The Crash That Ended The Career of Markus Niemelä
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- Video credits :
loudpedal
Vancouver Sun
WorldofOutlaws
Knoxville Raceway
FloRacing
Exposa Travel
MarkusNiemelaExp
Kerry Spackman
AtlanticRacingSeries
Andy Lovatt
IGOTITONTAPE19
ABC News
Audiorama
Racinboys
wmdstaab
Randy’s Racing Place
sr
Finndrive
Velocityarts07
TBK.FAMEFLAME.DK
jdh919
kartsportnz
sodamus
Golden Age Of Karting
Pedro Neto
💚I am close to Markus, & am employed under his company name you mentioned. When at work, I can see daily, the challenges he has to cope with from the injury. Thank you for keeping his story alive (the facts seems quite accurate). With that said, he isnt exactly “living the life” in the way that “he seems to be doing well”. He works his ass off, despie the setbacks that have been an addition, from the pandemic. I am happy to see no negative comments about him or this video. I care about Markus, & after all the hard work I have seen on the job; I know he will once again pull through. He is quite driven & never accepts failure as an option. He applies the same approach to his business, as a race car driver approaches racing. I am surprised to see his name pop up again. But I wont tell him this new video is out, because it will stir up too much nostalgia of his racing years. Its best he isnt aware that this video has been made, so he can focus on his buinsess.
I’m really glad that Markus has found something that he’s passionate about outside of racing, I bet he is a really hard worker. I love making videos going over the stories of drivers whose careers ended on a bad note; With Markus’s case it’s really unfortunate because Neuralgia is an extremely painful condition. From what I’ve read online it is absolutely unbearable. I do hope that Markus’s condition gets better as time goes on, in all the interviews I watched while making this video I did not come across one video of him not smiling, he just seems to be a great guy to be around. Now with the video thing I completely understand, if that’s what’s best for him that’s what’s best for him. Thank you for updating me 💚
Man, if you only knew how hard he is pushing himself. The COVID years hasnt been kind & I am doing my best to take part in helping the company recovery. The guy is somewhat nutty in an entrepreneurial way. (nothing to do with the injury). He has these out of the world concepts, that seem impossible, yet he somehow pulls it off. Hes got the mind set of an Entrepreneur, whos had multiple Successes, but has had to have failures in order for the success to come. The guy doesn’t sleep, really, when ideas & deadlines are appearant. Ive seen him hoping a plane last minute, when our workers cancel. His brain is always rolling with multiple ideas; some get half started, some completed. And as a CEO, pulled left right & center. Hes just never letting his injury get a hold of him, despite the handful of daily meds that he needs. All the while, its very clear when he should call it quits; cuz thats when the brain injury begins to take hold of him (confusion or longer to process). But its crazy, cuz he is still quicker to process than most. Its bizare to see someone, who still clearly has a higher level of intelligence than a lot of people; suddenly be challenged with confusion. Breaks my heart. Cuz hes smart as hell, but just gets a brain fart at times (we all get those, just his take a little longer to process & problem solve). With that said, he approaches his buisness, as a race car driver would (act now, think later). Which in his situation, works out quite well, because in our field; we dont have ANY time for much thinking. Its just GO GO GO, hence, ironically it is called Rush Factory…. It brings me down, when I sometimes watch him struggle, because the responsibility he has, is a miracle that someone without an injury could even accomplish; I hate to see him suffer when his tank is on low. As times I am frustrated, but I dont have the cold heart to give up on him.
Youre right about the smile. Ive been in some shity moments, thats clearly a blow to him; but the bastard still fucking smiles. Stuff that I would lose my shit over. And he puts on a smile. If you only knew how well he deals with things dumped on his plate; one set back after another, I would go nuts. He is an example, & younger people should learn from him.
There was a moment that we shared on a plane ride home. Its when I learnt more about his successes. I tried to encourage him that, although his career has ended; he would be a prime coach for up & coming youth. I tried to explain that, even though he wont win a title himself, passing that title onto who you are training, will be an accomplishment in itself. The career doesnt need to completely end. The idea didnt sit right in him; He was firm in his answer; He will not step back into that. It almost appeared like a loaded answer (only my assumption). Sort of like the way Mike Tyson told Joe Rogan that he will not fight again. Almost as if there was more info, preventing some sort of “return” into the field. He stayed adamant about this choice, & wit his reaction, I have to pull back & respect that. Not all reasons can be explained, just understood without elaboration. This is an elaboration, as to why I am hesitant to show him your video. On one point, it would probably be flattering. Flattering to know he has a fan who hasn’t forgotten. And went through a deal of research & production. But on another point, it may be cruel. So when I see him, I unfortunately have to pretend you didnt resurrect his story. All the while, feeling quite rude towards you for not acknowledging all the hard work and research, you have done clearly.
