Neil was my fav driver in nascar but died. Dale Earnhardt Should tell him time to retire but There gone Why But hey Atleast Neil Die Doin what he loved
Amazing on the in-car of Neil's of how much his head moved around while he was turning over. Compare that to today's crashes, where the driver's head almost never moves at all.
Neil Bonnet should have never been in another racecar after Darlington crash. Nascar today would have never let him on the track another safety feature is examine the drivers to make sure there well enough to drive a car and not kill themselves and other drivers Neil should never have died.
Neil would have been perfectly fine driving with a HANS device. You can recover from one or not ever have an injury and if you go back out you can be fatally injured from a second basilar skull fracture. He was no more at risk than any other driver out on the track. The way his fatal crash was. Dale,Adam,Kenny,tony,Scott,Blaise, all died from the same thing and never had any history.
Neil loved racing and damn it he was going to race. But even Bobby Allison knew to retire after sustaining severe head trauma. Neil should have retired also. It’s sad to think that just a few months later Neil would die. Rest In Peace Neil.
Yes, Smith did recover from his injuries, but never raced again in the Cup Series. He still suffers from double vision, and in the rare instance that he races, he wears an eye patch. To quote Stanley himself (from an ESPN interview in 2001, "...there's nothing worse than looking in the mirror and seeing five cars back there when there's only two."
+joe craig in that race also jimmy horton flipped over the wall in the race. months later, nascar decided to install catch fence on oval turns to prevent any more cars going over it. daytona during early 1994 did not install catch fence, but after the 500 they installed it all around the track.
I had some locals bet me money, Earnhardt against the field. I thought it was a safe bet, since Ernie Ervin was giving him a good race.Needless to say, I lost the bet.
+Alex98 Also in that wreck with Jimmy Horton, Stanley Smith suffered a fractured skull and because of that, his career ended although I could be wrong. I'm not sure if he raced after that or not.
Damn... the '93 DieHard 500 was a scary race... Horton flying over the wall, and Stanley Smith nearly gettin killed in the same crash, and then this wreck...
This was the July(now october) race. My dad and I took a trip to Richard Childress' shop in Welcome, NC a month after this and we saw this car sitting in the ship and got to take some close up pictures of it. This was back when you could go in a race shop and walk right up to the cars while they were working on them. I actually got to touch this car.
Xodus I was just thinking the same thing! These cameras nowadays are so fragile and here in 93 it not only survives the crash, it holds in place too! Why is this??
There's several reasons: -For one, cameras back then were heavier and more durable back then. This was in part because heavy metals were mostly used, and between that and the shee bulk of some of the cameras the weight and sheer rigidness helped them keep in place. (Cale Yarborough won the 1984 Daytona 500 with a normal television camera that had been only slightly modified). Aside the obvious technology progression, smaller cameras provided view the bulkier cousins couldn't even attempt. Between that and the fact that a full-size camera basically becoming a wrecking ball should it break free of its mountings, it made perfect sense. This doesn't cover the additional fact that as cameras became smaller, they also became cheaper to install and easier to use and maintain. And of course, we don't exactly make things as durable as we used to these days. **cough**Thanks China -Most cameras these days are mounted on the outter-points the car. The most common places are on the right-side rollbars against the door,, on the left where the dashboard and roll-cage meet, the rear bumper, and the ever-popular roof camera (with the front-bumper camera making an occasional appearance). Compared to the center of a car, these areas will see a lot more heavier blows. This is in part to the fact that these days the cars are designed with larger crush panels. -Another issue is just the sheer simplicity needed to obtain the footage. Back in the day, wires, cables, and an antenna were all needed to transmit the data. These respective parts were often fairly well built to ensure longevity and reliability. (This, again, was partially because TV cameras were expensive.) These days, many cameras are being made with a built-in antennas that are basically 'printed' onto microchips, and as such are not exactly expensive to produce (or to replace, for that matter). Because they tend to be small and fairly fragile, they often are within the camera's casing, but of course a hard enough whack still has not trouble damaging these things. Hope this cleared things up.
I saw this race n TV & it sticks in my mind as one of the worse days ever in NASCAR. This was just after Davey had died & they had a pre-race tribute & everything was gloomy as hell. There was an interview w. Robt Yates & he was about incoherent w. grief. Then there was that crash w. Jimmy Horton where he went over the wall, wasn't hurt, but Stanley Smith was about killed. I don't think he's ever come back. You saw his kinfolks led into the helicopter in tears. & then this. All on the same day.
