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Playing it safe NASCAR officials, drivers moving in right directionPosted: Friday February 15, 2002 1:27 PMUpdated: Friday February 15, 2002 10:44 PM
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- What would Dale Earnhardt say about this safety craze? Can you picture The Intimidator strapping on a head-and-neck restraint device? "No, he wouldn't have done it,'' suggests friend and racing rival Darrell Waltrip. "He would have fought it tooth and nail. He believed in what he was doing. He had an open-face helmet. He didn't like to wear gloves. "Dale Earnhardt liked everything just like it was, because he had it his way.'' But it's a new day in stock car racing. And whether he'd like it or not, Earnhardt is the major reason why NASCAR has signed up for the safety crusade. Sadly, it took losing the legendary driver to turn NASCAR from docile to pro-active on safety. And despite the earlier warnings that didn't click with all the drivers, they, too, now finally get it.
When Earnhardt slammed into the wall coming off Turn 4 at last year's Daytona 500, it wasn't just another driver behind the wheel. This was a seven-time Winston Cup champion, a seemingly indestructible force who'd walked away from far worse-looking crashes. So, it took the death of Superman to create a sense of urgency. "It was going to take a long time to get a lot of these things done, because it is a driver acceptance thing and you can't push them any faster than they want to go,'' said John Melvin, a NASCAR consultant and a leading racing-safety scientist. "I think the Earnhardt crash just accelerated that immeasurably.'' Melvin says the advances of the last 12 months would normally have taken three or four years, if not longer. "What pushed this forward was the realization on the part of the drivers that, in fact, they were vulnerable,'' he said. "They didn't really believe it until that crash. Now it's, 'Hey, it can happen to anybody.' '' And of course, the 54-year-old racing organization had to shoulder a greater responsibility. The hierarchy moved away from its tried-and-true recommending mode and began mandating head-and-neck restraints, along with helmets and fire-retardant suits for pit crews. It opened research and development centers, put medical liaisons and safety analysts on staff and finally relented to the use of impact-data recorders in cars. The France family and powers-that-be deserve kudos for not going about business as usual. Did they react quickly enough? Probably not. Are the critics pushing them to do even more? Surely. "There are still things to be done, changes that need to be made to the cars,'' said Waltrip, outspoken on the safety front. "And I guess they will evolve as time goes by.'' Finally, NASCAR will rely on "black box'' crash data to assist in designing safer cars -- something CART embraced nearly two decades ago. The criticism that the NASCAR-mandated chassis is too rigid is being addressed with a promise to work with design elements in an effort to find ways for cars to better absorb energy. Similarly, research continues on the development of energy-dissipating "soft walls'' that would cushion the blow of a head-on crash. "They are definitely moving in the right direction, but they haven't gone far enough,'' cautions Samuel Gualardo, past president of the American Society of Safety Engineers. "The question is whether these things would have occurred if, in fact, all this wouldn't have transpired. It just seems like the advances have come reactively as opposed to proactively.'' Probably so. What can't be measured is the attitude adjustment filtering through NASCAR, the drivers, owners and race teams. Guys aren't rolling out of bed thinking solely about how to make the race car go faster. The priority has been tweaked so that safety at least now enters the equation. And that is how it should be, and the way it needs to stay. The racing industry has a moral and ethical obligation to do what it can to protect its drivers. Unfortunately, the point had to be brought home by the death of a legend.
Another roundFresh from filing an $8.5 million defamation lawsuit against NASCAR, safety-equipment manufacturer Bill Simpson is planning to do business again in the sport, perhaps as soon as late summer. Simpson, who resigned his management position with Simpson Performance Products, has a non-compete clause with his old company that expires July 17.Simpson has started another firm, Bill Simpson Racing, and has opened a shop and test lab in Indianapolis. The plan is to introduce some product in August or September, with an eye on a major push in the 2003 season. "We're heavily involved in motorsports safety research and development,'' Simpson said. "We've designed some restraint stuff that is nothing like anybody has seen before.'' No doubt, it'll be fun to see if NASCAR officials approve the use of his equipment.
Family businessDarrell Waltrip is talking up the chances of his brother, Michael, but little brother would probably prefer that he tone down his act. Darrell believes the death of Dale Earnhardt, who had just taken on Michael as a driver, had a profound affect on his brother last season. The racer-turned-broadcaster feels his brother mistakenly bore some guilt over Earnhardt's death on the final lap of the Daytona 500, a race won by Michael."I'll tell you, the kid was heartbroken over what happened to Dale,'' Darrell said. "He carried some guilt around with him about what happened to Dale . . . like he won the race and Dale got killed. He wished he could have done something, but there's nothing he could have done.'' Michael didn't react well to his brother's use of words. "I don't have any guilt,'' Michael snapped. "I don't know what he is talking about. Guilt is a word you can't just throw around.'' Mike Fish is a senior writer for CNNSI.com. Comments? To e-mail Fish, click here.
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