Fan's Eye View ~ NASCAR Drivers Are In Danger
5/03/2013
Jim Fitzgerald
Go back in time, just over two short months ago, to Daytona Beach, Florida. NASCAR’s “other” restrictor plate track, the Daytona International Speedway, held the Sprint Cup Series premier event, the Daytona 500. While that event went off without too much controversy, the same cannot be said about the race which was run the day before. In the Drive for COPD 300, the season opening event for the Nationwide Series, the race was hotly contested as usual. It was on the final lap when the events transpired which may be leading to bigger concerns today.
Kyle Larson, a rookie driver in the series, made contact with another car which sent his own car airborne into the catch fence which separates the fans from the action. The car spun along the barrier, destroying itself and damaging the fence as well. Larson walked away unhurt, but some fans were injured by flying debris. The engine from Larson’s car lay just on the opposite side of the fence.
Now, the schedule returns to a track which requires restrictor plates to be added to the engines. These plates restrict the airflow into the engine, which reduces horsepower and keeps them from turning speeds of over 230 miles per hour. This causes the cars and drivers to run in large packs together, where first and tenth can be separated by mere yards, and now the question of safety is once again raised by many.
There will be blogs posted, stories written, videos reviewed, and tweets…well, tweeted, all claiming that the sport is unsafe. It is unsafe. And it will never be safe enough. In those blogs and tweets and stories, one can read about the perils of the sport, and of those unfortunate enough to have paid the ultimate price.
What will be glossed over for the most part, however, under the speed and the danger and the tears and the memories, is that the competitors are not forced to do this most dangerous thing.
They are choosing to do so.
Racing is dangerous everywhere, not just on the restrictor plate tracks. We have, unfortunately, lost drivers at places such as New Hampshire and Martinsville, both of which are almost flat. Just as racing is a dangerous sport, the world can be a dangerous place. There are fires and crime, automobile accidents and airplane crashes. Boats will capsize and earthquakes will rumble. Some of these we can try to control, and some of them we have to take as they are.
Driving race cars is a little bit of both. The sanctioning body has done wonders with the cars, equipment, and even the tracks, making them much safer than they were even ten years ago. Cocoon seating, HANS devices, SAFER barriers, and full face helmets have most assuredly saved some lives. In that respect, the sport can be made safer, and as we progress though learning and science, it will become even safer. Outside of that, there is very little to control. Since the dawn of competition, the concept has always been to be bigger, stronger, and faster than the other guy. The only way to do that is to be bigger, stronger and faster, and the danger lies therein.
These drivers have been going fast since the first time they were strapped into a race car. However it happened, they were bitten by some sort of bug which made them want to continue doing it. As they progressed through the ranks, they chose to continue doing it. They matured as people and competitors, and they chose to continue doing it. They reached the top levels of racing, driven at speeds approaching and surpassing 200 miles per hour, and they chose to continue doing it. They have seen friends, family and fans get hurt, sometimes injured, and sometimes worse….and they continue to make the choice to do it. Through everything they have face throughout their lives, they will, the next instant it is time for them to do so, strap themselves right back into that race car, and continue to do it.
Are these drivers in danger? Yes, absolutely. Can anything be done about it? Yes, to a point. However, the inherent dangers of this sport are treated differently by many. They are overlooked. They are ignored. They are celebrated. Whatever each driver needs to do to cope with what they have chosen to do with their lives, they will do, and then they will get back in the race car and do what it is we love to watch them do. They will go fast, faster, and try to be the fastest. To be completely safe in that situation is impossible.
Impossible.
They will stand with their families, friends, and team mates on the pit lane through prerace ceremonies. They will slide into their cars. They will pull on a helmet, and connect their restraints. They will fire the engines, and then face the very dangers we have all been talking about.
And they will choose to do it.
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