I was at this race,sitting just above the wreck. Neil died the following year, Feb 11 1994 at Daytona during practice driving the # 51 Countrytime car.
Yes he should have stayed retired. All the crashes and then crashes when he came back, were mostly his fault he had serious Brain damage and could not control a race car anymore he should not even been driving a passenger car on regular roads. Everyone knew it was only time before he got killed. To Bad Dale Earnhardt his best friend should have told him Neil stay out of a race car. Now there both Gone well before they should have.
@@annieaigbe2276 Wasn't the time that Neil Bonnett was killed in a practice something like 1-2 days before the Daytona 500 in 1994? Then, it seems like somebody else was killed in a crash just 2 days later, during the 1994 Daytona 500. You just never know when your time's up. I hope you agree with me when I say ya better make sure that things are square between you and the Good LORD before something like that happens. I'd rather not take an Eternal trip downstairs. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too hot and fiery for my likin'! I'd rather be strumming a harp in Heaven, than shoveling coal with that Ol' Devil forever!
Yes, he certainly did; after his crash at Darlington in 1990, Neil really had absolutely *zero* business getting back into a race car, especially with the possibility that he could have died or been left a vegetable.
Wasn't even a few years later, he died just before the 1994 Daytona 500. This was his second last race, his last was the final race of 1993 at Atlanta.
So you're saying the HANS came out way before 2001? Like around the time of this incident ('93)? That's interesting, as I thought the HANS device was relatively new in 2001.
David Krawetzki You got it right...Neil was a good guy and tough racer. I don't know why and its bad to say but I was more upset over Neil's death than Earnhardt.
Racing fan for life 18 He died in February 1994 while practicing for the 1994 Daytona 500. He hit the wall in turn 4 nearly head on, and the impact gave him a basilar skull fracture. Very similar to how Dale Earnhardt died.
February 11, 1994; as cookie1749 explains, Neil's fatal injuries were similar to those that Dale Earnhardt would later sustain at Daytona on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
great camera work by that one guy to focus on musgrave-yes, bonnett's wreck was more spectacular but musgrave was still moving and was going across the race track-not the choice i probably would have made in the shock of the moment but great awareness RIP Neil and Benny...and so many others from that era, unfortunately
I remember watching this race, he rolled his car, climbed out okay and sat down with the announcers narrating his crash in the booth, dang that is a brave man race car driver like Dale.
Given significance because of the wreckfest that today's race at Talladega became. This was one scary crash for Neil, and for the spectators who were sitting within LOS of where his car struck the catch fence. It was a lot like Bobby Allison's 1987 wreck, though from different circumstances because of the plate racing. The race also has significance because of a fellow named Jimmy Horton taking a flight outside the track through gaps in the catch fence between Turns 1 & 2.
This might be the scariest Talladega race ever. Neil Bonnett flipped over and got in the fence, Jimmy Horton went over the wall, and in that Jimmy Horton crash, another driver named Stan Smith almost died from a basilar skull fracture. All of this only 2 weeks after Davey Allison died at this very track in a helicopter crash, and 4 months or so after Alan Kulwicki's tragic death in March. Few could've guessed that Neil would be killed just 7 months later in a Daytona practice crash. Dark days for NASCAR and safety. Let's not forget that yesterday was the 16th anniversary of Adam Petty's death. I know this is a bit off topic but I'm so happy NASCAR has upped the safety at so many tracks.
@@paullambert7481 .....and a rookie named Rodney Orr, from Robbinsville, NC that was killed two days after Neil - the wind caught him coming out of turn four and the car(a Thunderbird) got loose , lifted and hit the caution light on the wall windshield first. It had to have been messy for the safety crews and EMT’s, he was killed instantly.
After Kyle Larson went through the fence at Daytona this year, they were all, "How could we have predicted something like this?!" I've seen cars go through the catch fence in tri-ovals so many times! This one included! Plus, let's see, Geoff Bodine, Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, and Bobby Allison.
Watching this race and everything behind it gives so much perspective to how different the world is now. Just a tragic or near tragic shitshow at every turn yet everyone involved understood it was part of the job and spectacle. Bonnet ate a catchfence and called the rest of the race lol big respect. Seems dumb to most but I remember this whole race and the leadup with everything building up and the aftermath and it was honestly one of the first examples from an outside perspective as a young kid getting taught that life is rough sometimes but you gotta go hard in the paint to succeed. I learned so much about this race as a kid about life
I also posted on another video showing Carl's crash, how similar this crash was to Carl's both cars were hit by other cars launching them into the catch fence.
