Humpy Bumper News UPDATE 2 Testing at LMS today: Development of the energy-absorbing “Humpy Bumper,” which is being tested by Las Vegas-based Lew Composites, will continue despite ominous remarks by NASCAR president Mike Helton during Tuesday’s press conference to announce the findings of a six-month investigation into the death of Dale Earnhardt. Paul Lew, president of Lew Composites and one of the designers of the “Humpy Bumper,” told the Sun last week that he anticipated the device would be approved by NASCAR and could be used on Winston Cup cars in race conditions “in the month of September.” After watching Tuesday’s announcement, Lew said his project would proceed as planned. Lew has a public test of the device scheduled for next Tuesday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. At that time, Winston Cup teams will have a chance to see the bumper perform in a crash test. H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler, president and chief operating officer of Speedway Motorsports, Inc., and the person for whom the “Humpy Bumper” is named, said he hopes the device will be approved by NASCAR and available to teams by the end of the season.(Las Vegas Sun)(8-23-2001) UPDATE: H.A. Humpy Wheeler, president and general manager of Lowes Motor Speedway, and Paul Lew of Lew Composites will be on hand to oversee a full-scale crash test of the energy-absorbing composite device nicknamed the Humpy Bumper on Tuesday, Aug. 28 starting at 1:30pm/et. The composite bumper will be fitted on a NASCAR Winston Cup stock car that is then propelled into the turn one wall at Lowes Motor Speedway. Media members will be able to inspect the car following the crash test and parties involved in the bumpers design and construction will be available for interviews. This crash will be the final step in a series of extensive tests that began in May and data and information from those earlier tests will be available(Lowes Motor Speedway PR).(8-24-2001) UPDATE 2: In a demonstration staged largely for the media, the focus wasn’t on a test car circling the track, but rather purposely taking a violent, right front hit into the wall at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The car was a white Chevrolet Monte Carlo. The wall speed was extremely high, near 40 miles an hour, or about the same as experienced in Dale Earnhardt’s crash during the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 18. The damage to the test car, though, didn’t appear as severe as might be expected — presumably, thanks to a “Humpy Bumper,” an impact-absorbing device installed in the nose between the radiator and motor. The wall failed to devour the front of the car. The motor remained firmly attached. It was a flawless demonstration, if you overlook the car bouncing off the wall, redirecting itself down the embankment and forcing several onlookers to scramble frantically out of its way. Las Vegas-based engineer Paul Lew (of Lew Composites), the mind behind the project, says the bumper can cut in half the energy drivers’ absorb in a crash. Lowe’s president/general manager H. A. “Humpy” Wheeler says the safety device is ready for use today, adding, “What we’re talking about here is saving lives.”(see full story at CNN/SI – Test crash – ‘Humpy Bumper’ has flawless demonstration; AND Researchers tested the energy-absorbing Humpy Bumper on Tuesday by sending a remote-controlled Winston Cup car crashing into a wall as a NASCAR official watched. All indications were that the test at Lowe’s Motor Speedway was a success, but the damage and data from a “black box” inside the car still must be analyzed. Humpy Wheeler, president of the speedway, said he would meet with NASCAR next week to discuss the results. “It’s up to NASCAR from here,” Wheeler said. “They’ll look at what we have and either say, ‘We like it, go ahead and start manufacturing it’ or, ‘We’d like for you to look at it further with some more tests.’ “Ideally, they’ll like it and we can get it on the cars as soon as possible.” The Humpy Bumper is designed to address concerns about the rigidity of the front of stock cars and the lack of any sort of bumper to absorb the energy from a crash. The stiffness in the cars has been an issue the past year because of the deaths of Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin and Dale Earnhardt in wrecks. The cars have grown increasingly rigid over the years because it allows crew chiefs to accurately make suspension settings.(See full story at ESPN: NASCAR official watched test); and for past news on the Humpy Bumper, see my Safety News/Links page(8-28-2001)
