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Debbi Willis, Daw613@bigfoot.com

Another Viewpoint

By Debbi Willis

Debbi Willis, Daw613@bigfoot.com

Debbi's Bio

Decisions, Disasters and Dissension
A 3part Viewpoint
Part 2: Disasters

Every moment of life requires a decision. Some decisions just happen naturally and others are allowed to happen without much thought because further decisions would be required to make more decisions. That's where Nascar appears to be right now regarding everything concerning Dale Earnhardt's death. Deciding anything or not is also a decision in itself. The fruits (or the woes) of decisions is what determines benefit or detriment, and whether or not they serve the purpose and goals the decision set out to achieve. Nascar has chosen a course of minimal information to deal with the current safety issues while all the time trying to benefit and maintain from the worst disastrous start of any season since losing Neil Bonnett in 1994.

Currently a maze of decisions over the death of Dale Earnhardt has equally created multiple disasters requiring damage control instead of proactive safety progress. Might I also say that sometimes going backwards can be progress! If the results of a variety of changes are failing, go back to the set of rules that did work and begin anew. The drivers, teams and sponsors know it too, but worst of all, the fans are realizing the truth behind Nascar's confusing actions, and it's not an easy pill to swallow.

Some decisions can be and have proven disastrous. Nascar really liked the fan response to "pack vacuum racing" (my term) and multiple lead changes. Unfortunately, those lead changes are nothing more than shuffling the deck and turning up new cards. Step out of the draft and a driver is sucked back to never-never land until they can be sucked back up front. That's not racing, never will be, although it'll be debated forever, depending on whose level of satisfaction is met. Positioning like the musical chairs game and the driver without a seat goes to the back of the pack over and over again, makes a race just a timed event of "roundy-round". Many drivers have commented on the tension and the stress, and how disasters occur with the smallest mistake.

Some drivers like Mark Martin set a goal to just walk away! That's pretty sad when a racer's real goal should be placing well and/or winning! Recovery is virtually nil when the "big one" happens. 19 cars paid serious dues in Daytona, particularly Tony Stewart who took the worst ride of his Cup career to date. Instead of 2-3 cars involved, half the field goes out. Teams have to pre-calculate the potential for being involved in one of the multi-car wrecks before they go to the track. Talledega 2000 was the inception and an exception. Just as Talledega is different from Daytona, so were the results. Besides, once the drivers have been through a situation, familiarity sets in and limits can be pushed, sometimes too far.

I'm inclined to believe the rigidity of the cars has attributed to the increased number of serious injuries over the past few years, i.e. concussions, broken sternums, collarbones, and ribs. Drivers are taking longer to heal and the injuries are taking more tolls on the drivers! Worst yet, on the superspeedways of Talledega and Daytona, the shock/spring rule didn't help either when instituted in 2000, even though now, the teams use their own shocks on the front ends. The nose may be a bit more stable, but the rear ends of the cars are using the mandated shocks and still get loose. Mandating the rear shock/springs creates a challenge to the teams to find the right setup combination to stabilize the car. A loose rear end is akin to being on an icy road. Why mandate anything at all? I'm guessing Nascar thinks a less stable car forces a driver not to push the limits, or does it? And this is a "smart" idea towards parity? On the shorter tracks, this doesn't apply but because of the challenges, frames have been made more rigid, thus eliminating the area that would absorb the impact and transferring that impact to the drivers seat. So that in freak situations, a wallshot on a shorter track has proven fatal as exhibited by our losses of Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin less than a year ago.

Drivers used to have to have a really disastrous-looking accident for a serious injury. Not anymore, the common wallshot is the worst threat. Earnhardt hated the restrictor plate racing that harnessed the speed drivers crave. He knew safety was critical but not having the power to get away from disaster can be as dangerous as having too much! Compound being literally trapped where the driver is in a bad situation and then transfer the impact of the wrecks through the car to the drivers seat and drivers are getting hurt worst in what appears to be minor accidents.

By all appearances and probably to the severe frustration of the teams, the concept of keeping the impact energy in the metal and not transferred to the driver has been lost in the aerodynamics competition and race for parity among the manufacturers. I've always thought that some kind of bumper absorber system similar to our personal cars could be engineered to absorb a great deal more of that energy and could be implemented with structural improvements. I've been told no absorber could be created to withstand the racing environment. Given the speeds, the money involved and the shared technology available today, I have to agree with the drivers who have been major proponents of making the sport safer. Every effort needs to be made to find the way. I hope every driver does everything he can to keep himself safe in his car in a sport he knows risks his life everytime he rolls out of the pits.

Nascar appears to be looking into a variety of mechanical improvements such as honeycomb nose areas on the cars to absorb the impact, which would lend itself to the concept that how much metal you use isn't as important as how you use it. However, the safest route at this time is to realize the rules have gone too far and it's time to back up and regroup. When discovering yourself in a mine field, the last thing to do is traipse on through, however, no one would fault anyone for stopping, admitting a danger is present and backing up to a safe position. True fans won't complain knowing the effort is to prevent further deaths. In 1997, Nascar didn't like the idea of "bunched up" racing, why is it different now? No matter the "improvements" (such as more stable rigid frames) the 3 wide, 10 deep pack racing is simply a formula for disaster.

Nascar appears also to be very slow to react when all the while, I suspect they are scrambling. Currently, their credibility is a disaster in itself. Announcing a "broken seatbelt" probably seemed like a brilliant bone to toss the largest legion of fans in the sport, but it didn't make any sense. Having the media force an independent investigation only fueled the media into thinking they are smarter (which we didn't need) and cast further doubt on Nascar's leadership. Bill Simpson's credibility and business was damaged also in Nascar's feed-Bill-to-the-wolves move about the broken seatbelt (as well as the additional problems with seatbelts by Simpson campaign). And now, the mysterious video suddenly shows up from nowhere to prove a knife theory everyone wants to believe yet in all this time, no rescue person spoke up beforehand to clear up the confusion. In the aftermath of disaster, we have many contradictions and an illogical sequence of announcements making no sense to anyone and raising more questions than Nascar is willing to answer.

Nascar is obviously nervous. Mike Helton and Gary Nelson are like deer caught in the headlights during hunting season. Ultimately though, I believe their intentions were good, but their wisdom and experience sorely lacking. What a nightmare for brand new leadership to survive! Now it's up to Nascar's young leadership to figure out how to diffuse these disastrous results and get the sport back on track while rekindling the safety issues without feeding the fears. And in the midst of all this, Talledega looms this weekend, and low-key dissension rumbles through the garage area like a freight train! Wake up, Nascar, now is not the time to take your time, but to take the leadership of a great organization and back up to a safer position. Even in death, Dale proved his point. I only hope Nascar's ears are open.

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