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See the Crash That Nearly Impaled NASCAR Veteran Mark Martin

Aug. 20, 2012 10:46am Jonathon M. Seidl

Even casual NASCAR fans know the name Mark Martin. But his name was almost introduced to the masses yesterday after a crash sent him careening into a wall. And just wait until you see how it happened and how lucky Martin is to be alive.

Mark Martin Crash on Pit Road Nearly Impales Him

BROOKLYN, MI - AUGUST 19: Safety crews tend to the #55 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota driven by Mark Martin after he was involved in an on track incidentduring the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway on August 19, 2012 in Brooklyn, Michigan. Credit: Getty Images for NASCAR

How bad was it? Brad Keselowski was in the middle of a news conference after his second-place finish Sunday in the NASCAR Sprint Cup race when he became distracted by a replay on TV.

It was Mark Martin’s car slamming violently into the end of a short, narrow barrier on pit road during the first half of the race.

“Whoa. Damn,” Keselowski said, stopping in the middle of an answer to a reporter’s question. “That’s the first time I’d seen that. Jeez. My God.”

Martin’s car was essentially impaled by the end of the wall just behind where the driver sits. And while Martin walked away, the crash raises questions about whether that spot – a gap in the barrier on pit road that leaves the edge of the wall exposed – creates a safety risk.

Watch it below:

“Could have been a lot worse than it was,” Keselowski said. “Over the course of time, we get complacent and think that we’ve hit all the buttons on the safety side. Then you see something like that. It shows why you have to never quit working at making these cars and tracks safer because that could have been a lot worse, whether it was for Mark or for the crew members or anybody.”

MIS later released a statement.

“The safety of the drivers is paramount,” a spokeswoman said. “So we will seek NASCAR’s opinion and work with them on any recommendations they may have on how we can improve any part of the competition area – that includes pit road, pit wall, the track, anything competition-related.”

Martin was the pole sitter and led most of the first 65 laps of the race – which ended abruptly for him.

“I was hoping that I was going to miss the pit wall completely and not tear the car up, but then I saw that the angle I was going that I was going to hit the end of pit wall,” Martin said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Comments (47)

stinkydroolface
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 10:42pm
And there are Sunoco Fuel Tankers parked behind there. You think they need to re think this? If he had spun in between there……….. One foot one way or the other on that wall and he would not be with us today.

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ktmrider1
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 9:51pm
hey arent you supposed to be retired Mark? you almost died there, I think you just got a wakeup call

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Blazin Glory
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 9:15pm
Not lucky, its called safety equiment. I cant believe they said he was lucky. Ignorance is bliss !

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- DarkWolf
  Posted on August 21, 2012 at 12:28pm
  I was there, if he had hit that barrier 2 feet closer to the front of the car, it would have went though his door and he would have been killed. I call it blessed.
  
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chkiaar
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 5:49pm
I’m happy for Mark to be able to walk away from his crash yesterday, it was close.

But, as an owner of two dirt open wheel cars and the father of the driver, I am WELL AWARE of the dangers involved with racing…and NOTHING is 100% safe. Life interjects-

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- katamb55
  Posted on August 20, 2012 at 6:07pm
  And of course ESPN was out to commercial when it happened and didn’t have side-by-side (if they ever do). Sure miss it when the races aren’t on Fox – better coverage, better commentators, better in every way.
  
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lefty5005
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:44pm
Bob Glidden rolled his Prostock NHRA dragster “end over end” several years ago at 188 mph. He walked out with a scratch on his arm. He said funny car roll cages were mandated the year before or he would be dead. Safety has a purpose and it wasn’t invented by Obama or the Federal government. Henry Ford had a stamping machine in his plant that took a couple of hands back in the 30′s. The engineers designed it where it took two hands to press two buttons to stamp the metal to make a fender or whatever body part it was designed for and alleviated the problem. Industry would solve it’s own problems if given a chance and not at the end of a bayonet. America is full of enterprising, smart people who can figure things out but 100% safety record is impossible to attain and you can’t legislate it either.

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blair152
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:42pm
I chose NOT to watch the video. Too graphic.

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- MAULEMALL
  Posted on August 20, 2012 at 6:41pm
  no problem barock
  
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- Jaimo
  Posted on August 21, 2012 at 12:16pm
  That video wasn’t graphic, Gees. Get a grip. I’ve seen way worse in NASCAR over the last 20 years.
  
