Wheeler defends the Bumper: Lowe’s Motor Speedway president H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler took issue Thursday with NASCAR’s comments regarding the so-called “Humpy Bumper,” an energy-absorbing bumper designed by Lew Composites of Las Vegas. The bumper, which would fit on the front of NASCAR race cars, is made of a composite material called directional carbon fiber. “With all due respect to NASCAR’s `experts,’ we obviously need to do a better job of explaining how this energy-absorbing bumper works,” Wheeler said. “The difficulty in understanding this bumper is that it is made of directional carbon fiber. “Only five percent of all carbon fiber usage is directional. Therefore, only those who work closely with it really understand its remarkable ability to redirect energy.” Wheeler also took issue with statements from Pyne that testing conducted with the bumper had not been done at speeds close to those in accidents that have killed five stock car drivers over the past 17 months. “While some tests were run at slower speeds, most were in the proper range. The crash test at Charlotte, witnessed by the media, was at a wall speed in excess of 40 mph, similar to Dale Earnhardt’s accident,” Wheeler said. Wheeler said he hoped NASCAR officials and Lew and his associates could meet to help establish “better communication” regarding the bumper(That’s Racin’)(10-19-2001)
