NASCAR and Safety: …..when the safety issue blew up big time with the deaths of three NASCAR drivers last summer (NASCAR President Mike) Helton found himself in the middle of a very contentious debate: how should NASCAR deal with safety issues, should NASCAR order tracks to install softer walls, should NASCAR order teams to add crushable materials to the race cars, should NASCAR add a travel medical team to its support staff….. When drivers’ complaints reached a fever-pitch Labor Day weekend as they contemplated a return to Loudon, N.H., where Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin were both killed, in accidents in part blamed on sticking throttles, Helton ordered special soft-wall testing at New Hampshire. When he was unsatisfied with those tests, he ordered drivers to race that weekend with restrictor plates. As this season opens, it’s still uncertain what Helton might order for Loudon’s races this year, if anything. Through it all, Helton has been unusually quiet on the safety issue, preferring to focus on the strengths of NASCAR’s safety philosophies and rules, not the weaknesses. What specifically they(NASCAR) might be doing to prevent that(another driver getting killed) isn’t clear. The buck appears to be passing to the Detroit car makers (possibly because of liability issues), and during this month’s testing in Daytona Beach, Ford and Dodge held special safety meetings with drivers. Safety? Helton said nothing is coming along that line in the next few weeks at least. ‘`But we are working on different technologies, on different parts and pieces on the race car, getting input from drivers and car builders. We are not in a position today to make any changes. The biggest thing is for us to make sure the cure isn’t worse than the disease. We are looking at soft wall technology every day, and we are experimenting with things. We just haven’t seen anything yet that’s not got something with it that gives us concern. But we are continuing to work on it.” Helton said he has no plans to create a traveling medical team, saying he’s quite confident that the current medical plan, which relies on local doctors at each track, works very well(in part from a long column on PitNow)(1-30-2001)
