Bigger Car…sooner? Johnny Benson’s fiery exit from Sunday’s Talladega 500 once again raises the issue of how difficult it seems for drivers to get out of their cars after wrecks, and it could prompt NASCAR to move even faster on its proposed “big greenhouse” car. The new design, which has been studied for more than a year, is tentatively scheduled to debut at Talladega in April 2003. But there is the possibility that NASCAR might bring it out earlier, at Talladega this fall. The chief obstacle is economics; teams would have to build new cars because crews and drivers are reluctant to cut and weld any greenhouse roll bars, for fear of weakening the safety roll cage. Benson’s #10-Valvoline Pontiac caught fire when he was caught up the 26-car crash on the backstretch late in the race. And Benson had trouble getting out of his car, which he said points out the need for NASCAR to move faster on its plans to widen the driver’s window. At Texas Motor Speedway three weeks ago, Michael Waltrip had similar difficulty getting out of his burning [BGN] car.(Winston Salen Journal)(4-26-2002)
