October 23, 2011
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
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I don’t know about you, but I am going to be watching today’s race at Talladega differently than I might have just a week ago. This is the first Cup race since the tragedy in Las Vegas last weekend that took the life of IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon, and I am certain no one wants to see a replay of a crash of that magnitude, much less the end result.
Immediately after the crash, Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota, used Twitter to share his thoughts. “Today was a reminder to all of us what can happen every time we strap in behind the wheel. At times I think we all take things for granted. Life shouldn't be one of those things. We lost a great driver in motorsports and he will not be forgotten. Rest in peace Dan Wheldon.”
It was inevitable that NASCAR drivers would be asked their thoughts on the crash that took Wheldon’s life. They are the first major race after the deadly crash, and they are racing on one of NASCAR’s most accident-prone tracks, where rarely is a crash *not* spectacular.
“The problem is they just don't have the roll cage, they don't have the safety design that a stockcar has,” Kurt Busch, diver of the No. 22 Pennzoil Dodge commented during a conference call on Tuesday. “I mean, there's changes that are going to come about. I look to the leaders of the IndyCar Series to be proactive in this, to understand what they can do to make their sport safer. Right now NASCAR is a place that has learned -- on what to do for safety over the last 10 years. I feel very safe driving in the cars that we have.”
When asked about racing in a pack at Talladega, he added “The speeds we run aren't as great as the Indy Cars. Talladega is Talladega. Everybody knows it going in. There's much more comfort when you've done it year-after-year-after-year and you trust the 43 guys that are out there.”
Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, notes that trying to find a way to keep the cars on the ground is the best way to keep drivers safe. “Obviously, under the current conditions you can't climb a wheel at 200 plus miles per hour and get airborne and not expect there to be serious consequences.
“It's still to me unbelievable that we lost Dan Wheldon, somebody I met, spent a little bit of time with," Gordon continued. "Great guy, great racecar driver, and will be sadly missed in the motorsports world. Hopefully, like we've seen in NASCAR in the past with tragedies like this, only positives can come from a safety standpoint in the future.”
Gordon recognizes that while the race today is going to look dangerous, he feels comfortable with what they will be undertaking. “The cars are very safe. The track is very safe. I think that the drivers would definitely speak up louder if we felt like we were putting ourselves in the position that it wasn't safe to be out there on the racetrack. I think if that were to be the case, you would hear us. Yes, we're going to say, we don't like this, we don't like this. It's a whole 'nother level when you think you don't have the safest environment to be out there in.
"At the same time we're racecar drivers, we're probably going to take a lot more risk than the everyday average person because of what we do and we recognize that."
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevy, was in NASCAR’s most recent hard crash last Saturday in Charlotte. He noted via twitter on Sunday that he was sore, but was right back in the car on Monday testing the new electronic fuel injection system that will be used in NASCAR next season. He commented during a break in testing that as a driver, you just push past the crashes and get right back in the car. “Deep in the back of my mind, just thinking about things and there's my marks in the wall in turn two and I'm like 'Yeah, I had a bad angle and I hit pretty hard,'" Johnson said about driving past the place in the wall where he crashed Saturday night. "I think we spend very little time as drivers thinking about it, right or wrong. It's just kind of who we are."
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot Chevy, used to race IndyCars, and lost a teammate, Scott Brayton, in a practice crash at Indianapolis during his rookie season in the IRL in 1996. “You hate it for everybody involved. Randy Bernard (CEO of IndyCar) has been getting beat up over it, and he shouldn't. It's part of racing, it’s part of what can happen," he said this week. "It still boils down to the people that are steering the cars around. It's not that the cars are unsafe; there's still people that tell the cars where to go, so we've got to take responsibility.”
He added a point that many often forget in the aftermath of a major crash. "There is no reason for anybody to point fault anywhere. There's no fault in it. It's racing. It's a freak thing that happened, and it can happen every race."
Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota, agrees. “It’s a matter of circumstances that just don’t go your way. It can happen in drag racing, it can happen in NASCAR, it can happen in IndyCar and it has happened. It’s happened in Formula 1 and it’s inevitable. Certainly we account for that and there is a danger aspect, there is a threat that something horrifying can happen. For myself, how do I look at it? I’m thankful that I have a wife (Samantha) that lets me do what I love to do. It’s something that I do love to do and I don’t want to give up.”
Mike Helton, president of NASCAR, says they have spent ‘billions’ of hours over the life of the sport trying to take lessons learned and make everything for the drivers safer, but no matter how hard you try, sometimes, bad things happen -- and it is what you do in the aftermath to make sure it can’t happen again -- that matters. “It's safer than it's ever been, but no matter how hard you work, circumstances can line up to create a really tough situation. When that happens, it transcends to every sanctioning body in existence."
Stewart reminded people that the danger is part of the appeal of racing. “Racing has always been dangerous. That’s why people come to watch races because there is an element of danger involved. You’re never going to get it all out but like we said it’s safer than it’s ever been. It’s a freak thing that happened and it can happen every race. It can happen every race that we run but it’s safer than it’s ever been. I think everybody has got to take a deep breath and let the emotions settle down. Everybody is obviously thinking about Dan and his family, his wife and two children, there’s a lot of great charity stuff coming up to help them out which we are really proud to be a part of but I think everybody has to take a step back from it and realize this is auto racing.
“It’s always been dangerous but everybody still does it. If it was so bad, none of us would want to do this, but we still love doing this every week and it’s just part of the sport unfortunately. It’s never going to be 100 percent safe.”
As you watch today’s race, keep in mind that what these men are doing isn’t just fun to watch -- it is dangerous, and potentially deadly; and when a driver hits the wall there is a chance he might not just get out of the car and walk away. If there is a crash of any sort, whether you like the driver or not, the only cheers should be made after the drivers have all stepped out of their cars and walked away. Because, as we learned last weekend, if you cheer a driver hitting the wall, you might just be cheering his death.
Follow Kim on Twitter: @ksrgatorfn
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