Another (better) View of James' Crash

Wow that sucks bad, you can see him check his wrist right away, he knows somethings wrong.

pretty good view of the moran aswell

WOW!!! Great catch! Where the idiot who ran out on the track was standing... there's no way he couldn't see the leaders were coming around.

What an idiot. Hope James comes back next round.

Much better perspective. Thanks for the post.

He tried to save that front end for a week..... I still think the photog may have distracted James but was not at fault.

Man.... I don't know. It sure seems like he should have been able to just keep going, like he had plenty of room. But at the speeds these guys go, to come over that jump and see someone there would really mess with your concentration. Messed up deal all the way around. Hope he comes back next weekend and all is well. It was nice to see an happy James out there again.

That explains the whole sad deal a lot better than that helmet cam view!

even shows the UTV i was talking about in the other thread at the end of the video. constantly driving around the edge of the track.

the guy running on the track that close to the leaders was kinda dumb, maybe should have waited, but it still seems like james could have gone anywhere he wanted (inside or outside line) because the guy was off the track when james landed. the argument that he couldn't have gone to the inside because he would have hit the guy or the guy was blocking that line just doesn't really hold water with me. was it a distraction? maybe. are there distractions in racing? yes, all over. was it dumb what that guy did? yes. was james crashing his fault? i don't think so.

That's about as good a look as you'll get.

Okay, for the record, I'd crossed the track a lap earlier, and was shooting here, along with Jake Klingensmith, who shoots for Rockstar and Yoshimura, among others.



You don't get this shot without crossing the track.

GuyB, did you leave this behind?
Or this?

The full speed helmet cam gives the best view by far.

Kind of looks like he heads for the outside of the turn as soon as he lands - he likely wasn't planning on doing that before seeing the guy on the track. After that I think he was just trying to ride it out.

That part of the whole thing is still likely pretty open for debate, but one thing seems even more crystal clear - that guy was a complete idiot for heading across the track like that, on the down side of a blind jump, with the whole pack approaching the takeoff.

The whole episode sucks big time.

Might have distracted him, but going into the ruts his back end kicks out and that seems to be where it all goes wrong

Nice shot GuyB! Just curious... what lens are you using? I just picked up the Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 OS to shoot my boys racing and absolutely love it! Took it to the LL Area Qualifier and got some great shots with it.

Bill_Carroll wrote: GuyB, did you leave this behind?
Or this?

No, but if that's the downhill from the top part of the track, it looks like it got hit and tossed onto the track more than once. I pulled if off there in the second 450 moto. In that case, the cables were still attached, and I could pull it off the track without having to step on to it. The piece in the lower photo is a protective pad for the camera in the upper part.

This was after I'd pulled a haybale off the edge of the track that some spectators pointed out to me. Riders had hit it a couple times, pulling it onto the track.

Bill_Carroll wrote: GuyB, did you leave this behind?
Or this?

I was standing on the fence right there when that happened. Same spot where the mystery man crossed the track. Funny that no one crashed because of that stuff all over the track? Honestly, I didn't even notice the guy crossing the track before bubba wadded it up in the next corner. I don't think anyone there really did...or at least no one was talking about it. Bad luck.

jwhitemx15 wrote: Nice shot GuyB! Just curious... what lens are you using? I just picked up the Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 OS to shoot my boys racing and absolutely love it! Took it to the LL Area Qualifier and got some great shots with it.

I was using a Canon 70-200 2.8.

mattbmx63 wrote: Might have distracted him, but going into the ruts his back end kicks out and that seems to be where it all goes wrong

Yep. Overwatered downhill with 78 other tires going down it before he gets to it again. It's dirt, it moves and looking at the helmet cam he chose a rut that wasn't straight. That's why he cross rutted. He chose that side of the track before he jumped and saw the guy. Might have had 3-4 ruts to choose from. Chose the wrong one obviously.

As for the discussion of line choice, that was a basically the same line he took through that corner every lap. The fast line was outside due to less braking bumps, squaring off in the sand and hitting the roller out of the corner about dead track middle.

"No, but if that's the downhill from the top part of the track, it looks like it got hit and tossed onto the track more than once. I pulled if off there in the second 450 moto. In that case, the cables were still attached, and I could pull it off the track without having to step on to it. The piece in the lower photo is a protective pad for the camera in the upper part.


This was after I'd pulled a haybale off the edge of the track that some spectators pointed out to me. Riders had hit it a couple times, pulling it onto the track."

