Video of wheel bearing failure at the track

[Ludachris]

Just got this from Road and Track today:

This Is What Happens When a Wheel Bearing Replacement Goes Very Wrong

When a wheel bearing fails at a normal speed, a wheel goes flying. When one fails on a V-6 swapped RX-8 at track speeds, a wheel goes flying far.

www.roadandtrack.com

Scary stuff!

Always be careful out there, both in and out of the car.

 

[PatrickStapler]

Wow!

I remember about 25 years ago I was at Mid-Ohio and saw a knock-off spindle break on a real 289 Cobra. Not sure how, but he kept it out of the wall.

 

[Ludachris]

Can you imagine what was going through the start/finish flag guy's head as the wheel was coming right at him?

 

[JAJ]

Just got this from Road and Track today:

This Is What Happens When a Wheel Bearing Replacement Goes Very Wrong

When a wheel bearing fails at a normal speed, a wheel goes flying. When one fails on a V-6 swapped RX-8 at track speeds, a wheel goes flying far.

www.roadandtrack.com

Scary stuff!

Always be careful out there, both in and out of the car.

I was at Area 27 last year for a track day and there was an older, rather ragged looking, race car there. It was fairly quick, actually. Anyway, the wheel studs failed on a front wheel (probably not tightened properly) on the way down a hill into Turn 10, which is a fairly fast right hander. Not only did the wheel go a long way, the car itself didn't stop until it fetched up against the back of a barrier 250 feet away protecting an entirely different section of the track.

 

[Ludachris]

I was at Area 27 last year for a track day and there was an older, rather ragged looking, race car there. It was fairly quick, actually. Anyway, the wheel studs failed on a front wheel (probably not tightened properly) on the way down a hill into Turn 10, which is a fairly fast right hander. Not only did the wheel go a long way, the car itself didn't stop until it fetched up against the back of a barrier 250 feet away protecting an entirely different section of the track.

You almost have to assume there's going to be some people out there with cars that are going to come apart at speed. Even when you do everything right things fail. Hopefully nobody was hurt at that event.

 

[JAJ]

You almost have to assume there's going to be some people out there with cars that are going to come apart at speed. Even when you do everything right things fail. Hopefully nobody was hurt at that event.

The car was caged - driver was fine and no damage to the vehicle beyond cosmetic, and even that was just a fresh dent alongside some stale ones.