Yahoo Autos NASCAR Driver Saves Tire Blowout With Sweet 200-MPH Drift
Usually when a NASCAR racer loses a tire, bad stuff happens. Cars go into the wall, into the grass, and even into each other. Erik Jones of the #20 car almost had a nasty wreck when his car lost a tire at speed, but he managed to save it-with a lurid, smoky drift at nearly 200 mph.
Jones was lapping Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the the Lilly Diabetes 250 when his right rear tire gave out heading into Turn 1 on Lap 49. The back started to come around, and in order to keep the car from slapping the wall, Jones goes full-throttle to push the car down the track. Amid a huge cloud of tire smoke and plenty of steering angle, Jones saves himself from a disappointing DNF, controlling the spin to avoid hitting any walls or traffic.
The skills required to pull off this move are seriously impressive-especially at what the announcers say is nearly 200 mph. Watch for yourself as Jones unintentionally turns this NASCAR event into a Formula D competition.
And another angle:
