NASCAR Needs To Focus On Safety
Dateline: 08/07/2000This weekend Jeremy Mayfield was injured in a practice crash at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and missed the Winston Cup race. Terry Labonte, "The Iron Man" of NASCAR also gave up his seat as a result of injuries sustained a month ago in Daytona. This ended his incredible consecutive starts streak after 22 years without missing a race. Add these latest injuries to the two tragic deaths that NASCAR endured earlier this season and it quickly becomes apparent that it is time for NASCAR to re-evaluate their safety practices.
Let me preface this by saying that I believe that NASCAR has done a fine job in the past of addressing safety issues as soon as they become apparent. Also, I do not believe that anyone in NASCAR could have foreseen or prevented any of these unfortunate incidents.
However, I do believe that NASCAR can do more and should be more proactive in their safety developments.
While safety is, and always has been, a primary concern of NASCAR it seems as though all of the rule changes and equipment modifications are reactionary. NASCAR recently mandated the installation of kill switches on the steering wheel and limits to the throttle linkage as a result of the tragic deaths of Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin which were both apparently the result of stuck throttles. While this addresses a real need and is a solid safety improvement unfortunately it was not mandated until two drivers had left us.
Why Wait?
There are safety measures that have been available for years that NASCAR still has not mandated. Soft-wall technology has been in use at local Saturday night race tracks for more than ten years. Who knows how racing might be different if NASCAR had adopted soft walls ten years ago? Would Ernie Irvan still be racing today? Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin? There is no way to know for sure, but softening their impacts couldn't have hurt.
Another safety measure that is trickling into the sport is the Lajoie seat. This seat, designed by Busch series driver Randy Lajoie, helps transmit the force of an accident more evenly across the driver's body and reduces injuries. Why don't more drivers use this seat? Why doesn't NASCAR mandate it's use?
A Suggestion
It is clear that NASCAR continues to look for ways to improve safety. Gary Nelson (NASCAR Director of Competition) and his staff are responsible for safety in NASCAR. They do an admirable job considering the time and resources that they have available but there are a limited number of hours in the day. As NASCAR continues to get more complex I believe that NASCAR needs a separate, dedicated safety department.
Gather together a team of engineers, doctors, drivers and team owners to focus solely on safety. They can do some formal testing on the devices that we already know about, invent some needed devices that no one has thought of yet and make formal recommendations to NASCAR and to Gary Nelson on which ideas should be implemented and which ones are not yet ready.
This needs to be a full time, ongoing and very public effort. Let the teams, drivers, fans and media know what they are trying, what they have found and the problems that they are trying to solve. I guarantee that they will get some incredible feedback and invaluable suggestions that can truly make a difference in this sport.
NASCAR is and always has been concerned with safety, but there is always room to do more.
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