'Humpy Bumper' has flawless demonstration

By Mike Fish, CNNSI.com
August 28, 2001
7:09 PM EDT (2309 GMT)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- In a demonstration staged largely for the media, the focus wasn't on a test car circling the track, but rather purposely taking a violent, right front hit into the wall at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

The car was a white Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

The wall speed was extremely high, near 40 miles an hour, or about the same as experienced in Dale Earnhardt's crash during the season-opening Daytona 500 on Feb. 18.

The damage to the test car, though, didn't appear as severe as might be expected -- presumably, thanks to a "Humpy Bumper," an impact-absorbing device installed in the nose between the radiator and motor. The wall failed to devour the front of the car. The motor remained firmly attached.

It was a flawless demonstration, if you overlook the car bouncing off the wall, redirecting itself down the embankment and forcing several onlookers to scramble frantically out of its way.

Las Vegas-based engineer Paul Lew, the mind behind the project, says the bumper can cut in half the energy drivers' absorb in a crash. Lowe's president/general manager H. A. "Humpy" Wheeler says the safety device is ready for use today, adding, "What we're talking about here is saving lives."

So when will it become standard equipment on Winston Cup cars? Nobody knows.

Even the ever-optimistic Wheeler can't say NASCAR will sign off on the device anytime soon, though a formal presentation is likely to be made to the sanctioning body next week. NASCAR has been updated throughout the design and testing process, and its representatives have also witnessed sled tests and four previous crash tests.

"The next step is basically going to be up to NASCAR to tell us what further testing, if any, they want to do with this," Wheeler said. "And also, to answer any other concerns that they may have."

Up front, Wheeler acknowledges wind tunnel testing will be a must to make sure the bumper doesn't cause any lift. But to date, no negative effects have been cited. The bumper sits five inches in from the front of the car, so it can't be used as a battering ram. And while it cuts the energy in a crash, it also lengthens the duration of a crash -- which is a positive in reducing injury.

Wheeler recognizes, however, the landscape has changed somewhat since NASCAR presented its report last week into Earnhardt's fatal accident. NASCAR officials, at the time, seemed to be specifically addressing the bumper, when they warned against rushing any major changes that might have "unintended consequences."

Wheeler disputed any impression of this being a haphazard, rush job. "I agree that testing must be in depth, no question about that," he said. "We're not saying that no further testing is going to be done on this bumper at all. But we can't wait. The sooner we get this bumper on these race cars the better everybody is going to feel.

"Not one thing is going to cure this whole problem. It is a combination. It's the seats, the seat belts, the head and neck restraint and a cushioning effect on the front of the car."

Lew said the necessary research has gone into the project, noting that four researchers at the University of Daytona had worked 12-hour shifts, seven days a week for a month, on a computer simulation program. "It was done fast, but no corners were cut," he said.

Some, at the very least, see the device as a stop gap measure until NASCAR undertakes a redesign of its cars to make them more impact absorbing -- though a $6,000 per-bumper price might prove costly to multi-car teams.

Lew said the bumper is designed initially just for the front of the car, but that in the future it could also be used to help reduce the impact of side and rear crashes.

"I give it two thumbs up," said driver Randy LaJoie, who provided the seats used in testing the device. "Down through the years, we've lost all the crush in front of the motor on these cars. We need to put stuff back in there."