The Most Destructive NASCAR Crash Everyone Forgot: Mike Harmon's Bristol Wreck Car UP CLOSE!

most people have seen Michael wal Trip's horrific Bristol crash where the entire car shredded apart and he was totally fine you may not know that is not the only time that has happened it happened to this guy here Mike Harmon and he still has the car and we're going to get to show you every square inch of the thing right now oh my God so you had to build this little platform for it to yeah that's that way we had to move it around cuz about broke into two the rear clip and the front clip barely on it what happened to you during this actually I got got one little cut right here just one cut just one little cut yeah a little bit sore my right shoulder was what did you think whenever the car came to a stop and you looked over and the rest of it wasn't there well I to be honest with you I was mad at that time but I didn't realize how bad it was you know I just got out and walked off and I knew I had to go to infield Care Center it wouldn't let me got race again till we went downtown you went to the hospital so and I didn't see what everybody else saw so I was there and when they check me out and everything released me told me I was good to go we started out and the receptionist saw it it coming on the news and that's the first time I'd actually saw it that's what my knees like to buckled on me you know when I saw what everybody else saw but you know I wasn't mad no more put that way cuz the car was brand new it had three Laps on it and what most people don't realize is I just went on the racetrack in three and drove down the front straightway and realized this right front tire was going down and I was trying to get it woed down and we hit the gate and you know it came open and saw the car in two long it was it was so close and I'm not a guy let's go a steering wheel it was so close to me that I I grabb my shoulder with my my right arm really yeah cuz I I was thinking that this cage is getting too narrow I didn't realize the wall was in the car yeah cuz you know your cage is your life support and I didn't really realize I stepped out of it on the right side started walking off and uh Harold Holly he smiled by too he was the first guy to me Dan dehoff was the second guy to me they were part right there and Dan he was car he's my neighbor also car chief on the two car and Johnny solder when it hit me and they were the first two there to help me away in the car and Johnny he saw more a lot more than I saw he was really shaking up cuz he thought I was exposed when he hit all this stuff and he thought he' hit me I never uh set in the seat again never never put the helmet or the fire suit back on won't do it and I just don't yeah I fig they did their job I think I I think that I kept my SHO that was it steering wheel was it was underneath Johnny's car at the other end of the straightaway really yeah I it's not here it's a trophy run oh but uh it's bent flat to the column is shaped like a de wow yeah I didn't I didn't want to get rid of it he was just showing me the 1900 lb spring in the whole bar push midd it take a heck of a press to do that wow how tempting was it to reuse this engine well it was not too much but what I what I what I want to do is I'm I'm big in the cars anyway I want to put it in a hot rod one one day it's good for that I mean it's I'm sure it's got to be gone through and Coring that valve cover probably got a bent valve and we'll fix it up you know that's that's a I'm a bucket L we got a shifter the shifter knob kind of ground it down sliding down the racetrack so that kind of be original in a hot rod you know yeah that would be cool yeah you ever go to take this thing apart you call me and we'll make a video about it see what's in there yeah where did the carburetor go I I don't remember it was destroyed it's outer space it was turned upside I've had 500 people I promise you and some of them in you guys W Wilson friend of mine he he was one he said Mike that motor was at the other end of straightaway upside down still running and we don't know why it was still running but it had to be cuz too many people told me that I don't how getting fuel how getting ignition but it they said it was still running and finally went dead oh when you stand up here you really oh yeah see what it did I going take that hood off washing can't I can't can't stand dirt being dirt I'm try not to scratch it yeah I don't do no body game stuck to something there I got it yeah bet you never done this before never hopefully never do it again there there's some pictures that's about 20 ft in there where Johnny hit it that's that's a crazy thing I've seen where did the come from I bought it from I bought it from Buckshot best we figured out it came from ly cone the dirt RAC huh when he was doing some check right see that this is a bracket hold the steering wheel bracket I guess that's where the wall actually hit it and it kind of made a wishbone out of it and the good part about it was the had fallen down and blocked my vision I didn't see Johnny coming I thought it was over then all of a sudden I got H turned the other way that's when the roof went behind the sea when Johnny hit me but I I'm just glad it was Johnny you know he's a good driver he didn't Panic he drove to it if he come around lock his brakes up he stood right inide you know this was Gage yeah a got no oil pressure yeah you know when you tear the gauges up you're going to have cr your joints are still good see we don't you back then we didn't run a steering column we just had to Rod like that so it's not collapsible yeah ouch it's got the the angle in it both to do the same thing not you know just depends on everything depend on how you hit I couldn't been going 80 or 90 M hour what it happened cuz you were already slowing down from the yeah from the top yeah and I fought it from the one all way to exit too that's got a net holding it the Mirror part of it it's a it's a triangle net like see that side that over there oh actually Carl Simmons guys already passed away now he he was one of the NASCAR officials he hadn't me put that in that day really and in in TCT but it need to be there and up every time I saw him after that we joked about putting that net he that's what saved him about that I didn't disagree with him the tryangle there the one up in the corner ah and it do I mean they do have back here well you can see it right here see the the bracket of the seat pulled out of the Seven bar you know the seat stayed straight but the bar came loose from the seat oh yeah and I and I actually think that helped me instead of pulling the seat