because it did look serious. Sometimes the most serious looking accident (i.e. car goes airborne and ends up rolling 5-10 times before coming to a stop with debris flying everywhere) ends up being a lot worse for the driver. While what appears to be a "minor (harmless, simple, etc)" crash ends up being fatal (i.e. Senior's crash at Daytona).

When I saw the crash it is tough to say what was going through my mind. I guess initially I assumed he probably sustained some sort of injury which may or may not have been significant. Even though his car was on fire, I "naturally" assumed his suit and fire resistant gear did its job. If he did have any burns, then it wasn't at the level Niki Lauda received. Then as time passed, the thought of him being in a coma did eventually cross my mind. At least it wasn't until some time after the race that I considered the possibility that his injuries were life-threatening.

I guess growing up I heard too many racing accident stories from my late grandmother and late uncle that influenced me to not rush to think the worst scenario. I guess you can say my family was indirectly associated with the racing business. My late grandmother was first cousins to Kyle Petty's wife's mother. While my late uncle was Ricky Rudd's lawyer as well as good friends (maybe even lawyer) to quite a few other people (drivers, owners, pit crew) in the business. The only reason I mention this is to help give you perspective as to why I had a more conservative reaction to the wreck.