NASCAR’s investigation after the Daytona 500 of Michael Waltrip’s battered stock car revealed that the roof escape hatch, while bent, held firm. The team said Waltrip, who at 6-foot-5 is the tallest Nextel Cup driver, will continue to use the escape hatch design on his car. Waltrip’s #15 NAPA Chevy went into a tight barrel roll, flipping at least three times, on the back straightaway in the first half of the 500 and came to rest on its roof on the infield grass. The roof hatch “bowed” according the Waltrip’s crew chief Slugger Labbe, but the structure remained intact. “The flip he took, he landed on the right front corner of the roof and it pushed the halo over to the left and the roll cage shrunk on the top, so to speak, and the roof hatch was the weakest point and it bowed in a little bit,” Labbe said. “The pins still released and everything. The pins did their job but the roof hatch was caved in but that was probably one of the worst flips you will ever see.” The battered car was shipped directly from Daytona International Speedway to the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, NC, for study. Gary Nelson, managing director of the R&D facility, said the car was inspected Tuesday and Wednesday by NASCAR engineers then released to Labbe Thursday morning. “The whole top was crumpled and bent but the integrity of the escape hatch were still there,” Nelson said. “The hinges were still connected to all the parts which is what we look at. We haven’t found that any of the systems were compromised,” Nelson said. “None of the systems had gone bad. None of the systems, such as roll bars, driver restraints, any of the things designed to protect the driver, were compromised.” Waltrip was pinned in his car for several minutes but Labbe said his movement was not limited by the bent roof hatch. Waltrip’s car won’t be heading to the junkyard. Teresa Earnhardt, who owns Dale Earnhardt Inc., said the stock car would be put on display in the Earnhardt Museum, located at the massive DEI race shop near Charlotte, NC.[Mooresville](Daytona Beach News Journal)(2-22-2004)
