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The year that changed NASCAR

Dale Earnhardt's deadly crash ended drivers' denial about safety and led NASCAR to rethink its business approach.

By JOANNE KORTH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 8, 2002

DAYTONA BEACH -- Even after Dale Earnhardt was killed, veteran NASCAR driver Mark Martin was not sure he wanted to wear one of those newfangled head and neck support devices.

What stopped him?

"My hillbilly logic," he said.

For years, Martin and others in his 40-something generation drove the high banks from Daytona to Bristol. All were in horrific accidents. All walked away. So, in Martin's mind, there was no need for change. It took a while to realize he was wrong.

And partly to blame.

"It's all our fault," said Martin, 42-year-old driver of the No. 6 Ford. "The safety was left up to the drivers and the teams and we all did a poor job of keeping up with the times. You get in that rut where you don't introduce a lot of really new things because that's not what you do in stock car racing.

"So, we wound up in the shape we were in: really fast cars, really big speedways, hitting really hard and hurting a lot of guys."

Earnhardt's death in a last-lap crash at the 2001 Daytona 500 triggered a season of enormous change for NASCAR. From safety equipment to the inner workings of a billion-dollar racing organization, the way things had always been no longer was good enough.

As the Winston Cup circuit returns to Daytona for Speedweeks 2002 -- practice begins today for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 17 -- NASCAR, its drivers and teams have a new attitude toward safety to go with widespread changes from a year ago.

"Times change and you have to change with them," said Jim Hunter, NASCAR's vice president of corporate communications. "Just because we had always done it a certain way didn't mean that way was going to work anymore. Last year was a benchmark year. We're in a new day."

Three drivers in NASCAR's major touring series -- Winston Cup, Busch Grand National and Craftsman Trucks -- died of head injuries in 2000: Kenny Irwin, Adam Petty and Tony Roper. But when Earnhardt, a seven-time Winston Cup champion and the sport's biggest icon, died of a basilar skull fracture after veering nearly head-on into Daytona's Turn 4 wall, the sport was shaken to its core.

"Dale's persona and his bigger-than-life image made all of us scratch our heads and go, "Wait a minute, if it can happen to the best in our sport, it can happen to any of us,' " said Jeff Gordon, 30-year-old driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet, who won his fourth Winston Cup championship in 2001.

"With the others, you tend to say, "Okay, that guy was a rookie, this was a young team.' We get into this denial thing where we try to blame it on things that weren't the real cause. Because it was Dale, it made us all push the safety issue to a whole new level."

A push that began with NASCAR's late-season mandate of head and neck support devices in its three major touring series continues this season with several more rule changes and innovations, including mandatory helmets for over-the-wall pit crew members and NASCAR officials; approval of a carbon fiber seat; the hiring of three medical liaisons and a crash investigator; and crash data recorders in every car.

"As we begin our 54th season, our hope is that we operate this year with great respect for the core values and principles that got us to where we are," NASCAR president Mike Helton said, "but at the same time are mindful of today's issues and today's standards."

Helton said NASCAR plans to "turn up the wick" on several issues, including safety, maintaining close competition, maximizing exposure, raising the value and minimizing the costs of the sport. These goals were outlined recently in a power-point presentation by senior vice president George Pyne for the national media.

That's right, a power-point presentation.

Seated on the stage in a Charlotte, N.C., hotel meeting room, eight NASCAR executives from five offices throughout the country sat shoulder-to-shoulder wearing suits and ties. Founded by Bill France Sr. and nurtured by Bill France Jr., NASCAR no longer is a family business in the corner hardware store sense.

Last year's $2.4-billion television deal with NBC and Fox helped grow the fan base to what NASCAR estimates at 73-million Americans. So, while NASCAR is still about racing, it gradually is being turned over to a team of corporate executives. Pyne, being groomed for the presidency, is an Ivy League graduate whose family churns out football players, not race car drivers.

"It's evolving," Dodge team owner Ray Evernham said. "If you want to go after the big TV package and want to go nationwide, it's got to be big business. Hopefully, the thing about NASCAR that will always stay family is you can take your whole family to the racetrack and everyone can root for their favorite driver."

In the past, NASCAR believed it had all the experts it needed in its garage: the competitors. Since Earnhardt's death, scientists and safety experts have been consulted and commissioned.

As a result of the $2-million Earnhardt crash investigation, which concluded a torn left lap belt was one of several factors contributing to his death, a study is being done on restraint systems that Pyne believes will lead to a rule change early this season.

Also, the structure of the cars, which do not absorb enough energy in front-end collisions, is being examined. Scientists are working to develop an energy-absorbent material that could be inserted in the car's nose. And NASCAR is working in conjunction with the Indy Racing League to develop soft-wall technology.

"We certainly got a terrible slap in the face last year when we lost Dale," Evernham said. "I feel like now we can look to NASCAR, especially on the safety side. They have some really qualified people available to us now to answer safety questions."

Accused of a coverup for the disjointed way it released information after the Earnhardt crash, NASCAR will now respond to crashes in a manner similar to the National Transportation Safety Board, with a strict set of guidelines.

"Everybody after an accident wants to hear an opinion from us: "What do you think happened?' " said Brian France, executive vice president and son of president Bill France Jr.

"We tried to stay away from that in February and we may have dragged it on too long. We are going to try to get our process and be faster. But you still have to be just as thorough as we were in the Earnhardt crash investigation."

The irony is that Earnhardt, who had his own opinions about safety, would not have worn any of the new equipment experts say might have saved his life. Had he lived, few, if any, of these changes would have come about.

"He wouldn't do none of this stuff," said Rusty Wallace, 45-year-old driver of the No. 2 Ford, who years ago failed to convince Earnhardt to wear a closed-face helmet. "He wouldn't use all these seat belts and shoulder harnesses and space-shuttle looking seats.

"But I'm definitely open to changes as far as the safety stuff. I've been doing this forever and ever and I want to do it for at least another three or four years. I want to survive those three or four years, so if I have to ramp up and get safer, I'll do it."

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