1991 WatkinsGlen - Tommy Kendall crash

[@CamelSmokes23]

Now that was a grade a corner worker. Gave proper signals for ambulance needed and leg injuries. Some guys arrive to the scene and lose their heads.

[@fastfortress]

Wasn't this the crash they talked about when JD McDuffy fataly crashed in that corner?

[@mikesoct82484]

Yes

[@Tirafoxxo]

ya rip JD

[@mid.life.crisis2955]

It's weirdly similar how they both lost wheels before they crashed.

[@rcdyer]

Yes, his was fatal. Bodine's was not. Johnson's was not as well as Kendall

[@Twobarpsi]

Saw this live.

[@arrivendrive6831]

I met Tommy Kendall at an Imsa race in Daytona a few years ago. I am 6ft2 and I only looked up to two drivers. Boris Said and Tommy Kendall. Both great down to earth guys who can drive the hell out of a car. Glad the T.K was ok after that crash.

[@kwasg3]

Well he wasn't exactly OK. This was a career ending crash to any lesser of a driver.

[@ck7813]

Tommy was still one of the best road racers in the Trans Am series a few years later for Jack Roush. I remember seeing an interview probably 5 years after this accident where Tommy spoke about the injuries to his legs affected his driving and he did not feel like he was as an effective driver as before the injuries. I wonder where his career would have ended up if not for this accident...

[@kornnut43]

Video of this wreck gives me phantom leg pains whenever I see it... damn. Makes his Trans-Am dominance of the mid-to-late 90's even more impressive, if he never really recovered 100%!

[@maynardwaltrip]

@ballsthatclank Bob Varsha and David Hobbs are some of the BEST in the business!

[@cptdraco13]

Just saw Tommy today. He's still a great guy and doing fine. He has a little limp but is doing great. He sure drove the hell out of our car this weekend as a special guest driver.

[@jonnyspa27]

Man, I forgot how ACUTE of an angle he struck and absolutely no tire barrier to speak of. Lucky man to still be with us today, let alone even competitively drive again and dominate Trans-Am racing.

[@eddyb3179]

Sure there is. Right there. See it? Big black things

[@supertornadogun1690]

@@eddyb3179 Not to mention it's armco behind it rather than concrete.

[@BOWGUY3015]

If anyone is intrested Tommy was on Adam Carolla's Car Cast Podcast in late Aug.

[@squishll6158]

me tommy kendall and my dad are freinds Tommy has a limp when he walks due to this crash

[@extremedrivr]

Thank goodness your still with us Tommy

[@Jwags15w]

I've been looking for this for 15 years, thanks!

[@LASTCARonBROCK]

It stinks Kendall got in this wreck; he did really well in the NASCAR race at Sears Point that year and would've been strong in the NASCAR race at the Glen that year as well.

[@Omnibot87]

Thank you for the info. My family thinks I am morbid for looking at these crashes, along with the fatal's, but I can't control myself, Its really true you can't look away.

[@lonewolf2513]

That version of Watkins Glen was the definition of brutality

[@wawwwaaa]

thanx for posting...glad to see he was more fortunate than J.D. McDuffie...R.I.P man

[@ixlr8677]

jd loved what he did.

[@rossbmarvin3rd]

I remember watching this race, and the one that killed JD McDuffie. As a result they added the "bus stop" chicane. I loved watching those old IMSA race; GTP, GTO, GTU. Some great races. Loved the Geoff Brabham Nissan. What a dominator it was.

[@cfoster81]

As well as Dan Gurney's Toyota Eagle Mark III & Mark IV

[@wez492]

A week or 2 later , DW has his insane wreck @ Daytona. You hear Bob Jenkins mentions Tommys ,this very accident while analyzing DWs wreck.

[@DrSamwpepper]

The same corner that Mcduffie losr his life,that probobly what the tire falling off JD's car looked like. Miraculous that Kendall survived this,IMSA's safety record is amazing.

[@dabooda49]

Was that his body thrown around?

[@jesuschristislord6790]

the way the metal peals off the car it looks like it has thrown the driver out of the car, but its just the way the metal looks. odd

[@bagonmyhip]

@fastfortress Yes McDuffie's crash was a few weeks after Kendall's

[@BadBooking]

Fortunately for Tommy, he didn't go airborne in a way that the car would land on a guardrail. Sure he was very badly hurt, don't get me wrong, my point is that it could have been a heckuva lot worse.

[@WhiteHatBobby]

The car is actually called the Pratt & Miller Intrepid chassis with the Chevrolet engine -- Intrepid-Chevrolet, as it's called.

