Hi guys. This video has been around for quite a while. The car crashed at Baylands (Fremont), which, if my memory serves me correctly, closed in 1988 or so. If you look closely there are several mid to late eighties vehicles in the video background. There's also another video out there (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3WD0yw8ns0) that shows a walk-around of the car following the crash. It clearly shows the aftermarket seat belts (competition style) still in the car. What I think happened during the crash sequence was the seat mounts broke. It was common back then to use plastic bucket seats. They often had four threaded inserts molded into the base. You just bolted them in that way. If my memory is still clear (which might not always be the case <g&gt the rules never said much about the way they were mounted. Installing the seats with bolts or studs directly into threaded inserts was likely acceptable. Today, there are regulations laying out exactly how seats should be installed. If you look closely at the car there's a 12:30 dial in on the windshield. Even then, that wasn't a real fast car. As a result, it probably didn't get too much scrutiny during tech, particularly if the track was really busy.

The other point is this: With 55-56-57 Chevys it's not hard to get a bunch of suspension travel. And if they wheelstand, it's really tough on pieces like ball joints. They also move around a lot because of the travel. Couple that with the fact the car had one of those small diameter foam rimmed three spoke steering wheels that were so common, I suspect the car either got away from him (the driver’s name is Don Refrow) or something broke. Even though the car wasn't perhaps the best prepared in the world, I don't think he can take all of the blame. It could actually have been an accident. And Renfrow (who is obviously famous today) is a very fortunate man.

Just my two cents.

Wayne Scraba