What’s the worst possible thing that could happen to your car while driving? The brakes stop working? The suspension fails? Here’s one you might never even have thought of: What if the steering wheel came completely unhinged?
That’s exactly what happened to Dale Earnhardt Jr. during Sunday’s GEICO 500 NASCAR race at Talladega. Something like that happening would be terrifying enough during a lazy afternoon cruise around the block, but I can’t even imagine what it’s like when you’re going 200 miles-per-hour with 40 other cars doing the same around you.
Thankfully, Earnhardt Jr. didn’t panic, and he was somehow able to temporarily steer the car by grabbing the steering column with his hands until he could get the wheel reattached, avoiding what could have been a disastrous accident.
To make matters worse for Earnhardt Jr., he was only just back on the track after getting into a wreck earlier in the race, and he would eventually get wrecked again by Carl Edwards after the steering wheel debacle.
Somehow, this is not even the first time that this has happened this season in NASCAR, as fellow Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson had a similar situation happen to him in March.
(Via Geoffery Miller)