[@cfoster81]

Pratt & Miller, the same team contracted by General Motors since 1998 to run the Factory Corvette team

[@hjjubnh]

I know it's offtopic, but who the hell is Juan Fangio II ???? 2:46

[@ohiopower]

Juan Fangio's nephew

[@motorsportfan1246]

At the time Watkins Glen was definitely one of the most dangerous tracks in the world.

[@copperhead29]

What type of race cars are these?

[@Twobarpsi]

Imsa

[@BadErnest]

The last time I saw Tommy was in 2003 at the first St. Pete Grand Prix. I yelled out "Tommy!" and he looked up at me lol. He had a noticible limp then.

[@gcmc2]

I knew Kendall was tall but I didn't realise he was as tall as 6' 6" - that really does disdvatage a race driver in many classes. An open wheeler would virtualy have to be scratch built for him. This was a horrible accident and sports cars were a bit behind the main open wheeler class cars in safety. I think that is his left leg you see flail around after the car rebounds off the wall.

[@PeterMayer]

I saw him at Road America in 95 when he was doing Trans Am and the poor guy was hobbling out of his trailer. Nice guy though. Meet him on the trail on the back straight or Moraine Sweep during CART qualifying.

[@RandyDubin]

@hjjubnh He's Juan Manuel Fangio's nephew.

[@jritz45]

@MOliscous I know this is a little of topic but chevy dident make the intrepid dodge makes them

[@jdgeibe]

Same exact location where NASCAR driver J.D. McDuffie lost a wheel and wrecked, losing his life :-(

[@Myrvold]

@MrSockery There IS, he is not dead.

[@PeterMayer]

I saw Tommy at RA in 95, hobbling out of his trailer before the trans am race.

[@e521soediv]

wow terrible impact.

[@therrydicule]

@MOliscous Le Mans was an obvious option... I mean, when you are in a championship like IMSA, which been replace by ALMS and Grand-am nowadays, it is just an option that is right at the door.

[@crowdedHereEh]

Tommy is tough. Based on modern day crash data, that was probably a 75G shunt into the tires. You see him doing the smiley car reviews and you forget he was in the real job.

[@Glibzer]

Smiley?

[@brandonroberts9804]

That is why we have the bus stop, this and J.D. McDuffie's death due to the high speeds and wheel hub failure

[@ma55aracin9]

....and they're still doing their lap-by-lap analysis on F1WC -i,e Grand Prix- races on SPEED,alongside Steve Matchett and roving pit reporter Peter Windsor; they even cover the race hi-lites on "Formula 1 Debrief",also on SPEED,so that's a souning "YES,they're still in business"

[@ixlr8677]

not now, its 2018. happy new and past years.

[@AcXr50]

@Bwana3015 just listened too it!

[@MOliscous]

I can tell you exactly where he would have ended up. Tommy wanted into CART really bad and came close, even with his foot injury. The problem was his height. They would have had to do some fancy modifications to make it so he could get out of the car fast enough for the rules. The other series he was looking at was DTM.

[@Tristin471]

Yes, it definitely pays to be a shorter person in racing. This is why most guys that are in racing (in NASCAR, at least, but I'm sure it's similar in other forms of racing) are between 5'6 and 5'10".

[@goodwilltubing]

Is it just me, or can you really see Kendall's legs at 0:27 ? btw, heavy impact, lucky to be alive!

[@toma23rulz]

same year, same corner, same cause as J. D. McDuffie

[@HatsTour]

Can't believe in the middle of that, the commentator plugged Porsche. Couldn't he have just called it a medical car?

[@fatalmistake4655]

Unfortunately that's American sport! Marketing campaigns are everywhere. They even name each on-board camera now!

[@lukmanfirdaus8497]

Blame the thin tyre wall

[@aps42069]

He was to tall for cart. You have to be 6 feet under for cart. But I remember watching this live. Thoughts Chevy's were fast all day. Watching this looks like someone didnt do there job, but saw the same shit with the jags a a few years before.

[@jritz45]

geoff c312 thanks for that info i dident know that they done it like that..thanks -Jritz45

[@supersevenn]

Its unfortunate that Tommy Kendall is 6'6. he was a great GT and GTP driver and would have been a GREAT indycar driver but was too tall for them. That Intrepid GTP made LOADS of downforce!!! Its an incredible car, unfortunately powered by a chevy

[@SlamDuncDrummer]

As Hobbs would say "Kablamo"!

[@jillsy88]

.............