The Crashes in NASCAR
When you watch a NASCAR event, you are fully aware that there is the possibility of a crash. In fact, there is a strong possibility of at least one serious crash taking place in each and every race. Some racetracks are known for their tendency to produce potentially fatal crashes in each race it hosts. While some people are taken aback by this, others revel in the opportunity to witness such carnage.
As has always been the case in auto racing of any sort, there are a significant number of fans who are in it for the crashes. They thrill to the speed and the crashes and near-crashes; it’s a drama which keeps them on the edge of their seats. However, crashes aren’t actually a good thing for NASCAR’s popularity over the long run – crashes can and have lead to the deaths of drivers and even fans.
NASCAR has been working to implement safety protocols over the last ten to fifteen years which aim to make the sport safer and reduce the incidence of injuries and deaths. The organization was spurred to put these measures into place due to a tragedy at the Daytona 500; namely, the death of NASCAR’s biggest star Dale Earnhardt. Following his untimely death, NASCAR began to add more padding to the walls of racetracks, stipulate certain safety features be added into the design of vehicles used in NASCAR racing and require drivers to use improved head and neck stabilization technologies.
However the car itself being redesigned has created more problems as well. Drivers who spent their life learning the subtleties of one kind of car now have to forget those and learn a completely new set of tactics. At the speeds these cars reach and on the crowded tracks they race on, reactions have to be instantaneous and even the smallest of movements or changes in the aerodynamics of the car can produce serious changes in outcome.
Besides this, NASCAR still has not taken many of the precautions necessary to prevent driver and fan injury and death. While tragedies have been prevented with their new precautions, it is an incomplete journey. In fact, many of the drivers today feel that it is only an inevitably until another driver or even fans at the track die. These people feel that more action won’t be taken until another disaster strikes, which they of course feel is terrible. Why should action be taken after a tragedy, rather than more preventative action beforehand so that it never happens?
At one recent event, a car flipped and flew into the fence which separated the spectators from the track itself. Fortunately the car did not breach the fence and there were no fatalities, but flying debris did cause many minor injuries in the stands. It was an incredibly close call; one which came very close to being a catastrophe.
None of these incidents have done much, if anything to make NASCAR racing less popular. Fans still eagerly line up to see every race (and some to be close to the crashes). However, NASCAR would be well advised to implement additional safety measures – there have already been some narrow escapes and one catastrophic event could be all it takes to plunge the sport into a decline from which it may not recover. Some NASCAR fans may love to see a crash; but drivers and fans shouldn’t have to risk injury or death to give these fans what they love.
