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Is it Speed Week yet? A part of what gets me through the winter is my 4-DVD set, “Ultimate NASCAR” by ESPN. Seeing some of NASCAR’s most spectacular collisions dang near took my breath away. I am careful in my use of verbiage lest someone get the idea I’m one of those fans who seeks out a wreck every race I watch.

At the same time, let’s not deny that crashes are a major part of the sport and when we see a driver successfully dance with danger, we talk about it for days in a sort of reverential admiration.

This is why, as I go back through some of these hits, you’ll never find numbered among these any fatal crashes. Aside from being macabre and disrespectful of a driver’s memory- the truth is most fatal crashes in NASCAR history looked anything but spectacular. No doubt the crashes that ended the lives of Joe Weatherly, Fireball Roberts, Kenny Irwin, Adam Petty and Dale Earnhardt all had their place in history- and we do well to remember them. These crashes brought needed change to NASCAR. To re-live their crashes among these collisions would be inappropriate.

The following crashes I am numbering among the “Big Ones” are the breath-taking kind moments similar to what you see when an NFL receiver makes a catch, knowing full well he’s going to get laid out. Perhaps they could be likened to an outfielder splaying for a seemingly elusive fly ball. Or maybe it’d be similar to a basketball player diving into the third row in pursuit of a loose ball. I’d describe it as NASCAR’s version of “shock and awe.”

On second thought, nah, there’s nothing quite like this. Without further delay, here are the “Big Ones”:

Rusty Wallace, Talladega 1993- If anyone ever kept records of airborne crashes, Rusty Wallace must surely hold the record. I’m really surprised somebody didn’t nickname him “The Missouri Missile.” Wallace had already taken an another bone-jarring hit earlier in the season at the Daytona 500. There’s sheet metal flying everywhere and you just keep waiting for the crash to end.

To me, the coolest thing about this monster moment, is how Wallace bounded out of his car as quickly as he could as if to say “Is that all you got? You’re not so bad!” a la Rocky Balboa. Later interviews revealed Ol’ Rusty wasn’t going to be intimidated.

Richard Petty, Daytona 500, 1988- This one scared his wife Lynda half to death as she was sure “The King” was dead.The 7-time Daytona 500 winner flew up barrel-rolled along the fence like baseball bat rolling along a hallway wall. Petty limped away from the wreckage with an ankle injury. The NASCAR drivers of old were tough old birds and Petty passed the test. This was another case of a car looking too smashed up for the driver to have survived- but as we all know the legend made it out.

Davey Allison, Pocono, 1992- Allison’s last full season in NASCAR was the best of times and the worst of times. Bobby’s boy fulfilled his dream of winning the Daytona 500 that year, but his season also had its moments like he had at Long Pond. If you saw it, the car seemed to spin time and time and time again before before it darn near put a mammoth crater in the infield. You could tell the announcers in the booth were shaken that day.

Michael Mc Dowell, Texas qualifying, 2008- Without the safety innovations we have today, its hard to say how the outcome of this incident would have come out. Mc Dowell hooked his car in a turn pirouetted across the straightaway and flipped a number of times before coming to rest. Mikey Mac is a tall drink of water, so one had to wonder how he was going to squeeze out of that mangled mess. The Car of Tomorrow passed one of its first major tests with Mc Dowell returning to race the #00.

Tony Stewart, Daytona 500, 2001- Smoke took one of the wildest rides a racer can take on this fateful. Robby Gordon has gotten into the back of Stewart, sending the “20″ airborne. In that same collision, Ward Burton got turned sideways and collected what seemed like half the field. How wild was that ride? Stewart’s teammate Bobby Labonte got a view of the Rushville Rocket had had not planned on. Who would have imagined a 3,000 plus pound car could fly around airborne like that?

Bobby Allison, Winston 500, 1987- “I’m o.k., but you won’t believe the ride I just took.” That’s what Allison told his brother Donnie after the unofficial ring leader of the “Alabama Gang” blew a tire and flew up and took out a section of the catch fence. I couldn’t imagine being one of the fans near this action. This accident gave rise to the restrictor plate as NASCAR decided running at 200+ mph was more than safety would allow.

Michael Waltrip, Bristol Busch race 1990- Smacking concrete head on is ordinarily cause for great concern is it those head-on collisions with an unforgiving surface that has often caused NASCAR’s fatal wrecks. Mikey’s car almost seemed to disintegrate on contact. Waltrip’s older brother Darrell saw the roll cage all bent up he feared the worst. For Michael’s part, he said he was o.k., wasn’t sure what happened, he was just a little confused, which Michael said was nothing unusual. Even then, Waltrip had the trademark, self-effacing humor.

Clint Bowyer, Daytona 500, 2007- There’s nothing like getting launched across the finish line like the “07″ got in this race. That’s got to be a weird view- crossing the finish line on your roof. Bowyer caught fire, but was able to get out after the car landed upright in the infield.

Mark Martin, Charlotte, 2006- In his final season of running for Jack Roush, “The Kid” tried bending the wall courtesy of a tap from J.J. Yeley. It was another case of a 180 mph projectile smacking an immobile object, but sensing the fear, Martin emerged from the car and triumphantly threw his arms in the air, as if to say to the Grim Reaper “Not today you old son of a gun.”

Elliott Sadler, Talladega, 2003- With the technology of the Car Of Tomorrow, I don’t know we’ll ever see a rollover crash like this one. Sadler got caught and turned by Kurt Busch and he took a ride that must feel somewhat like going over Niagra Falls in a rain barrel. That last smack of the roof on the pavement had to have been one heckuva hit.

Whether we’re willing to admit it or not, I believe there’s something of a thrill a fan gets when they see their favorite drivers take it to the edge, spit in death’s eye, and walk away from it.

You about have to be half a bubble off of plum to climb inside a motorized missile and ride it at near 200 mph, but the world of sports wouldn’t be the same without this collection of gladiators we call NASCAR drivers.