back you know probably did yeah and then if you notice uh the seat belts how long they are you know they're they're all way back here and then they go they hook up back here yeah and they stretch if you notice in the video the car is spread out and it kind of com back together at the end uhhuh and that's the belt point it back together across my chest so you kind of absorbed all that in your your torso yep sometimes a little extra muscles don't hurt and I didn't realize that for a long time I got to study it one day looking at it and that's all it could have been cuz I was holding a rear clip there a kicker on that side and the front CP kicker on that side and when we unload it we'll have to tie it off three sections I heard it break into into so you're just going to like pressure wash this the way it is and then take this whole pallet to the museum and be like here you go your problem now well we go we going to take it off the pallet because it's done I'm done when I when I get there this time if it moves again somebody else will do it huh I'm done with it when did the thought cross your mind that you needed to keep this car together and store it all these years well I was in the museum in t for for a long time oh it was and then they had that uh CP few years ago at the hall of fame down here downtown they had a a crash scheme you know so they had this one a couple more that's why it's up here in North Carolina I went down there and got it and brought it up here for for that uh it stayed there about 6 months and I stored it here ever since just uh the museum in Alabama's gone through some changes the rodling and stuff you don't really get the Gest of it till you really see it yeah and person this is yeah yeah yeah I thought once about open Race's rehab and said how bad you really want to do this work all the time never sleep always gone you really want to race just not like what you see on TV for a lot of us you know but I never thought a think about it really I mean I I was very appreciative you know Michael's crash was real similar he's tall as you are more but his car got cut long ways at the dash M and his feet was on the ground and I I don't know his rear clip and front suspension and engine still intact I mean like a wheelbarrow You Know M and I don't know how how he didn't get some feet and leg damage as tall as he is he must a lot of us know to get in a feeble position as much as you can if you bite the crash like that and evident he did something like that so uh but we we talked about it and we both know we on bonus time cuz it could have few inches it could have went the other way real easy did did any of your perspectives on life or problem there anything like that change after your experience with this well you know I've always appreciated life and health and and opportunity to do this or you know you make your opportunities but um just put it this way if I thought I was having a bad day I'd think about this that ain't a bad day you know so it did kind of help you oh yeah have a better attitude toward some stuff later well yeah I me I always try to be a POS well I am a positive person um but it makes you appreciate a lot more the aftermath is worse than the actual deal I'm just like I said I don't if IID seen Johnny coming and the car half into I I wouldn't have like that you know fortunately the roof was having my vision block to be quite honest with you inside that roof is gray and it all this stuff happens in slow motion when you crash I I really didn't know where I was at with it looking right straight into something great H you know so and then all of a sudden it spun around looking right dead in the sun and the Fire Bottle was spewing and you know knew it just was in a bad R and I just wanted out of that thing and that's I couldn't hardly see because the sun was right in my eyes the racetrack was white and all that smoke you know I I just just wanted out and then when I got free of it that's when I was man this a brand new car we just destroyed that's when reality set in and then when I saw it on T TV that's when reality life C but what was you know none of it's funny but when I got back to the racetrack either people would invite me to go to Vegas with them or either they' walk 10 ft away from me like I was a ghost I they actually made me feel that way that they were scared to be by me you just not I I remember seeing Michael crash so I I've kind of been on both ends of it you know I I thought I was watching on TV with late M racing then car was ready and I always watched the bush race before I left home go to my race and I I didn't know Michel then but man no way you can live through that but but he did made my day when he got up out of that thing not knowing I'd be doing the same thing in 10 years did they finally completely change that gate configuration after you well they changed it I think when Michael did it it was a boiler plate like gate that went into a double guard rail cuz the first time I ran brist was a double guard rail um in all pro car but uh then they made it a concrete wall and it's about 8 in wide and that is the boiler plate gate and and in their Defence their their warehouse for their working equipment maintenance equipment is off that corner M and so and I knew that gate was there but I forgotten about it um they used that gate to go to their workhouse to their shed and they they just put the has back in it and put the pen in it and didn't put the poles in but ground oh behind it that's why it was it was engineered right it just somebody failed to do their job interesting yeah and and and they admitted it I mean uh Jeff bird was was the manager then and he was a super nice guy he he he passed away since then but he he never tried to weezle out of it or he can might he said my fault my fault and you know he said that in the hospital I said how was it your fault I driving the car you know and then I realized but you know stuff happens we're human but it did it didn't make a new rule for NASCAR of at that time Carl Simmons when did that net deal it was his job to take face car right around make sure everything was Secure before we got on the track after that so we had never had another problem but now it's soft wall so it's impossible to happen that way again on the outside wall it is possible on the inside wall but you you seem not to hit the inside walls the end of it as hard as you hit the outside mhm cuz he losing so some momentum that uh that does answer a question cuz I thought after that happened to Michael how could they not have fixed something to keep that from happening again especially all those years later but if you