Yesterdays wreck was very close to this wreck. All three wrecks like this: Bobby Allison, Neil Bonnett, and Carl Edwards have all three hit in nearly the same place. It was an awesome race yesterday, I was there. No one could figure out who won for about 3 minutes. Then, Keselowski starts doing burnouts and it was made quite apparent. Things like this just happen.
I was actually at this race right in the front row where he tore through the fence and the guy 3 seats down from me lest his leg when a block on concrete from the fencepost took his leg off. I have a few small scars fro the oil burning my skin.
Do you or fresh geek have his fatal wreck...I know it happened in practice but I've never seen it...do any of you know if there as ever been footage of the crash
It’s on RUclips , Neil Bonnett Fatal Crash - you don’t get a lot of detail , it’s filmed from a great distance and the actual impact is not shown ; just the car (51) sliding,hood flapping - one report was that Neil still had a slight pulse when they finally got him out of the car, but was dead by the time he reached the hospital.
Nope, this was with a restrictror plate. This crash, however, was pre-roof flaps. Where Bonnett spun though, he was probably going to flip anyway, even with roof flaps. If a car gets sideways in the dogleg, the air will, regardless of what you do, get under the car, and send it over.
Yes, indeed; in fact, many of the crashes that involve a driver going into the catch fence cause the race to have to be stopped for a period of time; perhaps, however, none were worse than the crashes involving Neil Bonnett in 1993 and Bobby Allison six years earlier.
He's had a lot of hard crashes, but with all the safety improvements he's never been injured. 2 Allisons and Neil Bonnett are dead. Davey Allison wasn't in a car crash, but it was still NASCAR-affiliated activities. But yes, Jeff Gordon's had some hard crashes. Pocono, Charlotte and Las Vegas awhile back, Watkins Glen in 2010, Richmond in spring 2011, etc.
Actually I thought that there was a type of HANS device out....not HANS but there was a head and neck device because I remember Earnhardt and several others considered it as a noose.
Dale wouldn’t wear it - said it looked like a horse collar , terrified it would trap him in the car - in this interview with Darrell Waltrip , he said that his biggest fear in a race car was fire. You have only to see Gary Batson’s crash at Charlotte - pinned up against the wall sideways by the other car and on fire with no way out - to see Dale’s point.
I think an otherworldly force was trying to tell Neil to (GET OUT).I had something similar when I raced, the last event i competed in; strange things just kept on happening.The car made a move all on it's own and veered into the infield grass, which scared the shit out of me, that was during qualifying. The heat race i could not get the bottom belts tight, so i missed that race, when the final race came up, i climbed in got the bottom belts tight, flipped the ignition switch on hit the starter..... and the thing was dead. I climbed out we checked the kill switch and tried to crank it, still there was nothin, so we flipped open the battery box. And this is NO LIE, the negative cable was severed. A while after that i hung up my helmet and called it quits, I later sold my race car 1971 Monte Carlo, to this day I'm convinced the car was haunted. Either that or someone was looking out on me.
.......and to think people laughed when Bobby Isaac pitted , (at Talladega , no less)climbed out of the car and said voices told him to quit. He died after having a heat stroke during a late model race at Hickory in 1977.
@@ervinthompson6598 Racing a Car around a track is a weird world. I think I was most frightened just before I'd get on the track. When we'd all be sitting on pit road, because you have nothing to do but think about what's gonna happen. The only thing I can compare it too is the Soldiers sitting in the landing crafts at Normandy. And yes just like Robert Duvall said: GET OUT OF THAT RACE CAR GET OUUUUUUUUUT. Stock Car Racing can be down right spooky.
Poor Neil just couldn't escape the crashes... Nearly died in 1990 after his crash at Darlington, then in his first race back he did this... then he had to drop out of the next race, which was the final race of 93... then didn't get a chance to drive again when he died in a pratice run for the 94 Daytona 500 :(
One other thing I remember thinking, about Neil Bonnet. I thought-that man won't be satisfied until he kills himself in a racecar. And a few months later he was dead. I thought it was a terrible waste. I'm no race driver so maybe I have no right to talk about it, and of course I didn't know Bonnett, but there's a time when a guy's friends should take away the keys. He was a great announcer & could still be with us on TV, but he was determined to kill himself in a race car.
Back then, you could only go by how he acted, and what he told you. They didn't have the expertise to determine how bad head injuries piled up affected a person. They still can't be sure today. But they are getting better all the time.
I actually think this crash was a lot worse than Carl's. Neil rolled on the track a few times while Carl only went into the fence after Newman plowed into him. Hope yesterday's fans are doing ok.
