Cobra Safety and HP

[Excaliber]

From the news pictures and various commentary sources (including posts by Marks sister) a picture of what likely happened begins to emerge:

The pictures tend to indicate the Cobra, after getting bumped, veered off to one side and hit the soft shoulder mound of earth which flipped the car over. "At speed" it would take only a very slight bump to cause one to veer suddenly off course. Once it flipped "at speed" it continued to roll over several times (based on accounts). Notice the side pipes are torn away from the rear exit mounting bolt position, yet still attached to the motor. Demonstrates the G forces at work due to the roll(s). Note also the roll bar appears in tact and the body damage, as to what can be seen is "light". This would indicate mid air "rolls" were possible, the car was "launched". You cannot control a car in the air or on it's roof (roll bar).

It was indicated they had raced before and Mark had won. "Words" were excahnge between the two drivers before the race. The Trans Am was now equiped with NOS. It would appear the race was very close as the speed increased and the cars were relativly close to each other, front to rear wise. Being a somewhat narrow road they would have been also close together side by side. Or, hitting the NOS could have caused a sudden and violent "burst" of speed.

At speed it is difficult to hold a "straight line" in the heat of battle. Especially on a "county" road with a probable "crown" (not flat) surface on the highway. A "glance" at your opponent or a momentary lapse in concentration (on either side) could easily result in the car "drifting" a little to one side or the other. This would in turn prompt a large steering input to one or both drivers trying to avoid collision.

POSSIBLY a racing school or actual "track" experience would have helped either or both drivers to avoid a large "steering wheel input" that I suspect happened.

The shape of the road, the obstacles along the side, the "unknown" skill of your adversary and the intense desire to "win" (on either side) make for a much more dangerous racing environment than a race track.

Specualtion you say? No more than any accident reconstruction person or detective might might come up with. It's a working "hypothysis".

Ernie