In any case, we will see. Maybe the topic will come up again, more naturally unforced. On a positive note: He sure loves to blast Hard Rock while hes in a laser focussed working mind set😜. Some of the shit he has built is outa this world! Thats all I can really say here🤙🏼
Youre welcome for somewhat of an update. I wish for him to have peace for once. The guy needs a break & a support network. Not that he isnt motivated on his own😜. But shit, Im kinda like him in that sense, & eventually even I need a break. This is why I continue to be by his side, when appropriate.🤙🏼
Had a sneaking suspicion my video would wind up here. Thanks for crediting me in the description. It was such a freak incident, literally nothing could have been done to prevent this, imo. Josh Ford has good cars, I don't think this was anything other than a freak accident. But it's racing, things can happen. There was an EcoTec midget driver killed in Arizona just this past September. Drivers and teams can take all the safety measures imaginable and the worse can still happen. I am happy to hear that Markus is doing well, at least by judging by his latest social media activity.
No problem! Really glad you got footage of the incident, it’s important to see different angles of crashes like that. Really unfortunate for Markus, but I agree that there isn’t really anything that can prevent things like this. There may be solutions to the issue of what caused the crash, but for head injuries I don’t think they can ever be prevented.
Cant predict a wheel snapping at the hub, and back then we had so many issues with wheels, be it the wheel or beadlocks breaking and blowing up in drivers faces, eg Loyet. Thankfully nowadays its not only Weld on every car out there
Looked like he hit a hole in track
@@rodbrezinski8033 yeah I think if I remember correctly it did and broke the hub of the wheel, but back then safety on wheels and beadlocks was pretty mediocre at best. It still happens, but now we have more than Weld on cars. There for a few years you constantly heard about wheels, be it beads breaking in someones face and legs (Brad Loyet sticks out the most to me), thankfully now its not as common
@@skewtuh Look up David Tarter. He was killed at Chico back in 2012 after the bead broke filling a tire. I think Aaron Hull died in a similar fashion in 2016... Happened way too often and thankful this is incredibly rare nowadays.
I’ve been waiting for someone to make a video on this topic for a long time, his wreck was horrible, thank you.
You’re welcome! It was very fun to make
I don't remember when I heard that Markus Niemelä, a Finn, is driving one of the "most American" form of motorsport (Sprint Cars) viewed as fellow Finn. I found it really surprising, but cool that someone from here can make a career in the USA. Sad to see his career ended so violently. I hope he's doing fine. Great video, thanks.
Excellent post. Great human interest coverage of what can be thought of as just another "wow" video. The man you showed us how Markus lived and lives...and the lessons of life philosophically summarizes so well shows what a great communicator you are Mr. Slidejobdom. Thanks
I took a ride down the front straight at Perris one night in my 360. It's an attention getter for sure. I also suffered a broken rear axle incident while testing in a midget at Irwindale one day. Very lucky I didn't get injured mostly from the jagged end of the axle flailing around under my ass.
This video is really important to many fans why some may remember and may not want to remember.
Little more clarification about his 2013 chili bowl finish. He won a 10 lap qualifier on Tuesday, but the overall 25 lap Tuesday qualifier A Feature was won by Kyle Larson. Markus finished 8th.
On Saturday he was B main bound and went from 10th to 4th, putting him in the 55 lap Main event. And then went 19th to 11th in the Chili Bowl.
Very very impressive, I might add.
Thanks for saving my life. Hearing that a European named Markus Niemela (Or anybody with a name that contained a letter with 2 dots above it) won a Chili Bowl Prelim.
And it does not register with me??? ...................
I was ready to end it all. Thinking I'd lost it mentally.
@@raymond3803haha same.
I knew about the guy when he unfortunately got hurt, but just like you was scratching my head if he won a prelim or not lol.
I have Neuralgia in my trigeminal nerve from having my jaw broke twice. Both from car crashes in the previous century. I don't have any memory loss, but when that flares up it's like no pain I have ever experienced. I have learned to keep it in control as it's typically triggered by cold dry air.
I’m sure it’s very painful. From what I read online it is one of the most painful conditions a human can have. I’m glad you’ve found ways to control it.
really sad since we dont have many drivers outside america australia new zealand south africa and britian that race sprintcars so having a finnish driver in the outlaws would have been amazing
Yeah you don’t really see any Europeans racing them (from what I know of) he was very talented
As someone who has worked track fire/rescue for a little over 30 years and saw hundreds of crashes on both dirt and asphalt that is one of the most violent crashes I've seen in a long time. As for the people that says it could've been prevented my question is "how"??? Things break on race cars without warning all the time. You can have all the best safety equipment money can buy and still be hurt or killed, the drivers know that every time they strap in and pull onto the track, they accept the risk! I've worked crashes where i was expecting to find the driver dead or seriously hurt and they are fine and crashes that looked so minor that i thout he's fine only to find out he wasn't and was flown from the track in a medivac helicopter. You just never know!
