Anatomy of a Crash - by Michael Auriemma

As Gerardo Bonilla said in Macho Monuments, a crash is usually the result of 3-4 compounding errors. If you catch the 1st, you can limit the extent of the damage (and humiliation).

In the following video, you can see a range of errors committed by one of Team Juicy's drivers. See how many you can pick up. We'll point out the first two to get you started!

At the start of our video, we see our driver (let's call him Juicy) already in the brake zone of Turn 1 at Lime Rock Park. He has already made the decision to pass, and has already committed 2 errors which lead to his downfall.

First, he has "popped" too early, thus alerting his potential prey (let's call him Victim, or Vic) to the oncoming assault. Second, Juicy has left far too much room between himself and Vic, enabling Vic an opportunity to retaliate and/or escape.

A mere one second into our video, Juicy's line looks good, but Vic has begun to turn in. 1/2 a second later, Juicy realizes he is not in position to complete the ill fated pass. But, Vic is being timid, so Juicy decides to stick his nose where it doesn't belong.

By second 2 of our video (things happen quickly in racing!), Vic says screw it, I'm going for the Apex. Juicy finally admits he shouldn't be there and "locks em up" (nice smoke show for the spectators!). Notice Juicy's hands here as he desperately tries to retreat (even if it means heading for the grass). As we all know however, locked up tires will refuse to turn. Damn.

1 second of burning rubber and loose bowels later, and the inevitable occurs. Vic's right rear tire interlocks with Juicy's left front tire like Lego pieces. Up goes Vic. When was the last time you saw the underside of an R/T 2000?

After 2 or 3 seconds of Juicy's bobble-head impersonation, it is all over. Or, more accurately, it is all about to begin. What takes seconds to happen, and minutes to read about, takes hours, days, even years to live down. What the hell were you thinking Juicy? I don't know, I thought I had him.

Don't worry, we'll get him next time.