Friday, August 28, 2009

saved by God's grace and a small amount of luck

late last night, eric russell and i went to the abandoned home depot behind QT to do some donuts in the rain. on the way back, we were racing another car. we were doing 80 or 90 when we hit the last curve of buford hwy, i underestimated the sharpness of the curve and lost control of the car. we were about to hit the concrete barrier at 90 miles an hour when i regained control of the car less than a foot away from the barrier.

there are five things that saved my life and had any of them been any different, i would have died last night:


1) the fact that there was a huge 15ft wide emergency lane for that curve that i drifted into that didn't follow the normal curvature of the road

2) the fact that i was doing it with eric russell who knows more about handling cars than anyone else; he talked me through regaining control

3) the fact that we had just done donuts so the tires were nice and hot and really really grippy on the road

4) it wasn't too wet, there weren't any puddles on the road

5) the fact that three weeks ago, i installed a new suspension package that cost me and arm and leg but apparently saved my life last night. i know that if i hadn't done that, it would have taken me an extra half-second to regain control, the car would have rolled over, hit the barrier and we would have died.


1 and 5 seem really mind-blowingly lucky to me and i have a new appreciation for life and God.