forget to do the thing that was there to fix it that makes perfect sense oh yeah that's what and that's what happened and that that concrete wall was like 8 in I'm guessing and it's uh it's coarse concrete and it basically is a grinding wheel it just saw that car in half and if you look at these cars even today there's not a whole lot holding together side to side you know that's yeah it's not they're not designed to hit like that yeah and I had no idea I had no idea the cage was going I you know I might would have got scared but it's too late once it starts you better try to save yourself it's czy how many of the well is broke on the cage yeah it is like the way uh how specific welds are supposed to be done with the way they're heated and all that you ever was that a topic of any discussion as to how the bars actually ripped apart if you notice it see like that bar there it just ripped that bar yeah not it a wh ripped you see up here just ripped that bar and I said NASCAR kept it for a week and everything was the correct thickness so it's kind of just like at this the way this happened there wasn't really anything you could do about it no it just not designed to hit that way and um other than the good Lord taking care of me if you look at the physical standpoint of it it it the engine it got it was far enough around the corner that the engine hit on the inside of the wall and that kind of turned it away from me and and at the width of that engine if it had been on the other side you know it would come down that side of the car which that side's a little stronger but I don't know how much damage it went done but if you notice this header fuel pump and all was gone on this side of the motor yeah so that's U that's the wall took that off that's how Clos it was what happened to to the other front tire it's it's actually used it for a prop really 33 years ago 20 years ago was in 90s no it's 2001 I think funny this is exactly why we're making this video cuz average person doesn't know that this happened twice yeah but unless you're like really into it heck I a few years ago I don't think I even knew that this happened twice Y and I swear I he 30 years ago I think the uh the spoiler looks like it's perfect condition that might be the only thing that isn't scratched at all yeah that's true I like the helmet too never had it back on that's the helmet yep that's it I took it off that day and I may not ever put it back [Music] on these scuffs from that I guess yeah cuz it was pretty fresh is that all that happened to it yeah well I just now recognize that it's broke right there is that a crack in the Shell or is it just cracked paint that's like the shoe dang that right that one that one's a r many people know about that's really a worst that have been injured what's this one broke oh wow yeah it's uh all this spider web I suppos that right there oh that's has a new Simpson helmet then that was in 95 and U the first day they ever open they opened Homestead we there to test the waterline blew off and I hit the wall and that hit the be POS I was unconscious about it out wow and that broke my leg elbow and I was bruised up I was I was hurt do you have a die cast of the car out there uh the right one yeah either in it I'm surprised none of those model Builders have tried to make I know I don't know I had a kid to make one and sent it to me he did a pretty awesome job really huh right there oh wow it wasn't about 101 years old that's pretty good for I see 2002 when it was y yeah I thought it did did wonder if he's uh probably a little older than me now if you're out there speak up yeah yeah that's right that was my first car my first that's how my first rig looked truck and all you had 24s on it yeah well no I have that we didn't know what they were then I'm glad you were able to do this and it's kind of funny timing I called you right before it was going to go to the museum yeah it was good timing actually you you got that kind of look at it so yeah yeah I'm just glad to be still be here weid it's racetrack hope we we going to run Texas next week it looks like so I'm not used to being at home on the weekend I don't think I want to get used to it sponsors really been lacking our performance has been down because of it just lot of stuff we just got to improve and we're still fighting a fight we'll get back where we want to be need to be been at a long time no you long them help them stay at it you're not a quitter that's for sure yeah had plenty of chances to quit but you know never never enter my mind if any of you guys want to see that car up close you can go to the the international Motorsports Hall of Fame right outside of the Talladega Super Speedway so if you're driving down I20 on vacation or something it's right off of I20 and abama there if you made it to the end of the video you're a real G and you're awesome and we're going to give you a sneak peek on some stuff going on here Logan's working on her car it's a 67 Mustang and it's going to be really cool she's been doing all of it [Music] herself see she doesn't even know I came over there she's so in the zone we know you care about this stuff just like we do and and we want to be able to do it more we want more people to find out about it we want the good times of the golden era of NASCAR and racing in general to be more available to people so the best parts of it do not go away and what has lost that was great could maybe come back but it can't come back if nobody knows about it so it costs absolutely nothing to help this video by leaving a thumbs up sending it to a friend that you think might like it or used to watch racing or just likes cars in general this is cool stuff there's lessons to be learned here and if you like this more of the channel even further the hat and shirt that I was wearing in the video you can find on Stapleton autoworks.com this is a a different hat that matches the shirt with the Monte Carlo on it but we also got our boom tube shirts back in stock fresh back in stock in all of the popular sizes I just want to make cool noises because I love X pipes and boom tubes and you probably do too it's even got one on the front here proceeds from shirt sales will go to uh many things including helping me put this pile together because it's been taking all of my freaking money if you want to see the rap video we posted that over on the Stapleton 42 extra Channel we have one of those it's called like our bonus Channel we post things that don't really like you know kind of like behind the scenes stuff we're going to have some more Story Time videos on the extra Channel too so head on over there let me know what you…