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BobM
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:37pm
This wreck wasn’t SQUAT! This is the WORST I’ve ever seen. Michael Waltrip at Bristol 1990.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=uzxcuV5rmA4

This “ride” that Mark took back in 1994 at Talledega was worst that this one at Michigan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=49A5hf6lJeQ
BTW, I WAS THERE about 75 ft from the wreck site standing on top of Sterling Marlin’s motorhome. He walked away from this one with just some sore cojones.

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- pitman44
  Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:57pm
  Here’s Mark Harmon’s wreck at Bristol in 2002. It’s amazing he was able to walk away from this. A few inches and the story would have been different. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuzCc0hBKYE
  
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- pickupyurcross
  Posted on August 20, 2012 at 6:20pm
  I agree about Michael Waltrip’s Bristol wreck. I remember talking on the phone with my dad when it happened and telling him that I think Michael Waltrip just got killed. Amazing. Glad Mark is ok. A foot further towards the front and he wouldn’t have been.
  
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- Stelex
  Posted on August 20, 2012 at 7:56pm
  I agree its not the most impressive wreck, but if he had hit 3 or 4 feet forward. He’d be dead. Watch how far the wall penetrates the vehicle. He’d be paste at this point. Gotta love Mark.
  
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- Armugalut
  Posted on August 20, 2012 at 11:43pm
  check this one out too with Geoff Bodine in the Daytona Truck Race 2000….Has to be the worst crash in NASCAR history where someone walked away from
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k55h0XCF1t8
  
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Michael
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 4:14pm
I’m so glad Mark Martin is okay. He’s at least 53 years old, and still driving. Gets out of that wreck and only thanks those that make it possible for him to drive. Unfortunately, we don’t see that in many sports figures these days. He’s a class act…always.

My heart broke for him when that punk Harvick nosed by him to win the Daytona 500 a few years ago. Even then, his comments were pure grace.

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Calamity Jane
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 3:51pm
Nasty crash!!!!!!….As long as you can walk away from it, I guess it wasn’t that bad!……The wild thing is the fact that Martin will be behind the wheel at the next NASCAR event…….Talk about “big ones!”

Blaze/Jonathon M. Seidl…….Who writes these headlines….interns? Look up the definition of “impale”…..im•pale [ im páyl ] spear: to pierce somebody or something with a pointed object.

One may be impaled on/with a metal bar such as rebar or a pipe……One may be impaled on/with a length of lumber such as a 2 x 4…….One may be impaled by a spear thrown by your friendly neighborhood head hunter……You get the idea.

It is amazing what a wealth of information is contained within the pages of a Dictionary or Thesaurus.

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THX-1138
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 3:18pm
Man, I’m glad that turned out OK.

I’d still be cleaning out my shorts…

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eternal_vigilance
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 2:33pm
@whiteinfidel

you can’t read or you just don’t believe me?

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worldgonenuts
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 2:06pm
Right as Mark goes down the pit road, love and behold, there is the camera man that doesn’t move. Gotta get that shot, lol!

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- sillyfreshness
  Posted on August 20, 2012 at 2:22pm
  “the crash raises questions about whether that spot – a gap in the barrier on pit road that leaves the edge of the wall exposed – creates a safety risk.”
  
  Um, yeah I think that question has now been answered. YES!
  
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- normalmom
  Posted on August 20, 2012 at 3:32pm
  silly the gap on pit road is for cars to go into the garage. It makes it safer to not have to push some cars that won’t run all the way down pit road and get hit by a faster moving car trying to get to their pit spot.
  
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Tickdog
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 1:55pm
wow.that could have been really bad..

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- OutOfTheAether
  Posted on August 20, 2012 at 2:21pm
  for sure. two more feet toward the front, and they would have been carrying him out on a stretcher, if not a body bag
  
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LeadNotFollow
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 1:32pm
…
Glad Mark Martin is okay.
Mark is a great driver and a true gentleman. He’s one of my favorite drivers.
Mark doesn’t drive dirty or wreck people like Juan Pablo Montoya does.
Mark isn’t a hot-headed temperamental driver like Tony Stewart.

