If you’ve ever wondered how they follow your favorite driver down the track at speed then it is likely, if you watched the Coca-Cola 600, that you now know…
The same answer also explains why your DVR does not have the last laps of the race…
A camera on cables and wheels is on a motorized pulley system that can run at speed with the cars down the track. The belt that drives the camera down the length snapped and the loose ends feel to the track slicing through the front of the #18 and tangling the drive and brakes of the #9.
Other cars may have experienced other damage from the downed belts and ropes which had to be gathered and removed from the racing area. NASCAR red-flagged the race but also set in motion a rare instance of allowing crews to check and fix their cars. Red flag rules keep teams from working but in this case the stop was unrelated to the racing and was a result of systems in place to show us the racing.
The race was held for quite some time while the bits were either picked up or redone. The right side of the #18 was practically ripped out and rebuilt. The #9 underwent a “cable=ectomy” while the undercarriage was inspected and brake lines reset. Other teams checked conditions, tires and ate sandwiches. FOX apologized for the camera mishap and played more commercials. Fans likely had another beer or three…
Except for ten of them reported to have been injure in some way by the downed cabling. Reports list three as being hospitilized while the others were treated on site at Charlotte Motor Speedway… All are reported to be safe with minor abrasions or bruises from contact with the camera support ropes which fell.
There was another red flag later in the race when Aric Almirola, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin were wrecked. Blown engines caused more caution including the #88 of Dale Jr. and the troubled #18 of Kyle Busch.
Kevin Harvick wound up in Victory Lane shortly after 11:30pm. Denny Hamlin, starting on the pole, came in fourth. Any concerns over his previous back injuries are passing away with good finishes. Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch were second and third. Busch seems to be getting a handle on the little #78 team and making a good show of it.
Funny, however, with the unprecedented camera cable red flag, that many are still on blogs and comments dragging at Danica Patrick for a wreck that damaged her #10 GoDaddy car and took the #2 of Brad Keselowski out with damage. Three wide with Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. low, Keselowski high and Patrick between the #10 drifted up slightly touching the rear of the #2 putting both into a spin. A close look at thr replay shows the #17 of Stenhouse go ever slightly loose which likely caused Patrick to react touching off the caution.
If any other car was caught in that squeeze it would have been “just racing” but as it was Patrick the comments once again light up over her being on the track in the first place. By the buzz on the ‘net you’d think Danica somehow bewitched the camera cabling to set everything else off pace…
Johnson keeps the points lead. Harvick grabs a second win for the season and Hamlin seems in good form after missing out.
…And track cameras may qualify for NASCAR penalties. That is unless FOX can argue the camera was from an approved supplier and not modified beyond NASCAR specs…