Mar 10, 2008

What's It Gonna Take?

We are all very lucky that Jeff Gordon is alive today. After the crash he endured at Las Vegas Motor Speedway a week or so ago, it is almost a miracle that he is still with us. Crashes similar to his -- a nearly head-on blow into an immovable wall -- have killed scores of race drivers through the years, the most famous of them being Dale Earnhardt Sr. We can thank safety efforts NASCAR mandated after Earnhardt’s tragic crash for the fact that Gordon is still with us, but there remains no excuse for what Gordon was forced to go through, and we wonder aloud, “Why does it take a big crash to prompt safety improvements? Aren’t drivers’ -- and crew members’ -- lives worth more than the cost of track improvements?”

When you look at the portion of the track wall that Gordon struck in Las Vegas, it is immediately apparent that it is not just an accident waiting to happen but actually a tragedy waiting to happen. The opening in the wall and the curving wall beyond it seem tailor-made to collect a car oversteering loose out of the corner nearly head-on.  It is a blessing that Gordon’s hit wasn’t quite a 90-degree blow or we might be writing his obituary right now.  

Two things absolutely amaze us about the Gordon accident: 1.) that the opening/wall combination exists in the first place, and 2.) that the portion of the wall immediately beyond the opening wasn’t equipped with the SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) barriers that were designed and installed at many tracks in the wake of Earnhardt’s death. Las Vegas Motor Speedway does have SAFER barriers and “soft walls” around the perimeter of the track, but the inner wall that Gordon blasted into at more than 150 miles per hour was solid concrete.

Gordon and team owner Rick Hendrick immediately voiced strong complaints about the retaining wall. “If the teams are asked to spend $8 million apiece for a car that is a little bit safer, then we need to fix the damn walls at the track,” Hendrick told the Associated Press. “That ought to be priority number one, and if the tracks don't have the walls, then we shouldn't race there.”

Bruton Smith, CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc., who owns Las Vegas Motor Speedway, said that fixes were on the way. One that is being talked about is adding a SAFER barrier in front of the wall Gordon slammed into.  

While it looks as if alterations to the track will be made, we have to wonder why it takes a major crash to prompt them. NASCAR should be applauded for the efforts it has made to improve the safety of its drivers in the past few years. If Gordon had not been in a NASCAR-mandated Car of Tomorrow equipped with a head-and-neck support device, he would likely have been yet another tragic casualty of racing. But now is not the time to stop examining ways to make racing safer. Next Racing Rap>>