Return to story

When best drivers talk about safety, NASCAR should listen

April 30, 2009 12:35 am

SPEED KILLS, as every grisly driver education film warns. The paradox for NASCAR is that controlled speed is also pretty darn dangerous.

Carl Edwards' frightening flip at Talladega underscored the perils of restrictor-plate racing. It came at the end of a highly competitive race and served--along with a 13-car crash on lap seven and 10-car pileup with nine laps to go--as a perfect bookend argument for those who are screaming for change.

Fans and writers can lobby all they want. But when three-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson spoke out Tuesday about the need for action, it carried much more weight.

NASCAR mandated horsepower-sapping restrictor plates at its two biggest tracks (Talladega and Daytona) more than two decades ago after Bobby Allison's car blew a tire and nearly sailed into the grandstand. The move was made with safety in mind--both for fans and the rivers who were topping 220 mph on the huge ovals.

Fans may be more secure now, but the drivers may be even more at risk than they were before--even with developments like SAFER walls and the HANS device that prevents the kind of neck trauma that killed Dale Earnhardt in 2001.

That's because in restrictor-plate races, it's virtually impossible to pull away from the field. This leads to four-wide racing at 180 mph and almost no margin for error in a three-hour race.

Fans eat it up because it's riveting competition, with the constant chance for spectacular collisions. Drivers hate it because one false move, by themselves or one of their competitors, can mean an early shower, broken bones--or worse.

"Talladega is short for 'We're going to crash, we just don't know when,'" said Ryan Newman, who was involved in the crash that sent Edwards airborne. Edwards, who escaped major injury, later said: "We'll race like this until we kill somebody, then [NASCAR] will change it."

It shouldn't have to come to that--even though it took Earnhardt's death to convince NASCAR and its drivers of the value of SAFER walls and neck restraints.

On Tuesday, Johnson (who was knocked out in the crash with nine laps left) opined that Talladega's track needs to be altered. Less-steep banking in the turns would make it impossible to run the entire race with drivers' gas pedals to the floor.

Some pundits have suggested Cup drivers boycott the Nov. 1 Talladega race. It's a fine idea, but it'll never happen: The drivers are too competitive, and with only three subsequent races in the Chase, no one will pass up a shot at the title.

No, it's up to NASCAR to listen to the reasonable advice of its stars.

Pre-race warnings against aggressive driving are forgotten in the final laps. Many drivers would run over their own mothers to get the checkered flag, and fans (whether they admit it or not) like to see an occasional crash.

Restrictor plates aren't going away--not with the liability issues. During NASCAR's boom earlier this decade, tracks kept adding grandstand seats to accommodate increased ticket demand. Now that the interest has leveled off or even waned in a sluggish economy, it might not hurt to bulldoze a few seats and decrease the banking at Talladega.

Fortunately for NASCAR, that's not an issue this week. Richmond International Raceway is one of the circuit's smallest tracks, and drivers can't build up enough speed on the short straightaways to do too much damage.

But the problem is not going away. Thoughtful men have made reasonable recommendations--not as a knee-jerk reaction to a tragedy, but as a caution to a problem that seems inevitable.

NASCAR officials need to get out of denial and work with its drivers to find a solution before something really bad happens. It's not an overstatement to say that lives are literally at stake.

Steve DeShazo: 540/374-5443
Email: sdeshazo@freelancestar.com