Latest Nissan DeltaWing crash spurs NASCAR star to label it “not a race car”

The Nissan DeltaWing program, an attempt to engineer a sleeker, more efficient race car for the 21st century, suffered a tough blow earlier this year when it was crashed out of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Its backers were hoping for some redemption at this weekend's Petit Le Mans race in Atlanta -- but had to rebuild their DeltaWing after it was crashed into yet again, sending the narrow-nosed car rolling across the track with the driver's helmet scraping on the tarmac. The video was enough for NASCAR's leading driver to express his doubts whether the DeltaWing should race at all.

Powered by a 300-hp Nissan four-cylinder, and riding on four-inch-wide front tires, the DeltaWing driven by Gunnar Jeannette had been running at competitive speeds with the prototype class during practice at Road Atlanta when a Porsche 911 GTC car struck it with a force the engineers later said measured 7Gs. Jeannette was not injured thanks to his roll bar.