Maybe it was you then that I yelled at to remove it from the track, didn't know I was yelling at a deva....

DeepUnderground wrote: As for the discussion of line choice, that was a basically the same line he took through that corner every lap. The fast line was outside due to less braking bumps, squaring off in the sand and hitting the roller out of the corner about dead track middle.

I'm sure he wasn't the only one to fall through there all day... but when you go James speed falls happen much faster with less time to correct mistakes.

DeepUnderground wrote: As for the discussion of line choice, that was a basically the same line he took through that corner every lap. The fast line was outside due to less braking bumps, squaring off in the sand and hitting the roller out of the corner about dead track middle.

aFACEdismembered wrote: I'm sure he wasn't the only one to fall through there all day... but when you go James speed falls happen much faster with less time to correct mistakes.

That's why I picked that spot to spectate. With the width and line choices, t was a the location of a lot of passes.....and a lot of crashing too lol. Probably about 70% of the crashing was in that corner throughout the day. The rest for some reason seemed to be concentrated right below the announcer's tower in the right hander at the top of the starting hill.

Bill_Carroll wrote: "No, but if that's the downhill from the top part of the track, it looks like it got hit and tossed onto the track more than once. I pulled if off there in the second 450 moto. In that case, the cables were still attached, and I could pull it off the track without having to step on to it. The piece in the lower photo is a protective pad for the camera in the upper part.


This was after I'd pulled a haybale off the edge of the track that some spectators pointed out to me. Riders had hit it a couple times, pulling it onto the track."

Maybe it was you then that I yelled at to remove it from the track, didn't know I was yelling at a deva....

Deva...statingly handsome photographer?

This view makes look like it was even less the crossers fault. James looked like he was going to take the line he took no matter what. The only thing the crosser may have done is made name lose his focus.

Bill_Carroll wrote: "No, but if that's the downhill from the top part of the track, it looks like it got hit and tossed onto the track more than once. I pulled if off there in the second 450 moto. In that case, the cables were still attached, and I could pull it off the track without having to step on to it. The piece in the lower photo is a protective pad for the camera in the upper part.


This was after I'd pulled a haybale off the edge of the track that some spectators pointed out to me. Riders had hit it a couple times, pulling it onto the track."

Maybe it was you then that I yelled at to remove it from the track, didn't know I was yelling at a deva....

GuyB wrote: Deva...statingly handsome photographer?

Not sure I'd use the word handsome, but I watched you pull that thing a ma bobber off the track by it's cord and thought that was a good move. What is that anyways?

DeepUnderground wrote: Not sure I'd use the word handsome, but I watched you pull that thing a ma bobber off the track by it's cord and thought that was a good move. What is that anyways?

It's a trackside camera for TV coverage. Apparently their stuff crosses the track, too.

DeepUnderground wrote: As for the discussion of line choice, that was a basically the same line he took through that corner every lap. The fast line was outside due to less braking bumps, squaring off in the sand and hitting the roller out of the corner about dead track middle.

aFACEdismembered wrote: I'm sure he wasn't the only one to fall through there all day... but when you go James speed falls happen much faster with less time to correct mistakes.

DeepUnderground wrote: That's why I picked that spot to spectate. With the width and line choices, t was a the location of a lot of passes.....and a lot of crashing too lol. Probably about 70% of the crashing was in that corner throughout the day. The rest for some reason seemed to be concentrated right below the announcer's tower in the right hander at the top of the starting hill.

...and there you go. It was a spot for crashing all day long. Not because of people crossing the track but because of line choice and insanely deep ruts and holes that switched back all over the place changing almost every lap. He got caught out plain and simple. If the guy crossing the track made him lose his focus THAT much how did he hold off Dungey for an hour and 10 minutes last week (Might be completely irrelevant but I feel like it is).

72kiteboarder wrote: This view makes look like it was even less the crossers fault. James looked like he was going to take the line he took no matter what. The only thing the crosser may have done is made name lose his focus.

LOL What this video doesn't show, is the shock factor that Stewart was instantly faced with by the spectator crossing the track while he was at speed and in the air, and aiming towards the inside of the track for the next turn. You can view it from all the angles you want, but the only one that will give you the rider's perspective is the gopro. This video does however confirm what a terrible choice the crosser made in crossing at that moment when it appears that if he had taken the time to look before crossing he would know where Stewart was at the time. Count how long it takes from the time Stewart leaves the jump and sees the crosser till the crosser clears the track. All this went down in less than 2 seconds, all at speed, and with the element of surprise.