NASCAR: Ranking The Five Worst Road Course Wrecks Ever

1. JD McDuffie Jimmy Means (Watkins Glen – 1991)

High speeds and sharp turns are always a formula for disaster. That’s the lesson that NASCAR fans learned in 1991, when JD McDuffie and Jimmy Means came barreling through turn five of the historic road course, lost control of their cars and went hard into the wall. McDuffle hit first, flipping over from the violent impact, allowing Means’s vehicle to slide under McDuffle before it came back down.

Mean’s exited his car moments after the incident to check on McDuffie and immediately signaled for emergency crews to come get McDuffie out of the car. It was later revealed that McDuffie died immediately upon impact due to a basilar fracture. One of the biggest reasons for McDuffie’s passing was the fact that there was no gravel trap in the area of the wreck, making it impossible to slow down.

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The incident was also attributed to the fact that McDuffie had a mechanical failure. The failure caused McDuffie to lose control of his car and run into the Jimmy Means. The resulting contact left McDuffie with a broken wheel spindle and caused the car to lose both its steering and braking. While McDuffie’s passing was tragic and very violent to watch, one could argue that he at least died doing what he loved.