When they first came out with the Hans, Rusty Wallace said that he didn't like it because he liked to put his head between his legs when the car started to flip.
......Earnhardt flatly wouldn’t wear it either, said it looked like a horse collar ; “not proven”- he told Darrell Waltrip in a TV interview that his biggest fear in a race car was fire, and that he’d be trapped ( this was borne out long after he died when Junior wrecked the Corvette on the road course and many who watched fire engulf the car’s interior feared the worst until he managed to get out - it scared him badly.
Neil was around before I really got into NASCAR but I wish we had more guys around like him. These young guys stoday, most of them, don't know what it's like to come up in a piece of crap car and have to prove themselves. They scouted, get big sponsorship money, and a big team signs them. No doubt, many of them are talented but it's not the same when Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton, and Bobby Labonte are the old folks in the garage every week.
Actually, Brad didn't get the fence at all. And the Larson crash is the first time I've actually seen the car go THROUGH it, the others just got tangled up with it
@TeamAutoBots In this same race in '93 Jimmy Horton went over the wall in turn one...which is why they put up the fence there. If it hadn't been for that, Ricky Craven would have gone over the wall in '96.
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
That has to be the greatest shot an in-car camera has ever captured.
RIP Neil...you were the best
R.I.P. Neil Bonnett.....great driver.
"they cant put it in ya...and the cant take it out"
Neil was my fav driver in nascar but died. Dale Earnhardt Should tell him time to retire but There gone Why But hey Atleast Neil Die Doin what he loved
How do the broadcasters miss a car flipping RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM?!?! Geez, times haven't changed, though, considering how clueless ESPN and TNT are.
You don't know how perfectly this aged
Amazing on the in-car of Neil's of how much his head moved around while he was turning over. Compare that to today's crashes, where the driver's head almost never moves at all.
Oddy enough that same head movement took him from us, the next season
Neil Bonnet should have never been in another racecar after Darlington crash. Nascar today would have never let him on the track another safety feature is examine the drivers to make sure there well enough to drive a car and not kill themselves and other drivers Neil should never have died.
Neil would have been perfectly fine driving with a HANS device. You can recover from one or not ever have an injury and if you go back out you can be fatally injured from a second basilar skull fracture. He was no more at risk than any other driver out on the track. The way his fatal crash was. Dale,Adam,Kenny,tony,Scott,Blaise, all died from the same thing and never had any history.
Neil loved racing and damn it he was going to race. But even Bobby Allison knew to retire after sustaining severe head trauma. Neil should have retired also. It’s sad to think that just a few months later Neil would die. Rest In Peace Neil.
Yes, Smith did recover from his injuries, but never raced again in the Cup Series. He still suffers from double vision, and in the rare instance that he races, he wears an eye patch. To quote Stanley himself (from an ESPN interview in 2001, "...there's nothing worse than looking in the mirror and seeing five cars back there when there's only two."
I was there that day. The race was delayed 4 hours, and I ended up with the worst sunburn of my life.
+joe craig in that race also jimmy horton flipped over the wall in the race. months later, nascar decided to install catch fence on oval turns to prevent any more cars going over it. daytona during early 1994 did not install catch fence, but after the 500 they installed it all around the track.
I had some locals bet me money, Earnhardt against the field. I thought it was a safe bet, since Ernie Ervin was giving him a good race.Needless to say, I lost the bet.
+Alex98 Also in that wreck with Jimmy Horton, Stanley Smith suffered a fractured skull and because of that, his career ended although I could be wrong. I'm not sure if he raced after that or not.
Brady Dicarlo never again in Cup, but drove some Southeast or Southwest races including a win at Kentucky in 2003.
Me and you both I was in the in field 7 years old red hair pale skin I got burnt but was rooting for Dale Earnhardt so it's good memories
Damn... the '93 DieHard 500 was a scary race... Horton flying over the wall, and Stanley Smith nearly gettin killed in the same crash, and then this wreck...
This race almost lived up to its name, even though it was named after a brand of car battery.
This was the July(now october) race. My dad and I took a trip to Richard Childress' shop in Welcome, NC a month after this and we saw this car sitting in the ship and got to take some close up pictures of it. This was back when you could go in a race shop and walk right up to the cars while they were working on them. I actually got to touch this car.
Wow, that’s incredible
so how does the camera hold up in the car in 1993 but now the moment the car hits anything the camera goes out.
Xodus I was just thinking the same thing! These cameras nowadays are so fragile and here in 93 it not only survives the crash, it holds in place too! Why is this??