I was there working with the Fire Safety crew and extricated Marcus from the car. Definitely a scary wreck.
Wreck was the result of a broken rear axle. Not a common failure but can only be prevented by having any axle that has been in an impact zyglo inspected.
thats what it look like to me,axle broke folded under car & launched him
Axle did break. I'm friends with some guys on the team at the time. Everything in the rear end was brand new never raced. They're thinking was a birdcage bearing (Which also was new) failed. Which can happen every now and then. When birdcage bearings seize they get very hot, With the axles being hollow aluminum axles, they get hot enough. Throw the car into the corner, entry speed at Perris is around 125-130 on a gripped up track. Puts tons of force on the RR and with the heat from the bearing the axle snaps. Axle broke right at where the birdcage sits.
Makes that whole deal even more of an anomoly. Just unlucky as hell for him. Hope Markus is well and moving on to bigger n better things iin his life.
@@Corky3D I was pit crewing on a wing car years ago, brand new rear end and a rock got stuck between the bird cage and radius rod and cut half way through it. So we swapped the rear end between races. Shit happens.
@@RC51Rod Completely agree. I've had a brand new one seize in hot laps, got back in and you could see a hairline crack in the axle. Luckily it was a shorter track and only 2-3 laps. Very likely would've broke with a couple more laps.
Had something very similar happen with a cracked axle, when a rear brake caliper siezed. Car had the power to push through the brakes, although brakes on a sprint car or midget aren't that good to begin with. It was an older style splined rotor also, instead of one in a sperate carrier.
I was there when the axel snapped. That’s my hometown track.
There was a fatality at the same track in the imca modified in 2018
I had no clue, Perris has had some devastating crashes
@slidejobdom Bill Eggleston that raced at my home race track
One more reason to race winged sprint cars...the wing would absorb some of the energy before his body takes it.
The first videos Brad sweet add Kokomo speedway in Indiana
This video is really good
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it
I was standing in the infield turn 1 and saw this crash I actually thought I just saw Marcus get killed very scary crash for sure.
Damn thats a name I havemt heard in awhile. He was pretty decent at PAS
Make a video on Travis Rutz man was bad fast
I have been told that the Perris crash in 2014 with Jimmy Crawford was the start of many similar crashes to follow????
There was many scary wrecks that have happened at perris around that time, haven’t seen any recently though
But from the very brief clip it looks like the car flipped from hitting an uneven LUMP in the track surface.
If you slow it down to.25 speed, you will be that the right rear axle broke, which then caused the car to flip.
I have been racing a car or a motorcycle for more than 30 years. The first thing I told my wife is that I may die and that I will likely be on fire at some point and that I will require multiple trips to the ER before I retire. It's the reality of racing sports. If you think it's not gonna happen to you, you are probably going to die.
Did that right rear tire coming off cause the crash?
nice video
Thank you!
I was racing my dirt bike and I crashed, almost got killed,and I did die,
He was sent home that evening? Who the hell was the doctor??? You NEVER release a patient after a head injury!! You ALWAYS hold them 24 hours minimum for evaluation due to this exact reason!!!
Are you a doctor? If not, you have no right to comment on something you know nothing about. Drivers at that time were often released with concussion symptoms as long as they agreed to not race again until other tests were done.
Why'd the rear wheel break that made him wreck?
Broken axle
Man… if only he had a pair of wings to protect him…
(And also better track management. The right rear wheel definitely snapped when it hit a divot in the track.)
Not true about the track. There is a comment above from someone who knew crew members on the team. A birdcage bearing ( a brand new part) failed which caused the rear axle to break.
@williamford9564 this guy goes on a tirade whenever there is a non wing crash
My older brothers friend Justin Dunn was there at Perris Auto Speedway 😊
Sprint cars are the most dangerous cars there are next to go carts your totally exposed if an accident happens
Worse. Unstable and unreal power to weight ratio.
What's this *_"can't be prevented"_* shit?
There are two kinds of sprint car teams ..........
1) Replace parts *WHEN* they break.
2) Replace parts *BEFORE* they break.
Professional sprint car engine builders magnaflux and inspect every part for stress fractures (even under a microscope) before placing each part back in the engine when it's being freshened. The same can be done with regular inspections of Right Rear Wheel Centers and Hollow 3" Dia. Aluminum Rear Axles.
It amazes me, the level of stupidity, displayed by many high-end sprint car teams. To take a beautiful shinny polished aluminum sprint car wheel and have it anodized some other color. Costs more. Weighs more. Looks worse. Harder to Magnaflux. Harder to see cracks.
Case in point. KKR and those ugly white wheels on the Darren Pittman #9 "Great Clips" car.
Thats a number 1 reason of many not to race period .. you are playing with your life for keepers.. like going to Vietnam ..its a war not a race.
You must be fun at parties
Nobody asked me if I wanted to go to Vietnam