Another Viewpoint Archives
Debbi Willis, Daw613@bigfoot.com
Maximum Safety
(Disclaimer: Speeding is definitely illegal. Under no circumstances am I
promoting speeding or unsafe driving habits within this article and
naturally, anyone reading this KNOWS not to try this on your own! Please
drive responsibly.)
Being born with a leadfoot is an advantage while understanding certain
dynamics of a vehicle when driving fast, as much as it can be a disadvantage
by never having possessed a "safe driver" drivers license in my life.
Driving by the "seat of my pants" and watching the rear view mirror became a
natural habit. Although, trading the feeling for the speed on an open
highway for that safe driver's status never occurred to me, pondering safety
in auto racing has for many years. The same attraction to fast cars and
speeding attracted me to racing many years ago. Above all the competition
and speed, safety prevailed first and strict rules along with stringent
inspections kept the sport as safe as possible. Regardless of the outcries,
safety prevails in Nascar, too, despite two deaths this year of young drivers.
In normal everyday driving in any normal good size city, the same senses are
utilized on everyday streets as on the track. A curve in the road on an
overpass looms ahead and your foot automatically lightens up on the
accelerator entering the curve, but only to the "edge" of the maximum speed
you know the curve will allow the vehicle to tolerate. After entering the
barely banked curve, the weight of the car makes a distinct shift from one side to the other. Any thought of pushing that edge just a bit further
and faster causes visions of losing control to race through your mind. In
the middle of the turn, you accelerate. Insane as it seems, on a sweeping
turn, the force of more speed tends to make the car actually drive out
smoother. I know there are scientific terms for this process , but for me,
it's just driving. For some folks, this is an out of control feeling.
Within moments, while cars behind you are braking their way through the turn
in somewhat ungraceful motions, you are well beyond them and on down the
road. That's a simple anatomy of a high speed street turn in a stock vehicle
in lay terms. Combine that with less weight, three times the average
maximum speed of 50-60mph and add suspension designed to compensate for
extreme stress to keep the vehicle on the track and you have high speed turns
in a Nascar stock car.
Driving fast and driving reckless are not the same act. I know law officers
will debate that with me all day long, and I have already done that in the
driving courses through the years. One implies speed under control, the
latter is no control and just letting whatever may happen, happen. That's a
frightening thought! Driving styles are as varied as people. Speed out of
control kills. Speed at best under control is risky. By no means am I
suggesting anyone take up speeding. However, there's no harm in
understanding how various factors determine safety or a disaster in racing.
Weight shifting is the contrasts of momentum of the vehicle in motion. The
whole weight of the car going forward wants to keep going forward, while the
weight at various points of the car also shifts from side to side with turns.
Miscalculated weight adjustments make a car push towards the walls through
the turns or become loose trying to make it around the track without coming
around on itself. Pitstops become important during the race so that
adjustments can be made as needed throughout the race until the optimum
performance is achieved, if at all.
Tires play a key role in how the vehicle holds the track. Thus Goodyear's
intense research and development program for Nascar, which by the way,
inadvertently benefits all of us like any R & D does by Nascar. Blown tires
drive a car immediately into the wall causing untold damage to everyone and
everything, as Ricky Rudd experienced at Pocono. Running on three tires
suddenly is no different than walking and someone buckles your knee from
behind you. You're motion and stability changes immediately, and so it goes
with a car. Drivers depend on the best compounds to give them the best
performance under the most stress.
Driver focus and concentration determines the primary outcome. Distraction,
feuding, tempers, bad breaks and bad luck all affect a driver's ability to
focus. Equally, an inexperienced driver who's too eager and too human can
make the error that results in the immeasurable loss of life. After all the
investigations of the cars and the circumstances, more often than not in
fatal accidents, the primary factor will be human error. All together in
top form and we have weekly competition without incidence. Any one of these
factors out of sync can spell disaster.
As unpopular as this thought seems to be currently, tracks don't kill. Not
even coincidentally. Tracks are built, and tracks are learned and driven
according to it's particular quirks. But tracks don't kill. All the safety
measures available are still going see someone die somewhere along the line.
Again, by no means am I making light of the deaths either, but I would
caution those who would make a "cause" out of safety. Racing is at its very
best risky and dangerous. One wrong move, one wrong decision, or one wrong
part failure and it's anybody's guess what will happen or come out of it all.
Those who participate in the sport of racing in any division on any track
anywhere in the world, accept those risks. If fans are truly honest with
themselves, it's that very challenge of man against machine against all the
odds in high risk circumstances that draws the crowds to the tracks. And any
racer will tell you, it's that same challenge that causes them to
participate. Every time they climb out of the car safely in tact is a
victory in itself.
Safety regulations in Nascar are among the strictest. Track inspectors, pit
inspectors, and numerous car inspections are all part of those regulations.
And we all thought all those inspections were to prevent cheating. It's a
wonder the bodies of the drivers endure the g-forces, the high speed crashes,
the wall shots and roof rides as well as they do. High speed to stop is hard
for anyone's body to absorb. Head and neck restraints such as the HANS
system, firesuits, extensively tested helmets, gloves, cooling systems, fresh
air flow, racing boots and heel pads, a custom fitted seat and even the
Earnhardt bar on the windshields all contribute to the drivers safety.
Softening up the walls, still leaves much in question. On a road course
where it's been successful the whole dynamics of the race is different but on
an oval, in order to protect the fans in the stands, there's got to be a hard
wall some where there. Maybe the future is in airbags, but that creates
visions of random discharges at inopportune times with it's own unique set of
problems. For all the laps and miles over the past 52 years and nearly 1900
races, as great as the losses have been, they've also been few considering
the odds. All in all, instead of complaining and demanding changes to an
already fairly successful system, let's count our blessings and enjoy the
sport as it is.