There's several reasons:
-For one, cameras back then were heavier and more durable back then. This was in part because heavy metals were mostly used, and between that and the shee bulk of some of the cameras the weight and sheer rigidness helped them keep in place. (Cale Yarborough won the 1984 Daytona 500 with a normal television camera that had been only slightly modified). Aside the obvious technology progression, smaller cameras provided view the bulkier cousins couldn't even attempt. Between that and the fact that a full-size camera basically becoming a wrecking ball should it break free of its mountings, it made perfect sense. This doesn't cover the additional fact that as cameras became smaller, they also became cheaper to install and easier to use and maintain. And of course, we don't exactly make things as durable as we used to these days. **cough**Thanks China
-Most cameras these days are mounted on the outter-points the car. The most common places are on the right-side rollbars against the door,, on the left where the dashboard and roll-cage meet, the rear bumper, and the ever-popular roof camera (with the front-bumper camera making an occasional appearance). Compared to the center of a car, these areas will see a lot more heavier blows. This is in part to the fact that these days the cars are designed with larger crush panels.
-Another issue is just the sheer simplicity needed to obtain the footage. Back in the day, wires, cables, and an antenna were all needed to transmit the data. These respective parts were often fairly well built to ensure longevity and reliability. (This, again, was partially because TV cameras were expensive.) These days, many cameras are being made with a built-in antennas that are basically 'printed' onto microchips, and as such are not exactly expensive to produce (or to replace, for that matter). Because they tend to be small and fairly fragile, they often are within the camera's casing, but of course a hard enough whack still has not trouble damaging these things.
Hope this cleared things up.
Dat-Mudkip
u pretty much just wrote an essay
Griffin Mundell he's 100% correct on all of his points though so I give him credit
Ryan Morrison
Me too
Wow that's Neil Bonnett in a damaged car, my gosh it's bad!!!
I saw this race n TV & it sticks in my mind as one of the worse days ever in NASCAR. This was just after Davey had died & they had a pre-race tribute & everything was gloomy as hell. There was an interview w. Robt Yates & he was about incoherent w. grief. Then there was that crash w. Jimmy Horton where he went over the wall, wasn't hurt, but Stanley Smith was about killed. I don't think he's ever come back. You saw his kinfolks led into the helicopter in tears. & then this. All on the same day.
Fue un accidente muy similar al de Edwards en Talladega 2009
I was at this race,sitting just above the wreck. Neil died the following year, Feb 11 1994 at Daytona during practice driving the # 51 Countrytime car.
Bonnett should have retired. He had way to many violent crashes to be behind the wheel
Yes he should have stayed retired. All the crashes and then crashes when he came back, were mostly his fault he had serious Brain damage and could not control a race car anymore he should not even been driving a passenger car on regular roads. Everyone knew it was only time before he got killed. To Bad Dale Earnhardt his best friend should have told him Neil stay out of a race car. Now there both Gone well before they should have.
nascarfan88ta no he died in 1994
he should of retired because 1994 killed him in pratice two other drivers were adam petty and Kenny Irwin. jr
@@annieaigbe2276 Wasn't the time that Neil Bonnett was killed in a practice something like 1-2 days before the Daytona 500 in 1994? Then, it seems like somebody else was killed in a crash just 2 days later, during the 1994 Daytona 500. You just never know when your time's up. I hope you agree with me when I say ya better make sure that things are square between you and the Good LORD before something like that happens. I'd rather not take an Eternal trip downstairs. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too hot and fiery for my likin'! I'd rather be strumming a harp in Heaven, than shoveling coal with that Ol' Devil forever!
@@annieaigbe2276 he was doing what he loved tho. We should all be happy to go out that way.
Bonett should be in hall of fame
Is this the race where Neil went to the broadcast booth and called the rest of the race after the crash?
no
Yes it was.
+Eric Campbell yep!
+Eric Campbell
Yes it was...and I wish he had stayed there. The following Daytona 500 he died in a practice crash.
Yes, he certainly did; after his crash at Darlington in 1990, Neil really had absolutely *zero* business getting back into a race car, especially with the possibility that he could have died or been left a vegetable.
@primemover17 restrictor plates were added in 92 so this happened with restrictor plates
Wasn't even a few years later, he died just before the 1994 Daytona 500. This was his second last race, his last was the final race of 1993 at Atlanta.
I was at that race when Neil B.31 took the fence out. Bout 40ft. Down 25 rows up.it was crazy and scary.
I wish Neil and Dale were still here...
