The Top 5 Cars That Did Not Survive Daytona

Winning at Daytona does not always mean a trip to Victory Lane.

Winning can be as simple as avoiding the "Big One" and bringing your car home in one piece.

Several drivers were not that lucky on Saturday night.

Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin, Joey Lagano, and Kyle Busch all went home with one less race car in their stables.

Although one good thing did emerge from this carnage:

Every driver walked away relatively unhurt.

NASCAR has made significant advances in safety, and restrictor plate racing regularly tests those advances. The COT has proved its worth time and time again.

While failure is not an option, failure is inevitable.

On the following pages you will see pictures of what is left of five race cars. The cars in these pictures are a testament to the dangers of racing, especially restrictor plate racing, and NASCAR's ongoing commitment to improving safety.

All pictures, except the title picture, are copyrighted to David Yeazell.

Nose Job

Race cars are made to race on a smooth surface, not in the grass or dirt.

Mark Martin was involved in an early scuffle and ended up taking a ride through the infield and the nose of a COT was easily damaged.

Here you can the severity of damage to the front nose of Martin's Car.

Face Lift

Here you can see that the whole front end of Martin's car has been removed.

Damage was isolated to the front area, but also included some structural damage. The protective cage and engine cradle are still intact. Martin tried to return, but could not.

Caution Flag

Earnhardt Jr. passes the disabled car of Sam Hornish Jr.

Hornish Jr. had a tire failing which caused him to temporarily lose control.
The caution flag would fly shortly, and so would Jr.

Out of the Race

Following the caution flag, Jr. was caught up in a multiple car crash.

The car was brought straight to the garage.

As you can see, the damage, like Martin's, was on the front of the car, but was much more severe.

Notice the frame structure just above the wheel hub; it is buckled severely.
Earnhardt Jr. would never return to the race.

Danger Ahead

Kyle Busch leads Tony Stewart through the tri-oval area at Daytona.

How cliche is it that Stewart's sponsor for this race is Burger King.

Before this lap is over, there will be a Whopper of a crash.

Face Plant

Busch's car would go face first into the retaining wall. Its estimated he hit the wall at about 170mph.

Notice how the front clip was split in half from the impact. The super structure of the frame is buckled some, but did not penetrate the cockpit of the car.

It was the first of three impacts Busch would endure.

Assured Clear Distance

Kasey Kahne was the second car to hit Kyle Busch.

Although he was slowing down rapidly, Kahne still hit Busch in the rear end at over 100 mph.

Notice how the rear of the car is all but destroyed, including the damaged cage structure, and the roof flaps.

The fuel cell, arguably one of NASCAR's most innovative safety features, is still safely intact and undamaged.

Drop Zone

The front of Kasey Kahne's car is crushed.

Notice the frame structure protruding out the front of the car.

Just above the crew member's hand is a large hole in the windshield.

What ever made that hole, went through the windshield just slightly to the right of Kahne's head.

The large white object you see is the engine breather. It was impaled by the carbourater body.

Just below the breather case, you will see where the roof panel is buckled, probablly from the 3000lb impact of Busch's car.

Kahne was unhurt, but did complain of shortness of breath on his way to the infield hospital.

Bumper Car

Joey Lagano was the third car to hit Kyle Busch.

Lagano would T-Bone Busch in the driver's side door, again at around 100 mph.

In this picture you can see how the front of Lagano's car buckled downwards, carrying the impact energy away from the driver compartment.

The super structure did its job, but did buckle and begin to protrude through the front of the car.

Lagano was unhurt.

On to Chicagoland

Kyle Busch has a lot to smile about.

Although he did not win the race, Busch did survive a horrific crash.

NASCAR's many years of technology innovations and improvements prepared them for what happened at Saturday's race.

That preparation may have saved the lives of Kyle Busch and a few others.