Another Viewpoint Home
Maximum Safety
(Disclaimer: Speeding is definitely illegal. Under no circumstances am I promoting speeding or unsafe driving habits within this article and naturally, anyone reading this KNOWS not to try this on your own! Please drive responsibly.)
Being born with a leadfoot is an advantage while understanding certain dynamics of a vehicle when driving fast, as much as it can be a disadvantage by never having possessed a "safe driver" drivers license in my life. Driving by the "seat of my pants" and watching the rear view mirror became a natural habit. Although, trading the feeling for the speed on an open highway for that safe driver's status never occurred to me, pondering safety in auto racing has for many years. The same attraction to fast cars and speeding attracted me to racing many years ago. Above all the competition and speed, safety prevailed first and strict rules along with stringent inspections kept the sport as safe as possible. Regardless of the outcries, safety prevails in Nascar, too, despite two deaths this year of young drivers.
In normal everyday driving in any normal good size city, the same senses are utilized on everyday streets as on the track. A curve in the road on an overpass looms ahead and your foot automatically lightens up on the accelerator entering the curve, but only to the "edge" of the maximum speed you know the curve will allow the vehicle to tolerate. After entering the barely banked curve, the weight of the car makes a distinct shift from one side to the other. Any thought of pushing that edge just a bit further and faster causes visions of losing control to race through your mind. In the middle of the turn, you accelerate. Insane as it seems, on a sweeping turn, the force of more speed tends to make the car actually drive out smoother. I know there are scientific terms for this process , but for me, it's just driving. For some folks, this is an out of control feeling. Within moments, while cars behind you are braking their way through the turn in somewhat ungraceful motions, you are well beyond them and on down the road. That's a simple anatomy of a high speed street turn in a stock vehicle in lay terms. Combine that with less weight, three times the average maximum speed of 50-60mph and add suspension designed to compensate for extreme stress to keep the vehicle on the track and you have high speed turns in a Nascar stock car.
Driving fast and driving reckless are not the same act. I know law officers will debate that with me all day long, and I have already done that in the driving courses through the years. One implies speed under control, the latter is no control and just letting whatever may happen, happen. That's a frightening thought! Driving styles are as varied as people. Speed out of control kills. Speed at best under control is risky. By no means am I suggesting anyone take up speeding. However, there's no harm in understanding how various factors determine safety or a disaster in racing.
Weight shifting is the contrasts of momentum of the vehicle in motion. The whole weight of the car going forward wants to keep going forward, while the weight at various points of the car also shifts from side to side with turns. Miscalculated weight adjustments make a car push towards the walls through the turns or become loose trying to make it around the track without coming around on itself. Pitstops become important during the race so that adjustments can be made as needed throughout the race until the optimum performance is achieved, if at all.
Tires play a key role in how the vehicle holds the track. Thus Goodyear's intense research and development program for Nascar, which by the way, inadvertently benefits all of us like any R & D does by Nascar. Blown tires drive a car immediately into the wall causing untold damage to everyone and everything, as Ricky Rudd experienced at Pocono. Running on three tires suddenly is no different than walking and someone buckles your knee from behind you. You're motion and stability changes immediately, and so it goes with a car. Drivers depend on the best compounds to give them the best performance under the most stress.
Driver focus and concentration determines the primary outcome. Distraction, feuding, tempers, bad breaks and bad luck all affect a driver's ability to focus. Equally, an inexperienced driver who's too eager and too human can make the error that results in the immeasurable loss of life. After all the investigations of the cars and the circumstances, more often than not in fatal accidents, the primary factor will be human error. All together in top form and we have weekly competition without incidence. Any one of these factors out of sync can spell disaster.
As unpopular as this thought seems to be currently, tracks don't kill. Not even coincidentally. Tracks are built, and tracks are learned and driven according to it's particular quirks. But tracks don't kill. All the safety measures available are still going see someone die somewhere along the line. Again, by no means am I making light of the deaths either, but I would caution those who would make a "cause" out of safety. Racing is at its very best risky and dangerous. One wrong move, one wrong decision, or one wrong part failure and it's anybody's guess what will happen or come out of it all. Those who participate in the sport of racing in any division on any track anywhere in the world, accept those risks. If fans are truly honest with themselves, it's that very challenge of man against machine against all the odds in high risk circumstances that draws the crowds to the tracks. And any racer will tell you, it's that same challenge that causes them to participate. Every time they climb out of the car safely in tact is a victory in itself.
Safety regulations in Nascar are among the strictest. Track inspectors, pit inspectors, and numerous car inspections are all part of those regulations. And we all thought all those inspections were to prevent cheating. It's a wonder the bodies of the drivers endure the g-forces, the high speed crashes, the wall shots and roof rides as well as they do. High speed to stop is hard for anyone's body to absorb. Head and neck restraints such as the HANS system, firesuits, extensively tested helmets, gloves, cooling systems, fresh air flow, racing boots and heel pads, a custom fitted seat and even the Earnhardt bar on the windshields all contribute to the drivers safety. Softening up the walls, still leaves much in question. On a road course where it's been successful the whole dynamics of the race is different but on an oval, in order to protect the fans in the stands, there's got to be a hard wall some where there. Maybe the future is in airbags, but that creates visions of random discharges at inopportune times with it's own unique set of problems. For all the laps and miles over the past 52 years and nearly 1900 races, as great as the losses have been, they've also been few considering the odds. All in all, instead of complaining and demanding changes to an already fairly successful system, let's count our blessings and enjoy the sport as it is.
Another Viewpoint Home