So you're saying the HANS came out way before 2001? Like around the time of this incident ('93)? That's interesting, as I thought the HANS device was relatively new in 2001.
those guys who installed the fence did their job well, saved a lot of people
yep, in the corner earlier in that race car over the wall.
Still miss Niel
Yeah Neil we miss u
David Krawetzki You got it right...Neil was a good guy and tough racer. I don't know why and its bad to say but I was more upset over Neil's death than Earnhardt.
+cookie1749 when did he die
Racing fan for life 18 He died in February 1994 while practicing for the 1994 Daytona 500. He hit the wall in turn 4 nearly head on, and the impact gave him a basilar skull fracture. Very similar to how Dale Earnhardt died.
February 11, 1994; as cookie1749 explains, Neil's fatal injuries were similar to those that Dale Earnhardt would later sustain at Daytona on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
The car is(or was) on display at the RCR museum I've got pictures, same with Earnhardt's Talladega Flip in 1997.
great camera work by that one guy to focus on musgrave-yes, bonnett's wreck was more spectacular but musgrave was still moving and was going across the race track-not the choice i probably would have made in the shock of the moment but great awareness
RIP Neil and Benny...and so many others from that era, unfortunately
I remember watching this race, he rolled his car, climbed out okay and sat down with the announcers narrating his crash in the booth, dang that is a brave man race car driver like Dale.
so with carl's crash just this april, this makes three races at this track where a car gets high into the fence in the tri oval.
No, the Hans in Nascar wasn't til 2001 I think. Rusty was just commenting on what he would do during a flip.
Given significance because of the wreckfest that today's race at Talladega became. This was one scary crash for Neil, and for the spectators who were sitting within LOS of where his car struck the catch fence. It was a lot like Bobby Allison's 1987 wreck, though from different circumstances because of the plate racing. The race also has significance because of a fellow named Jimmy Horton taking a flight outside the track through gaps in the catch fence between Turns 1 & 2.
This might be the scariest Talladega race ever. Neil Bonnett flipped over and got in the fence, Jimmy Horton went over the wall, and in that Jimmy Horton crash, another driver named Stan Smith almost died from a basilar skull fracture. All of this only 2 weeks after Davey Allison died at this very track in a helicopter crash, and 4 months or so after Alan Kulwicki's tragic death in March. Few could've guessed that Neil would be killed just 7 months later in a Daytona practice crash. Dark days for NASCAR and safety. Let's not forget that yesterday was the 16th anniversary of Adam Petty's death. I know this is a bit off topic but I'm so happy NASCAR has upped the safety at so many tracks.
@@paullambert7481 .....and a rookie named Rodney Orr, from Robbinsville, NC that was killed two days after Neil - the wind caught him coming out of turn four and the car(a Thunderbird) got loose , lifted and hit the caution light on the wall windshield first. It had to have been messy for the safety crews and EMT’s, he was killed instantly.
Ive seen this video a bunch, and I never noticed that. Good observation
The whiplash you see Bonnet endure really shows just how lucky he was...
After Kyle Larson went through the fence at Daytona this year, they were all, "How could we have predicted something like this?!" I've seen cars go through the catch fence in tri-ovals so many times! This one included! Plus, let's see, Geoff Bodine, Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, and Bobby Allison.
Watching this race and everything behind it gives so much perspective to how different the world is now. Just a tragic or near tragic shitshow at every turn yet everyone involved understood it was part of the job and spectacle. Bonnet ate a catchfence and called the rest of the race lol big respect. Seems dumb to most but I remember this whole race and the leadup with everything building up and the aftermath and it was honestly one of the first examples from an outside perspective as a young kid getting taught that life is rough sometimes but you gotta go hard in the paint to succeed. I learned so much about this race as a kid about life
I also posted on another video showing Carl's crash, how similar this crash was to Carl's both cars were hit by other cars launching them into the catch fence.
@BJFRacing88 Phil Parsons had a horrific crash there in 1983. And there was a big one in the spring 1973 race.
I never thought they showed an in-car view of a car flip!!!
The car Neil was driving and wrecked is now in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame located next to Talladega.
Neil should have walked away from racing after this horrible crash!!
That in car camera was tough 🤣
Yesterdays wreck was very close to this wreck. All three wrecks like this: Bobby Allison, Neil Bonnett, and Carl Edwards have all three hit in nearly the same place. It was an awesome race yesterday, I was there. No one could figure out who won for about 3 minutes. Then, Keselowski starts doing burnouts and it was made quite apparent. Things like this just happen.
I was at this race and it was his return. Richard Childress let him drive one of his cars. He was killed at Daytona in practice the same year.
