Just when you think we've seen enough bad wrecks this year.

Word coming out of Daytona today is there was a HUGE wreck in Rolex 24 testing. The #90 Spirit of Daytona DP driven by Richard Westbrook blew a tire in the tri-oval and went airbourne into the catch fencing completely destroying the car. The DP class had been pulling average speeds of 195+ MPH which is some of the fastest speeds they've ever run. Good news is Westbrook walked away from the wreck and is alright.

Picture of the car.

I'll take "What Series Will Soon be Adding Roof Flaps" for $200, Alex.

And if that wasn't bad enough....apparently Joao Barbosa as well got completely airborne thanks to a tire failure. Fortunately he was okay as well.

Jeez! If that series doesn't get everything figured out by the 24 hour race, it's going to turn into a mess! Glad to hear both drivers are okay though.

I would love to hear the excuse Continental has for somehow not figuring out that a car with heavily revised aerodynamics and other parts might actually need a new compound.

More info plus interview with Westbrook.

Richard Westbrook is thanking his lucky stars after walking away unscathed following the biggest accident of his career Tuesday at Daytona International Speedway.

The GM factory driver, at the wheel of the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Racing Corvette DP, went for one of the wildest rides in recent memory when his Coyote-chassied car suffered a right-rear tire failure while exiting the high-speed tri-oval section of the 3.56-mile course.

“It obviously happened in the worst possible place,” Westbrook said in a Sportscar365 exclusive interview. “That’s when you’re doing 190 mph and it was just before the braking zone. I felt the right rear tire explode and the car started to spin. I thought I could have saved it and then the car just took off.”

From there, the Englishman was just a passenger as his DP did a reverse backflip, nearly clearing the catch fencing, before entering into a series of rolls before coming to rest right-side up.

“I just went airborne,” he said. “My immediate worry was that I was going to clear the catch fencing. But fortunately I didn’t and the catch fencing did its job. It was very, very violent in the car.

“I’ve never had an accident like that. I’ve had much lesser accidents that have hurt more so I just feel very, very lucky.

“I was in the air for a long time and had a long time to think about things. I didn’t think it was going to end in a nice way. I’m just so lucky that it did.”

Westbrook was quick to credit the rapid response of the local track safety crew and the strength of the tube-framed Daytona Prototype, which kept him safe through the violent, end-over-end shunt.

“When I looked back from it, it was very, very scary stuff when you start getting airborne at that speed,” Westbrook said. “I have to say that the car was very strong. I’m very lucky and thankful to the strength of this car.

>Car nearly clears the catch fence

Jesus that sounds scary.

What scares me the most is that the description of the event sounds almost exactly like this: