NASCAR: The first decade with 0 fatalities

Ten years ago, a new decade of NASCAR competition began. Ten years later, there are still no new fatalities to report in any NASCAR series.

A new year and a new decade have begun, and the 2020 NASCAR season is now scheduled to get underway in just over one month.

It was mentioned after the 2019 season ended, but is well worth mentioning again as the weeks of the offseason wind down leading up to the season-opening action in Daytona Beach, Florida at Daytona International Speedway.

We will start the 2020s decade with the same number of all-time NASCAR driver fatalities as we began the 2010s decade.

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That is because this past decade was the first decade in NASCAR history that did not feature any driver fatalities.

This may not seem like a huge deal since it has been almost two full decades since the most recent Cup Series fatality, with that being the death of seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt in a last-lap crash during the 2001 Daytona 500, but considering the fact that there were zero fatalities in any NASCAR series — not just the Cup Series and not just the three national series but every single NASCAR series — this is a huge deal, and it is something that should be everybody’s goal to match in the coming decade of competition and every decade thereafter.

NASCAR has not seen a fatality since Carlos Pardo passed away following a crash in the Mexico Corona Series (now NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series) in June of 2009.

Hopefully that remains the case forever.

Even with NASCAR having been formed in 1948, the 1940s still featured one fatality, with that being the death of William Davis in the Modified Series (now NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour) in 1948.

From the 1950s to the 2000s, there were several, with between eight and 17 each decade, including multiple Cup Series deaths each decade.

In the 2010s? Zero.

Here is a decade-by-decade list including driver fatalities caused by competition (not medical conditions). Listed in parenthesis are the number of Cup Series fatalities.

1948-1949: 1 (0)
1950s: 17 (6)
1960s: 13 (7)
1970s: 8 (3)
1980s: 15 (5)
1990s: 14 (3)
2000s: 11 (2)
2010s: 0 (0)

Given just how common it was for drivers to pass away in accidents prior to this past decade, it makes the fact that there were no fatalities in the 2010s even more significant, and it signifies just how far we have come when it comes to safety and technology advancements on so many levels, including but not limited to car and track design.

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Hopefully safety improvements will continue to be made, current safety measures will continue to be reinforced and the 2020s decade of NASCAR competition and all decades to follow will join the 2010s on the all-new list of decades not to feature any fatalities whatsoever.

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