NASCAR Safety 20 Years Later

February 18th, 2001 was considered a good race. Michael Waltrip wins his first ever race at Daytona, winning the 500. First race on Fox. Competitive, big wrecks. That was until medical staff had to take a driver to the local hospital. By evening, news had poured that Dale Earnhardt was dead. What turned into something great became one of the darkest NASCAR moments that overshadows the race. The legend was killed in the last lap crash via basilar skull fracture. For the sport, a push was made to ensure safety. It wouldn't be until the fall that mandates would be enforced due to a death on an ARCA track.

To understand the issue, you have to go back to the year prior. Before that, we also have to go back to 1994. Several deaths occurred at Daytona, including a friend of Earnhardt's, Neil Bonnett. Similar injuries was what killed him. A scare happened with Ernie Irvan at Michigan during a practice. Luckily, he survived, but it took over a year to recover. Ironic is him winning at that track in 1997. But you get to 2000, you see newcomers succumb to those injuries. First was Adam Petty, a 19 year old who had an issue with his car and crashed head on at New Hampshire. That led to kill switches, especially when Kenny Irwin Jr. died at the same track a couple of months later.

This was becoming a concern for drivers, Earnhardt included. What can be done to improve safety for them and the cars? One was the HANS device, Head and Neck Support. Jack Roush was in huge support of it, but not all drivers were convinced. Some didn't think it would help and that it would make it worse. Even after Tony Roper's death in the fall of 2000, it still wasn't convincing. But with Earnhardt's death, it got a lot of teams filled with worry. That's why NASCAR has worked on so much over the last 20 years of making sure there isn't another death on the track. It wouldn't be permanent for the device until October 2001 with Blaise Alexander's death on an ARCA track.

The proof is in the pudding. No deaths for the Cup series since 01. Some close encounters, though. Last year with Ryan Newman. Broken body parts such as Kyle Busch in 2015 and Aric Almirola in 2017. Formula 1 has suffered deaths, but that's more of the open cars and debris if there's crashes and several other oddities. Not saying that's the only reason, but there's more factors than crashing. Too little, too late for that time, but it has paved a better future. As long as NASCAR is focused on making races exciting yet protective, they will still exist for a long time. 

NASCAR's Trials and Tribulations 2018

It's the current veterans that keep people watching NASCAR. It's the new generation of drivers that will keep interest in it. If these first two weeks meant anything, it showed that these guys will do anything necessary to get themselves wins and championships. Daytona and Atlanta both saw emotional wins coming from different sides of the Spectrum.

Last week's Daytona 500 seemed like it belong to Aric Almirola. However, he was touched by Austin Dillon and crashed into the wall. Dillon would take the lead on that last lap and won in the 3 car. Last year, he took Richard Childress Racing to victory lane in that number for the first time since 2000. On the day in 2001 when Dale Earnhardt was killed on this track and 20 years after that driver's only win there, Dillon won Daytona. It's huge for the team. Also huge was Darrell Wallace Jr. finishing second, going side by side with Denny Hamlin at the finish line in the 43 car. That was more along the line of the new generation drivers becoming the new faces of NASCAR.

Sunday's Atlanta race was marred by rain, but they got the race in. Ultimately, it became Kevin Harvick's as he was dominant. He's had a number of chances over the years, but he got his due once again. With this one, it was his second win in the Cup series. His first however was his first win ever back when it was the Winston Cup. The immediate backup to Earnhardt after he was killed, Harvick took over and won Atlanta in only his third start. At that time, he put out three fingers in honor of the late driver. He would repeat it again yesterday. This was more of a veterans kind of race as the top five were longtime guys, the top three being Ford's Brad Keselowski, and Clint Bowyer. Rounding out was Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr..

As the younger drivers keep fitting in, a handful of them seemed destined to get the huge wins. Last year, Kyle Larson pulled in four. Dillon and Ryan Blaney had one, the latter winning for the Wood Brothers. Chase Elliott is still looking for his first. Meanwhile, the veterans still have that kind of leadership to lead their teams and teammates to the Cup. It's very early in the year. We'll see if some of them are pretenders or continue strong to become contenders when those important races in the fall matters.

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The shock of death, Part 3

As far as other sports go, I'm at that age where it will always be a surprise when someone passes away. There is somewhat of a huge shock factor, but it depends on the person and how they did in their sport.

I was pretty young when there was a number of 90s deaths in auto racing and seeing some of the improvements in NASCAR cars following the sudden death of Dale Earnhardt. With all the safety improvements in the cars and tracks, the reduction in fatalities has been very noticeable. The last time I thought was very shocking was Formula 1 racing. While I don't follow it, it was still a surprise to hear about a 2011 race and driver Dan Wheldon passing from injuries he sustained. However, that doesn't mean that the number of deaths in auto racing will be reduced to zero any time soon. Looking up the lists, there is bound to be either something freakish or something that you wouldn't think would end with someone not being able to get out of their car.

Airplane travel is pretty much standard for all sports, no matter what. Similar to auto racing, improvements have been made to ensure safety of all passengers, including any sports team. It doesn't however mean that everything will be perfect. There was the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team in 2011 in which the entire group was killed in a crash. You want extreme shock, there's the 1972 plane crash carrying a Uruguay rugby team. While not everybody passed, some of them resorted to cannibalism just to stay alive in the Andes mountains along with finding any warmth in the cold mountains for over two months. We're a far cry from years past, and hope others make sure pilot error or technical issues decrease more.

American football is an interesting tale of the tape. Some of the stories include what happens to former players and ones when they were on active rosters. The 1994 San Diego Chargers had big sufferings, losing a few of their players from their Super Bowl team in a four year span. The shocking one involved linebacker Junior Seau in 2012. He was only a few years into retirement when he decided to commit suicide. Unfortunately, he was far from the first player to contemplate this. Lots of analysis have looked at concussions and head issues which the NFL has tried to address. While it's a step in the right direction, there are times where their intentions are not executed well. For ones that were active at the time, it's things like Jerome Brown, Derrick Thomas, and a few others that make it hard to believe they were gone and were people that meant something to their teams.

I'll end this by saying we're going to still be shocked by a death, whether we know someone or not. Seeing someone go away will always bring out a wave of emotions. You simply have to live life to the fullest and to enjoy a fruitful one. There will always be ups and downs, but it shouldn't let you down, even in the darkest hours. Make the greatest moments through all of your life and not just through one period of time.