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'A major problem' NASCAR drivers growing impatient about safety issues
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- In the wake of yet another fatal accident, several NASCAR drivers said Saturday that they were getting skittish about the safety of their profession. "It's been a long two years and my patience is wearing thin," Jeff Burton said. "One death is totally wrong, and how many have we had? It's not coincidence ... we know we have a major problem and we've got to fix that." Blaise Alexander, a 25-year-old driver who raced sporadically on NASCAR's Busch series, was killed Thursday night during the Automobile Racing Club of America race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. "I love this sport, but I don't want to die for it," said Bobby Hamilton Jr., a Busch series regular. "We keep losing drivers, and the rest of us go back out and keep doing exactly what they were doing when they got killed. Eventually everybody will be scared."
Although ARCA is not associated with NASCAR, Alexander was, and his death marked the fifth peer these drivers have lost since May 2000. "I'm not scared, but there's a lot of wives and families out here who are a little nervous these days," said Joe Nemechek, who missed six races this year with injuries suffered in a testing crash. "We know the dangers, but we'd like to take some of them away." Alexander's death again sparked a debate over safety and what the drivers -- and NASCAR -- can do to protect them while they're doing their jobs. They race again Sunday in the UAW-GM Quality 500. "Action has to be taken quickly because this could happen Sunday, it could happen next week," track president Humpy Wheeler said. "It has just got to stop." Wheeler has pushed to add energy-absorbing bumpers to stock cars to reduce the impact of violent crashes but has yet to get his product, called the "Humpy Bumper," approved by NASCAR. "I have lost patience with the people in this industry who are dragging their feet," he said. "I'm sick of it, I'm tired of it, the gloves are off. We have a moral and ethical responsibility, at the highest levels, to solve this problem now." But series leader Jeff Gordon cautioned against NASCAR rushing into anything as a knee-jerk reaction to satisfy concerns. While Gordon thinks the Humpy Bumper is probably headed in the right direction, he said it's not yet ready to be used on cars. "When that's going to happen is never going to be quick enough for us," Gordon said. "We wanted it yesterday or months ago but it takes time, unfortunately, to develop these things and properly test them." Instead, Gordon suggested the focus be directed to head-and-neck restraint devices. There are currently two devices on the market, the HANS device and the Hutchens device, and Alexander was not wearing either when he hit the wall at a near head-on angle. Alexander did have on a neck collar, and that made it impossible to also use the HANS device. Alexander, like drivers Dale Earnhardt, Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin, is thought to have died of a basal skull fracture. "My first question was if he was wearing a head and neck restraint, when I heard he wasn't, I was devastated for him and his family," Gordon said. "I could not believe that there are still people out there getting into cars without this." All Winston Cup drivers except Tony Stewart are using some kind of head-and-neck support system on a weekly basis.
Drivers who knew Alexander said they had urged him to wear restraints and improve other safety features inside his car, but that Alexander had found the devices to be uncomfortable. "I saw his car Wednesday and I didn't care for the safety precautions he had taken," said Jimmie Johnson, one of Alexander's closest friends in the sport who will make his Winston Cup debut on Sunday. "It was outdated stuff." Also at issue Saturday was a continued concern over the stiffness of the cars. Wheeler, as well as many drivers, believe that stock cars are too rigid and transfer too much energy to drivers in crashes. That's why Wheeler worked with Las Vegas-based engineer Paul Lew to develop his energy-absorbing bumper, which is designed to fit the area between a car's nose and its frame rails and engine block. Although not ready to advocate the bumper, Gordon believes something needs to be done to address the rigidity of the cars. "There's no doubt we need to make these cars more crushable and we need to find ways to soften these walls up so they absorb the impact," he said. "It's not going to happen right away and anybody that gets out there knows that. "I know it and I'm still planning on getting out there. I'm sorry if you don't agree with that or understand that, but it's just the mentality of a race car driver."
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