How Safe Is Racing?

But the death of the hugely popular Earnhardt triggered a sea change in NASCAR's approach to safety. The next season NASCAR instituted a number of safety innovations, including mandating crash-data recorders, and in April 2002 ground was broken at the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C., a 61,000-square-foot facility where today 52 people work to improve safety in the sport. Since '02, information on more than 5,000 on-track impacts has been entered in a computer database at the R&D Center and analyzed as if it were evidence from a crime scene. NASCAR also transports every significantly wrecked car to Concord to be examined by specialists. "The things that no one in motor sports thinks about in terms of safety, we have people thinking about," says Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition.

SO FAR the results of the safety push have been impressive: Since Earnhardt's death there hasn't been a fatality in NASCAR's top three series, which is believed to be the longest such stretch in the 59-year history of the organization. How to account for this? Here are the three advances that have made NASCAR the safest professional racing series in the U.S. today:

? The HANS (Head And Neck Support) Device. A year before his fatal accident, Dale Earnhardt referred to the device as "that damn noose" because it restricted head movement and lines of sight. In the '01 Daytona 500 six drivers wore the HANS—a collar made of carbon fiber that has tethers attached to the driver's helmet to keep the head from snapping forward or to the side in a sudden stop—but Earnhardt wasn't one of them. Would the device have saved his life? Most likely, according to several experts interviewed for this story. Eight months after his wreck, NASCAR mandated that its drivers wear the HANS or a similar head and neck restraint.

"Drivers were resistant to wearing [the restraints] at first because they didn't think they could be competitive in them, but we proved that you can," says Brett Bodine, who in 2000 became the first driver to wear the device in the Cup series and is now director of cost research at the R&D Center. "The HANS alone has probably saved several lives."

?The SAFER (Steel And Foam Energy Reduction) barrier. Also known as the soft wall, the SAFER barrier was developed over 3 1/2 years at Nebraska by Sicking. The barrier, which is installed inside the track's existing concrete walls and consists of 22 inches of hard foam and eight inches of steel, acts like a cushion to soften impacts. Designed to absorb energy in a crash, the barriers have been installed at every oval NASCAR's top three series visit. According to Sicking, the duration of impact when a car hits a concrete wall is 80 to 90 milliseconds; with the SAFER barrier that duration is stretched to 160 to 190 milliseconds, basically cutting the g-force of the impact by 40%. "There have been no serious injuries in NASCAR since the SAFER barriers were installed," says Sicking. "It's not a coincidence. Will there be a fatality in the future? Probably. But the frequency will never be the same."

The reality is that racing at 200 mph will never be completely safe and that NASCAR is always just one lap away from its next death. One problem NASCAR still needs to address is that potentially deadly gaps in the SAFER cushioning at gates and other access points remain at some tracks. On March 2, Jeff Gordon plowed head-on into one of these gaps at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The impact was so violent as he hit the concrete wall—"I could feel my organs move," says Gordon—that it was measured to be harder than Earnhardt's fatal hit. Gordon survived thanks to a range of safety advances, including the HANS device and a carbon-fiber seat that's much stronger than the traditional aluminum seat and prevents the driver's body from moving at impact. He was also very lucky to be driving....

?The Car of Tomorrow. After seven years of testing and tinkering with a new car design, NASCAR rolled out the CoT for 16 races in 2007. This season the new car is being used full time, and it boasts several features aimed at protecting the driver: The seat was moved four inches to the right (away from a frequent point of impact); larger "crush zones" (with foam inserts to help dissipate the energy of a crash) were built into the sides; and a rear wing was added to give more downforce, making it easier for a driver to regain control when the back end wiggles. Drivers complain that it's harder to pass in the boxier CoT than it was in the old car, but the consensus in the garage is that the CoT is a safer vehicle. And no one is more vehement about this than Michael McDowell.

"Without the improvements in safety," he says, "I don't know if I'd be here today."

McDOWELL CHARGED into Turn 1 for his second qualifying lap at Texas, and the right rear tire of his Toyota rolled over that patch of speedy dry. His back end lost grip, and the tail of his car slid up the track. Trying to regain control, McDowell turned the steering wheel to the right. The tires bit, and the car went straight into the outer wall, nose-first—an eerie echo of Earnhardt's crash.

That's when the safety features adopted since Earnhardt died went to work. Not only did the SAFER barrier reduce the impact, but the energy-absorbing foam lining the right side of his car also softened the blow. McDowell's HANS device kept his head from snapping forward. His seat didn't move. And as the car tumbled down the track, the CoT's cockpit stayed intact. Aside from getting the wind knocked out of him and suffering a few bruises, McDowell was fine. As soon as the car came to a rest on the backstretch, he lowered his window net—the universal sign that the driver is O.K.