NASCAR: We need to have another conversation on safety

Since 2001, NASCAR has done everything in their power to make sure safety is the number one priority. But it’s time for another conversation on the matter.

There have been many terrifying wrecks since the tragedy of Dale Earnhardt in 2001: Carl Edwards at Talladega Superspeedway in 2009 and Austin Dillon at Daytona International Speedway in 2015 are the first that come to mind.

There is one thing that these two crashes and a lot of terrifying crashes have in common. A lot of these wrecks happen on superspeedways when cars are going over 200 miles per hour and one car loses control, causing all hell to break loose.

When I watch the Daytona 500, the danger and the risk these drivers subject themselves to goes straight to the back of my mind.

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But it’s time, once again, to put the danger and risk back at the front of our minds and continue to find new ways to make NASCAR the safest of all professional sports.

Put yourself in NASCAR’s shoes; what else needs to be done besides slowing the cars down to make sure a driver isn’t injured or killed again?

The invention of SAFER barriers and the HANS device have saved countless lives alone. The controversial Car of Tomorrow was the safest car, but the racing product wasn’t good, so reviews were mostly negative.

Sometimes, NASCAR has to sacrifice potential entertainment for safety, and the double-edged sword of safety and entertainment divides the fanbase. Of course, we want an exciting, nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat race. But many times, those suspenseful moments can go wrong, and they go wrong very quickly.

You can’t place blame on anyone for what happened on Monday; all you can really think about are the cars. The current package and Generation 6 car have made superspeedway racing almost unrecognizable compared to what it was 15 years ago.

Bump drafting makes the cars so unstable. We saw that with Joey Logano, Aric Almirola and Brad Keselowski late in the race. Out of all the potential solutions, the priority needs to be making the Generation 7 car more stable at Daytona and Talladega.

Another key issue that fans desperately want fixed is the double yellow line rule. You can mark down that rule as a reason for a lot of the superspeedway wrecks since it was implemented.

Has it caused more harm than good? Why does this rule exist in the first place? If Ryan Blaney had been able to go over the line, would the last-lap wreck with Ryan Newman still have happened?

These are all questions that Jim France and the entire NASCAR community, not just those in the head office, need to answer as soon as possible.

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The last thing I really have to say is this: we are not in 2001 anymore. We know Ryan Newman is in serious condition, but his injuries are thankfully not life threatening. This situation could have been so much worse than it was, but thanks to the many safety advancements over the years, it wasn’t.

But this conversation on safety and the future of the sport should never die out. Auto Racing is, without a doubt, the most dangerous sport. Severe and violent crashes happen. But they are preventable to a greater extent, perhaps even to the point where only one or two occur per year.

It’s time to have this talk again — with fans, with NASCAR and with the entire auto racing world.

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