The head-and-neck restraint system Austin Theriault was using broke when he crashed into a concrete wall Oct. 3 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
The Camping World Truck Series driver suffered a broken back and a cut on his elbow after his helmet smashed into the steering wheel in an accident in which his truck turned headfirst into an unprotected concrete barrier.
“We learned that we know a lot less about safety than we thought we did,” said Brad Keselowski, the Sprint Cup Series driver who owned the truck Theriault was driving. “And that’s very scary. … The HANS device broke; his helmet took major impact. The steering wheel broke part of his helmet. All major impact areas.
“The transmission and bell housing came into the cockpit. These are major issues that we just got really lucky on. Point-blank: Anything else goes a little bit further, and he’s not standing here.”
HANS Performance Products issued a statement Wednesday saying it would work with NASCAR to investigate the specifics of the accident and what could be learned from it.
“We have learned that the right side tether carrier on Austin Theriault’s HANS device cracked during his violent collision in Las Vegas,” the company said. “The HANS device did its job protecting his head and neck, as it has in thousands of racing crashes. We are pleased that Austin was not further injured.”
Theriault said he doesn’t know the point when a piece of his HANS device broke and whether that had any impact on his injuries. He said he is unsure what safety device he will use in future races.
“When you hit the steering wheel, something has to give up,” Theriault said. “It’s better that the helmet gives up than your face. … It was pretty violent. It tested a lot of stuff in the truck and my safety equipment and I’m still fortunately here to talk about it.”
Theriault and Keselowski spoke about the accident at a news conference about him being replaced by Austin Cindric, son of Penske executive Tim Cindric, for this weekend’s race at Martinsville Speedway. The 21-year-old Theriault, who also got stitches in his right elbow after being hit by the transmission, will get a scan next week in hopes of racing Nov. 6 at Texas Motor Speedway.
The investigation into Theriault’s crash continues, and Keselowski said Team Penske had a safety team go in conjunction with NASCAR’s safety experts to the University of Nebraska, whose Midwest Roadside Safety Facility consults with NASCAR, to recreate the crash.
“I’ve heard of [the HANS] cracking, not breaking,” Keeslowski said. “His was cracked and broke. That’s pretty severe. He had the same interior in his truck that I have in my Cup car.”
Las Vegas Motor Speedway has said the area Theriault hit was already scheduled to have an energy-absorbing barrier installed this winter prior to the return of the Sprint Cup Series next March.