I was actually at this race right in the front row where he tore through the fence and the guy 3 seats down from me lest his leg when a block on concrete from the fencepost took his leg off. I have a few small scars fro the oil burning my skin.
Do you or fresh geek have his fatal wreck...I know it happened in practice but I've never seen it...do any of you know if there as ever been footage of the crash
It’s on RUclips , Neil Bonnett Fatal Crash - you don’t get a lot of detail , it’s filmed from a great distance and the actual impact is not shown ; just the car (51) sliding,hood flapping - one report was that Neil still had a slight pulse when they finally got him out of the car, but was dead by the time he reached the hospital.
Man, that in-car camera view is intense. You typically don't want to look out the windshield and see the top of your competitor"s car.
Mike Frohman been there, done that, don't want to remember
i was at this race. i still have the hood off of Neil's car involved in this wreck.
What a shame. If only the man had stayed in the booth after this one we might still have him with us.
wasnt that rusty wallace wreck at daytona not dega?
It’s ironic and eerie that him and his best friend Dale basically died the same way at the same place on the same corner on the same track
Something shoulda told Neil "Ok, time to retire." Unfortunately, he didnt listen :(
Yes agreed. Neil Bonnett should have listened to his doctors ans should have hang up his helmet and not drove a race car again
I miss Neal, he was fun
Nope, this was with a restrictror plate. This crash, however, was pre-roof flaps. Where Bonnett spun though, he was probably going to flip anyway, even with roof flaps. If a car gets sideways in the dogleg, the air will, regardless of what you do, get under the car, and send it over.
yeah. except for Kenny Irwin later that year at Loudon. people tend to forget that.. Dale's death overshadowed pretty much everything that year.
The catch fence crashes are the worse.
Yes, indeed; in fact, many of the crashes that involve a driver going into the catch fence cause the race to have to be stopped for a period of time; perhaps, however, none were worse than the crashes involving Neil Bonnett in 1993 and Bobby Allison six years earlier.
EricEbac22 You left out Geoff Bodine's Craftsman Truck Series crash.
Kyle Larson was bad to!
Trevor Yates As if I wouldn't know!
Check out my compilation of all the angles of the crash on my channel!
& Parker Kligerman!
Bonnet and Gant were great guys and racers to the sport.
He's had a lot of hard crashes, but with all the safety improvements he's never been injured. 2 Allisons and Neil Bonnett are dead. Davey Allison wasn't in a car crash, but it was still NASCAR-affiliated activities.
But yes, Jeff Gordon's had some hard crashes. Pocono, Charlotte and Las Vegas awhile back, Watkins Glen in 2010, Richmond in spring 2011, etc.
I wonder how all those cameras survived back then?
That is insane. Wow.
wat series is this busch or winston
@BJFRacing88
...with the honorable mention given to Bobby Labonte's 'Dega wreck in '01, as he went off in an stupid/suicidal move
Bonnet's car lost its bonnet.
lol
Absolutely dreadful.
I love Talladega.
And the whole track is wider...that's why they can go three and four wide in the tri-oval...At Daytona, three wide is pushing it.
Actually I thought that there was a type of HANS device out....not HANS but there was a head and neck device because I remember Earnhardt and several others considered it as a noose.
Dale wouldn’t wear it - said it looked like a horse collar , terrified it would trap him in the car - in this interview with Darrell Waltrip , he said that his biggest fear in a race car was fire. You have only to see Gary Batson’s crash at Charlotte - pinned up against the wall sideways by the other car and on fire with no way out - to see Dale’s point.
I can't imagine what a bottom-first impact must feel like.
@NascarFreak3 its actually quite similar to the carl edwards crash in 2009. just the way he hit the fence
I think an otherworldly force was trying to tell Neil to (GET OUT).I had something similar when I raced, the last event i competed in; strange things just kept on happening.The car made a move all on it's own and veered into the infield grass, which scared the shit out of me, that was during qualifying. The heat race i could not get the bottom belts tight, so i missed that race, when the final race came up, i climbed in got the bottom belts tight, flipped the ignition switch on hit the starter..... and the thing was dead. I climbed out we checked the kill switch and tried to crank it, still there was nothin, so we flipped open the battery box. And this is NO LIE, the negative cable was severed. A while after that i hung up my helmet and called it quits, I later sold my race car 1971 Monte Carlo, to this day I'm convinced the car was haunted. Either that or someone was looking out on me.
