billy Wade would have had successful careers if they hadn't died.
RIP Billy Wade and Jimmy Pardue.
My dad owned a '64 Merc - I still love 'em, but he bought his new & said they were notorious for bad tie rods, as they'd be leading after 400 miles of many races, but would fail from tie rod or oil line failure in the last hundred miles
The amount of damage to Billy Wade’s car is just staggering. What a huge impact, no surprise he was killed.
Coincidentally,I was born on September 22nd 1964.
Billy Wade died because he went under the seat belts. This led Bud Moore to invent the submarine harness.
Sooo...just to clue you in...about Wade... He had his wreck whilst testing INNER LINERS. At that point in the development of the technology, they actually thought it was a good idea to BLOW the actual outer race tire...usually by driving over a set of spikes placed intentionaly on the track. Also Fireball didn't die at Charlotte & he didn' die of his injuries. He laguished for days...suffering...and pnemonia is what actually took him from us. Otherwise, awesome vid/story. Maybe do a little research into the demise of Marshal Teague? Be sure to reffernce Smokey Yunick's autobio concerning that deal.
Or Johnny Mantz, winner of the first Southern 500.
All these tire tests of that period were to develop the inner liner and the only way to test it was to blow the outer tire. I was a Grand National crew member in the second half of the 70s and those inner liners saved many a driver over the years. It was unfortunate that guys died and were injured in these tests but at least some good did come out of it.
Racing is and always will be a dangerous sport no matter how much everybody works to make it safer and everybody that races (including crew members) knows that going in.
He would never gotten pneumonia if it hadn't of been the crash and injuries!!
@@pauldavis7310 well....duh....simple fact is he was concious and breathing when he left the track...he did not expire there. People simply do not realize the suffering he endured before he was mercifully taken from us.
@LeftyLucyRightyTyty I realize it. I searched the paper everyday for any update on his condition. I was 10yo. and the day he died was like a death in my family.
Up and coming Indy car driver Bobby Marshman was also killed in a tire testing crash at Phoenix in December 1964. Marshman was only 28.
Those were some dangerous cars back then. Factory frames, floorboards etc. the wheels had another wheel center welded on to it. The cars really were passenger cars with a bunch of modifications. And the seats...Maaan. Those were some ver, very brave men. My first racecar was similar to a old NASCAR racecar. Was a '62 Mercury. Even somewhat gutted out it still was heavy and didn't handle. Had a bucket seat and a basic rollcage. I raced it on dirt. That was in the late 70's. I could not imagine racing one of them at a mile or bigger paved track. Damn lucky i never killed myself racing in some of the cars i started out in. Yep. They were some BRAVE SOULS. GOD BLESS them ALL
I approve of the alliteration in the title
Dakotarider74 I a friends with a guy who worked for Dave Marcus and he was at the track that day. He said it was a tire test and Bonnett was paid to run the bottom of the track!!
Soapy neil castles used to test Firestone at Charlotte speed way in the 60s and 70s
Pardue was also my family
Does Nascar still have tire testing today?
Yes
@@crouchb15 oh okay. I thought that tire testing was discontinued for a while in Nascar.
Just like Dale Earnhardt with the loss of Richmond, Davey Allison, Alan Kulwicki, and Neil Bonnett, i think Petty also was at the right place at a bad time, With these racers and Ned Jarett quitting after Fireballs death it kinda eliminated some very good competition. Perhaps we're looking at Earnhardt and Petty tied at four or five championships had the tragedies not occured.
Nascar was better when they used real cars and not the multi-million dollar, fake bodied, go karts of today.
Your photos are out of sequence, or totally unrelated. Photos from the mid 70s?
I'm curious as to what you are referring to? There aren't photos from every race or event I am talking about, since most of the events took place in the 50s and 60s I mention in the video. Or there are very few. To supplement and paint a picture, I do use "newer" photos. However, I try to keep it consistent with the driver or track I am talking about for the most part. But I will try to be more clear in the future. Thanks.
Only one I noticed was 3:48 pretty sure that’s the mid 70s. But that is literally one photo out of all the good work you do, just caught my eye and then I happened to see the comment. Thanks for the vids!
@@extragoogleaccount6061he prob. saw that one pic, and started going full f1 fan mod. 😅
Makes me think what if they didn't pass how would there careers pan out? 🤔
Remember the butterfly effect. If one thing was different, everything afterwards would be different. E.G: If Tim Richmond hadn't caught AIDS (and later died), and ol' DW hadn't (foolishly) left Rick Hendrick to start his own team, Hendrick would not have signed Jeff Gordon.
@@JeffKopis And the one nobody mentions is what if Rob Moroso had lived?
What about Neil Bonnett? Word is that was a Hoosier tire test that killed him!!
Faulty shock mount they have said. Hoosier vehemently denied any wrong doing. Same goes for Rodney Orr
@@dakotarider74 A friend of mine was a crew member on the team car to Bonnett's. He said he looked under the car and there was nothing wrong with any of the shock mounts.
first