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Meeting of the minds Drivers, crew chiefs talking of safety task force
Updated: Sunday February 25, 2001 8:06 AM
By Mike Fish, CNNSI.com ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- No one is calling it a bid to unionize the drivers. Far from it, actually. What several prominent drivers and crew chiefs have begun talking up is a pill slightly easier for NASCAR to swallow -- something along the lines of a task force to study safety in the sport. But make no mistake, they believe the safety issue is significant enough that others besides NASCAR should have a voice. "We all have to come together," said Jeff Gordon, after winning the pole for the Dura-Lube 400. "It would be nice to see a group, an outside source, that would deal with it -- spend the money and time to test all these best [safety] options. "NASCAR does a great job, but to go to the next level ... it does need to be an outside source, and have that be all they do. Who's to say we all can't contribute to make it better, that's all I'm saying." Conversations in the garage intensified after the tragic death of Dale Earnhardt, but safety has always been a hot-button issue for the sport. It's struggled with four deaths in the last 10 months. The national media has jumped on the story, and there's fear some sponsors could be turned off if the trend continues. It's also apparent the drivers want a say in level of risk they'll accept in a race. Some feel strongly that the rule changes NASCAR put in for Daytona went too far. While the tight, two- and three-wide racing made for a great show, critics say it bunched the cars too closely and turned the drivers into daredevils.
The same car package was first implemented at Talladega last year, and drivers have voiced concerns if it were to be used again when they return in April. "This is the great problem," Jeff Burton said. "When we went to Daytona last year, we had safer racing than what we had in past. But the media, the fans, NASCAR -- nobody liked it. Even some of the drivers didn't like it." Earnhardt was one of them. But according to Burton, Earnhardt expressed reservations to him after the IROC race in Daytona, and was "totally against" running the next IROC race at Talladega with the modified rules. "I heard that loud and clear," Burton said. "That also means to me it's wrong to run the Talladega Winston Cup race with those rules. We can't do it. Shouldn't do it. And I don't think we will. "I think everybody's eyes were wide open on Sunday. It was a helluva race to watch. But when the fifth-place car lands on top of 26th-place car [during an 18-car crash], that is all I got to say." Understandably, drivers want to make certain everything possible is done to protect their well-being. "Safety needs to be at the forefront of Winston Cup racing," said defending champion Bobby Labonte. "It's the most important thing. I'm sure a lot of things might happen now." Burton, a leader on the safety front, proposed a meeting of representatives from the various factions involved in the sport.
"It isn't a NASCAR vs. the driver situation," Burton said. "I think we've got a community problem. We need to have a neighborhood meeting and figure how to fix this problem. We can't do it separately. We can't form a driver group and go off and try and fix the problem without NASCAR. "NASCAR needs to be a little more open to listening to us in a formal setting. And I think we need to be willing to spend time, energy and effort and even money, if we have to, to make ourselves available to help with the problem." Few in the garages disagree. People in the sport understand the inherent risk. Some, such as Kenny Wallace, liken themselves to F-18 fighter-jet pilots going off to combat. But while careful not to overreact, most recognize they can't sit silently any longer as drivers fall by the wayside -- particularly an icon like Earnhardt. Atop the agenda would certainly be further research and discussion of a replacement for the concrete outer walls, plus the search for a belt restraint system to help drivers survive a head-on crash like what greeted Earnhardt in the Daytona 500. Well-respected crew chief Jimmy Makar suggested the sport's best minds be pulled together in a "think tank." "Look around this garage and you'll find some of the best minds in world," said Makar, crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing and Labonte's car. "NASCAR certainly does a good job of doing things on its own. If you could put both together, you'd probably form a better group of people to go forward and look into these issues."
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