.......and to think people laughed when Bobby Isaac pitted , (at Talladega , no less)climbed out of the car and said voices told him to quit. He died after having a heat stroke during a late model race at Hickory in 1977.
@@ervinthompson6598 Racing a Car around a track is a weird world. I think I was most frightened just before I'd get on the track. When we'd all be sitting on pit road, because you have nothing to do but think about what's gonna happen. The only thing I can compare it too is the Soldiers sitting in the landing crafts at Normandy. And yes just like Robert Duvall said: GET OUT OF THAT RACE CAR GET OUUUUUUUUUT. Stock Car Racing can be down right spooky.
Actually, Kenny Irwin died in 2000, about six months before Dale.
the great part is after this crash he went and helped to commentary for the rest of the race
Poor Neil just couldn't escape the crashes...
Nearly died in 1990 after his crash at Darlington, then in his first race back he did this... then he had to drop out of the next race, which was the final race of 93... then didn't get a chance to drive again when he died in a pratice run for the 94 Daytona 500 :(
@munchkinthecat give me a break he died doing what he loved
If Neil had just retired after this accident
Your right. I have to say he probably should have retired after his head injury he suffered in that race at Darlington in 1990.
wow after watching the talladega race, carl edwards crash reminiscence from neil bonnets....by the way can't believe it was sixteen-years ago.
Just a preference at RCR. Dale Srs interior was always red.
a lot of catch fence crashes this, Carl Edwards, Ricky craven, Bobby Alison, Kyle Larson, Geoff bodine and more
One other thing I remember thinking, about Neil Bonnet. I thought-that man won't be satisfied until he kills himself in a racecar. And a few months later he was dead. I thought it was a terrible waste. I'm no race driver so maybe I have no right to talk about it, and of course I didn't know Bonnett, but there's a time when a guy's friends should take away the keys. He was a great announcer & could still be with us on TV, but he was determined to kill himself in a race car.
Back then, you could only go by how he acted, and what he told you. They didn't have the expertise to determine how bad head injuries piled up affected a person. They still can't be sure today. But they are getting better all the time.
wasnt this the same race that jimmy horton flipped over the wall
@AngerIsOurGift It was a pair of freak accidents. Not the track's fault. Just circumstance.
GEEZ...THESE FIRE AND RESCUE TEAMS ON THESE TRACKS ARE BETTER THAN MOST CITY SQUADS!
Neil Bonnett's 1st And Only NASCAR Flip Before His Death In 1994.
He flipped at both tracks during the same year.
I actually think this crash was a lot worse than Carl's. Neil rolled on the track a few times while Carl only went into the fence after Newman plowed into him. Hope yesterday's fans are doing ok.
When they first came out with the Hans, Rusty Wallace said that he didn't like it because he liked to put his head between his legs when the car started to flip.
......Earnhardt flatly wouldn’t wear it either, said it looked like a horse collar ; “not proven”- he told Darrell Waltrip in a TV interview that his biggest fear in a race car was fire, and that he’d be trapped ( this was borne out long after he died when Junior wrecked the Corvette on the road course and many who watched fire engulf the car’s interior feared the worst until he managed to get out - it scared him badly.
Sadly, Bonnet did not survive a crash at Daytona seven months later.
Neil was around before I really got into NASCAR but I wish we had more guys around like him. These young guys stoday, most of them, don't know what it's like to come up in a piece of crap car and have to prove themselves. They scouted, get big sponsorship money, and a big team signs them. No doubt, many of them are talented but it's not the same when Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton, and Bobby Labonte are the old folks in the garage every week.
The in car camera didn't lose a pixel, miss a frame... They don't make em like they used to. RIP buddy.
he was killed at daytona, but not testing for earnhardt. he was doing practise laps to qualify for the 500.
Actually, Brad didn't get the fence at all. And the Larson crash is the first time I've actually seen the car go THROUGH it, the others just got tangled up with it
You know where I can find it?
@TeamAutoBots In this same race in '93 Jimmy Horton went over the wall in turn one...which is why they put up the fence there. If it hadn't been for that, Ricky Craven would have gone over the wall in '96.
Everybody does, the sport hasn't been the same since.....
winston. this race had the davey allison tribute in it.
Some drivers are just cursed. Neil Bonnett and the Allison family definitely lead the list.
This is when racing was real racing 🙌🙌🙌👏👏👏rip Bonnet
What a hell of a view Phil Parson had in that yellow #41
"I rekon that rung my bell"
Dale Earnhardt
i dont remember a car hitting the catch fence in nascar for a few years now.
yes, i agree with that... safety on 1st place!! :)
Why do they move when they crash?