Jeff Gordon?whose Nicorette Impala, despite the somewhat unconventional sponsorship package, was looking really spiffy in its new green-flame paintjob?took a freakin' hard lick in the last five laps of the record-setting carnage at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during the Sprint Cup race on Sunday afternoon. The wall he ran up against was the rock-solid infield wall, which doesn't have any of the give of the Steel and Foam Energy-Reduction (SAFER) barrier that insulates the outside perimeter of the track from the grandstands. Gordon's car disintegrated under the force of the brutal impact, throwing its hood into the windshield and spewing parts, sheet metal and fluids into the path of the oncoming pack, but luckily managing not to damage any other cars with its barrage of shrapnel. In the video, you can see the Impala's whole radiator lying at least a hundred feet from the car after getting thrown free, and in a later interview, Gordon said he looked down after the crash and saw only a hole where the transmission used to be. Gordon was okay and relatively unruffled in the midst of a race where wall contact took out many of NASCAR's big dogs?including Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart, who hobbled painfully away from his wrecked Toyota earlier in the race. The incident brings to mind the real challenge of track safety at speeds approaching 200 mph. While it's easy to get caught up in the popular disdain for NASCAR's stringent rules, and while I'm as fascinated by a big wreck as the next fan, it's obviously no fun at all when the drivers get hurt. It's a relief to see that the blimpy Car of Tomorrow is actually doing its job, taking the brunt of the most punishing impacts so that the drivers don't have to.
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