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This entry doesn’t have a lot to do with big bucks, but it does have a lot to do with a common occurrence in deer country: animal collisions. What’s interesting about this collision is that it took place at nearly 200 mph with a NASCAR race car. The accompany photos attest to the speed of the car and lack thereof for one unlucky coyote.

Here’s what happened. In early August Joe Gibbs’ racing team driver Brad Coleman was in Arizona at a Toyota proving grounds testing a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race car. Coleman was running at nearly 200 mph when he caught sight of an animal sneak under the outside guardrail. Things happened fast after that.

“I'm in the middle of the corner, and I'm doing like 190,” Coleman said
Friday at Nashville Superspeedway. “I'm just cruising. You run the high line there, because that’s where the most banking is. It’s the high-speed lane. There’s just a guardrail there like on the freeway.”

That’s when Coleman catches sight of Wile E. trying to take a shortcut.

“I see this thing, it must've been 100 feet in front of me, just jump out.
Right when I saw it come out from under the guardrail, I was like, ‘That’s a coyote,’” Coleman described.

Despite the evasive speed of a coyote, it was no match for the race car and impact was inevitable. Fortunately, the collision didn’t destroy the ability to control the race car. 

“It just started smoking like crazy,” Coleman said. “And it smelled
terrible. I didn't see anything in the mirror, so I was like, ‘I wonder
where it went?’ I said, ‘Guys, I hit a coyote. I'm going to come in because
I think it screwed up the radiator. I think it clogged up the grille a
little bit.’”

It appears as if the car is repairable. The coyote, however, was definitely KIA and I don’t think even the Roadrunner would have been fast enough to avoid being a new hood ornament in this case.

Comments (11)

from www.dropjhook.com wrote 12 weeks 2 days ago

Some times you are the one swating the fly & then some times you are the fly getting swated.

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from seadog wrote 12 weeks 2 days ago

Wow. Lucky that happened during testing, not during a race. Imagine if the varmint jumped out in front of the leader at Talladega with 30 cars bunched up in the draft--ouch.

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from Mike wrote 12 weeks 2 days ago

Glad it didn't hit the windshield.

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from Bo wrote 12 weeks 2 days ago

dog gone.

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from GerryBethge wrote 12 weeks 2 days ago

Sucks, eh?

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from bullridingbamaboy wrote 12 weeks 2 days ago

Thats a different hood orniment

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from SD_Whitetail_Hntr wrote 12 weeks 2 days ago

I don't care who ya are, that's the craziest way a coyote could have ended up after being hit. I've seen literally hundreds of animals hit on the highway, and only a stock car traveling that fast could have caused a result like that. In case no one has seen the deer hit on the autobahn of Germany, here is what a deer hit at 140 mph looks like. This thread is missing some of the good pictures. Do some quick searches on google and you should find more.
http://forums.evolutionm.net/off-topic/322340-bmw-meets-deer-autobahn.ht...

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from Yoda wrote 12 weeks 2 days ago

man that's wild

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from bbusse wrote 12 weeks 1 day ago

You don't see that everyday!

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from 2Poppa wrote 11 weeks 6 days ago

Not quite as fast as a speeding bullet,but just as lethal!

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from rrmont wrote 10 weeks 6 days ago

Looks like he took the wrong shortcut!

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from www.dropjhook.com wrote 12 weeks 2 days ago

Some times you are the one swating the fly & then some times you are the fly getting swated.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from seadog wrote 12 weeks 2 days ago

Wow. Lucky that happened during testing, not during a race. Imagine if the varmint jumped out in front of the leader at Talladega with 30 cars bunched up in the draft--ouch.

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from Mike wrote 12 weeks 2 days ago

Glad it didn't hit the windshield.

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from Bo wrote 12 weeks 2 days ago

dog gone.

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from GerryBethge wrote 12 weeks 2 days ago

Sucks, eh?

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from bullridingbamaboy wrote 12 weeks 2 days ago

Thats a different hood orniment

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from SD_Whitetail_Hntr wrote 12 weeks 2 days ago

I don't care who ya are, that's the craziest way a coyote could have ended up after being hit. I've seen literally hundreds of animals hit on the highway, and only a stock car traveling that fast could have caused a result like that. In case no one has seen the deer hit on the autobahn of Germany, here is what a deer hit at 140 mph looks like. This thread is missing some of the good pictures. Do some quick searches on google and you should find more.
http://forums.evolutionm.net/off-topic/322340-bmw-meets-deer-autobahn.ht...

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from Yoda wrote 12 weeks 2 days ago

man that's wild

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from bbusse wrote 12 weeks 1 day ago

You don't see that everyday!

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from 2Poppa wrote 11 weeks 6 days ago

Not quite as fast as a speeding bullet,but just as lethal!

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from rrmont wrote 10 weeks 6 days ago

Looks like he took the wrong shortcut!

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