|
 |
  |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Safety first Waltrip says HANS device not bad to work with
By Stephen Thomas, CNNSI.com LAS VEGAS -- There are two fairly distinct schools of thought within NASCAR that explain and thus help people to come to grips with Dale Earnhardt's death. The first is the "The seatbelt failed, thus causing Earnhardt's fatal injuries" school. And the second is the "The seatbelt's failure was not the cause of Earnhardt's death and, indeed, merely obscures the fact that Earnhardt was likely already dead when the belt failed" school. At some point in the future, we may well know the answer to this depressing conundrum. Whatever the answer, Earnhardt's death will likely, one way or another, further heighten drivers' awareness about safety and exactly what steps they can -- and should -- take to make themselves safer. Earnhardt friend, DEI driver and fellow Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip is merely the latest in an ever expanding string of drivers who has made a move to the Head and Neck Support (HANS) device. While his experience may offer nothing more than further anecdotal evidence that the HANS is a device whose time has come, his statements are nevertheless illustrative.
"I don't have any reservations about the HANS as far as the way it fits and the way it wears in the car," Waltrip said Saturday morning before the final practice for Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400. "I haven't hit anything yet with it on, but it sure does feel safe when you have it on. "I didn't have any problem with it," he continued. "I actually like it a lot. I like it better than without it. I put it on and I loved it. And I've had it on every time I've been in the car since [testing with it in Atlanta last week]." In addition to Waltrip, Dale Jarrett and Terry Labonte are among the drivers who will wear the HANS Sunday. For his part, Jeff Gordon indicated that he'd make his final decision before the race. "I've got it close," Gordon said, "but it's obviously no as comfortable [driving with it] as without it. But it's good enough, I think, to race it." Waltrip's instant comfort with the HANS might be an aberration and, indeed, there might be another better device yet to be discovered. Regardless, Earnhardt's death has given added impetus to the drivers' search for safety. But whatever motivated this movement, it has come about for some very legitimate reasons. "I just feel like we owe it to our families, we owe it to ourselves, we owe it to each other to do whatever we can do," Waltrip said. "If the research shows that that thing will make it safer, then we've at least got to try it and give it a whirl. And if you put it on and it doesn't work ... I just don't understand it. To me, it's perfect."
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