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- XScramblerX
  Posted on August 20, 2012 at 2:14pm
  I like Martin too! I’m glad he’s not diving the VIAGRA car anymore. I wan’t to buy a race jacket, but not one with VIAGRA across the back.
  
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teddrunk
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 1:01pm
It really isn’t that big a deal. He has a full roll cage with the horizontal side bars ending at the “B” pillar, so what the wall hit was mostly sheet metal and a the very bottom of the rear roll tube. The wall hit behind the seat.

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- Whiteinfidel
  Posted on August 20, 2012 at 2:25pm
  Are you nuts, that wall went right through the frame and all, two feet forward and he was a dead man!
  
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- oicu814me2
  Posted on August 20, 2012 at 3:05pm
  your right. no big deal. the wall went behind the cage. mosty sheet metal. if it were alitte bit forward then it would have hit the masive amount of bar protection
  
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eternal_vigilance
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 12:41pm
I really don’t understand everyone’s concern. At that speed a direct hit to the door area would have impacted the cage. While the resulting vibration may have smarted and could also hurt the brain the resulting “damage” to the structure would have been minimal. There is NO cage structure around the wheelwell area so the impact was behind the cage and in front of the rear wheel which is essentially a void. Now if something was at window height (which I did not observe) that indeed could have been an issue.

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Buddynoel
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 12:37pm
Everyone was concerned with the wall cutting the car in half, but I noticed how close he came to sliding behind the wall where the #5 team had cans of gas and their portable tower. This could have been A LOT WORSE. Michigan will no doubt have a secondary wall built that bends around the corner before the end of this week. Doubt they will wait very long.

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- oicu814me2
  Posted on August 20, 2012 at 3:06pm
  Yes. if he would have missed the first part of the wall then it looked like he could have slide behind the wall. that would have bee bad
  
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DarthMims
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 12:11pm
Mark has a knack for unusual crashes that test how well a car is built. I remember years ago when he drove the 6 Valvoline Ford for Roush, he was involved in a spin at Talladega and got the car straightened up, but the throttle hung and he drove straight through a temporary road barrier and two chain link fences before coming to a crashing halt when he hit a guardrail backed up by the state of Alabama, all at around 150 mph. Mark got out and immediately reached for the one place he was hurting; where his safety harness had stopped him from going through the windshield, catching him between the legs.

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Bone_Lee_Tadpole
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 11:42am
Ironic how he almost took out his old #5 crew…

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- Unbelievable
  Posted on August 20, 2012 at 12:08pm
  Dang… I didn’t even think about that… I noticed it was Kasey’s pitbox but didn’t even put 2 and 2 together!
  
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- BlesstheJews
  Posted on August 20, 2012 at 3:14pm
  You’re right, I didnt think of that. Very irnic indeed!
  
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Indymaverick
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 11:13am
Glad he`s ok. About three feet and it could have been worse.

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Dirty Harry
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 11:09am
Wasn’t much of a Martin fan. I am now! What a cool, collected, neat guy.

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- brezzeone
  Posted on August 20, 2012 at 11:23am
  Martin has always been a stand up guy
  
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- harley3
  Posted on August 20, 2012 at 12:13pm
  BREZZEONE nailed it. Mark Martin is one of the classiest guys in all of sports.
  
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BlackAce41
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 10:56am
Thank god he is okay…

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- Sirfoldallot
  Posted on August 20, 2012 at 11:17am
  yes , & the safety NASCAR put in place.
  
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Arc
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 10:54am
NASCAR’s concern for safety will correct that problem ASAP.

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LIBERTY 4 LIFE
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 10:53am
I watched the race yesterday and was shocked at how savage that crash was. Thankfully it contacted that barrier just behind the driver seat or he would probably be dead.

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Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on August 20, 2012 at 10:53am
That is a good example why you shouldn’t try and text, make a sandwich, drink a soda, and check email when you drive, especially going at 200mph. Plus, I noticed, he didn’t use his blinker, typical southern driver…”Hey, what’s that clicking noise?”

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- contkmi
  Posted on August 20, 2012 at 11:57am
  ROFL Loves me some Henry Cho.
  
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- pissantno.10
  Posted on August 20, 2012 at 12:15pm
  ya i all ways try to keep down to 80. but thats why martin gets the big bucks gald he is ok
  
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