Interestingly enough, though, no such data is available for the Pocono crash. During the race, Jimmie Johnson draft-bumped Kurt Busch, who was sent spinning sideways into the infield grass and slammed into the fence.
The original incident led to others being sucked into the crash; Sadler was spun by A.J. Allmendinger, and his car went face-first into the inside wall, colliding at almost a perpendicular angle. Hitting the fence at 160 miles per hour, the entire front section of his No. 19 Ford was destroyed.
The engine was also detached from the car, with debris scattered across the track. Ultimately, Sadler’s car went from 160 mph speeds to around 20 mph within a braking distance of around three feet.
However, despite the claims that the crash is the hardest in NASCAR history, the exact G-force data is not available for the Pocono crash. NASCAR addressed the issue in a statement: “We do not share those numbers except with the team and the folks at the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility at the University of Nebraska.”
As well as this, no clear footage of Sadler’s crash has ever been seen. ESPN was NASCAR’s chief broadcaster, but even the major network can showcase what truly transpired – which has led to a conspiracy surrounding the crash that NASCAR has deliberately blocked access to any video.
Fan page NRE Production took to social media to try and see what is out there. They posted: “I’m offering up $100 to anyone who can find this piece of NASCAR #lostmedia Elliott Sadler’s 2010 Pocono crash. We know that the footage exists, so let’s try and get it found. High-quality fan video/broadcast footage is what we’re looking for here.”
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There are several explanations regarding the unavailability of the footage. One is the lack of camera angles for Sadler’s crash, and another is that the crash occurred in a blind spot on the track. Sadler himself seems to subscribe to that theory.
“There’s a wreck on the backstretch,” he said. “I slow down. My actual teammate (Likely A.J. Allmendinger) runs into me and hits me and pushes me across the grass, and I’m just sliding. I’m thinking ‘Okay, I’m just going to nose off this wall over here. It’s not going to hurt’, so I’m just bracing up a little bit. And, all of a sudden, when it hit, it hurt, and I’m like, ‘What the…God!’.
“I was not expecting that. I had no idea the fence made a ‘V’ with the earth behind it keeping it to where it wouldn’t give any. That hurt. I was bruised all over, black eyes… There is nothing about that wreck that was guarded or censored or anything from NASCAR.”