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 top-10 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 two-car spinout. Howard’s car forced Phillips’ car onto its right side, then smashed it roof-first into the retaining wall. Until 1996, NASCAR cars were not yet required to be equipped with the “Earnhardt bar“, a roof-support bar running down the middle of the windshield, designed to prevent fatal roof collapse in roof-first 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