Russell Phillips fatal crash at Charlotte Motor Speedway (6 October 1995) NASCAR mp4 (1280x720)

Russell Lee Phillips (March 6, 1969 October 6, 1995) was a NASCAR Sportsman Division driver and volunteer firefighter from Charlotte, NC. He was killed in a crash at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1995. The Winston 100 at Charlotte was the 17th NASCAR Sportsman start of the 1995 for Phillips, who had one top10 finish and just won his first pole position. The crash occurred on lap 17 of the 67 lap event. Phillips was in 10th place when his Oldsmobile was hit by the car of Steven Howard, who steered high to avoid a twocar spinout. Howard s car forced Phillips car onto its right side, then smashed it rooffirst into the retaining wall. Until 1996, NASCAR cars were not yet required to be equipped with the Earnhardt bar, a roofsupport bar running down the middle of the windshield, designed to prevent fatal roof collapse in rooffirst accidents. His roll bars failed to protect the roof; both the roll bars and the roof itself were sheared completely off the car, exposing the interior of the driver compartment