NASCAR Cup Series

NASCAR works to limit danger in racing

Published Aug. 5, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

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“Let’s say it was one of the bigger wrecks,” said Tom Gideon, the Director of Safety Initiatives at NASCAR’s Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C.

The wreck was Elliott Sadler’s nearly head-on collision with the infield’s Armco guard rail and dirt retaining wall at Pocono Raceway during last Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

NASCAR officials told Sadler’s team this week that it was the highest recorded hit on record. But what did that mean?

“Every wreck is different,” Gideon said. “We look at three things and you have to go back to your physics text to understand this. We look at distance; we look at velocity and we look at acceleration. You’ll often hear things quoted about a “g” level. When we get the data back, we can go back and get the distance, velocity and the acceleration and because every accident is different, and what is hit is different, it gives each one a unique fingerprint.

“Trying to put them in order or like an earthquake on the Richter scale, we just don’t do that. It doesn’t make sense. It all depends on how those “g’s” are delivered into the chassis. You can’t quote a “g” number and have it mean anything. You have to use all three parameters.”

Gideon leads the team of safety experts at NASCAR’s R&D Center, where every on-track incident during a race is studied in detail using information supplied by sophisticated data recorders (they’re black boxes, hence the name) in every Sprint Cup race car, video shot during the race -- primarily by the television network hosting the broadcast -- and postrace interviews with the driver involved, as well as the crew chief and other team members.

When there is an accident, Gideon’s team of field investigators immediately begins a structured process of investigation and analysis.

Following the initial response to the wreck, the driver is first taken to the medical care center and checked out by medical personnel. He is then either released or transported to a local medical facility. The damaged car is taken to the garage area. At that point, NASCAR officials make sure that only people associated with either the team or NASCAR’s field investigators can get near the car and touch it. At that point, it is determined as to whether or not the car is going to rejoin the race. If it will not, the field investigators remove the data recorder (black box) from the car and download the information it contains into NASCAR’s database at the field investigators trailer at the race track.

While one investigator is removing the data recorder, the other is taking an extensive series of photographs of both the inside and outside of the car, taking special care to get plenty of photos of the driver’s compartment.

“We know the integrity of the driver’s compartment is the most important part of safety,” Gideon said. “We’ll take pictures of the head surround, the seat, the shoulder area of the seat, the seatbelts and the seatbelt anchorages, looking for any kind of burning or fraying caused by movement.”

Another area of major concern is the area around the pedals. And they inspect both the HANS (head and neck restraint) and the helmet.

Additional pictures are taken of all of the roll bar structure inside the car, taking special note of anything that has been bent or distorted. While all this is underway, NASCAR officials keep a close watch on any parts that are removed from the car and place them in a secure area. Gideon notes that in years past, collectors have walked off with parts and pieces of wrecked race cars which may contain valuable information about the crash.

The team then loads the car into the team hauler and takes it back to the shop. Occasionally, NASCAR officials will ask that a car be taken to the R&D Center if it is a very serious wreck.

Sadler’s Ford Fusion, although severely damaged, was not taken to the Center.

“We generally let teams take the wrecked car back to the shop, but we let them know our intention is to come and look at the car depending upon the seriousness of the accident so they know that we’ll be over first thing on Monday and that we don’t want anything removed from the car until after we say they can,” said Gideon.

During this visit to the team shop, NASCAR officials take additional photographs as well as interview the crew chief, the driver (if he’s available) and the team manager. At that point, NASCAR shares the data acquired from the black box with the team and has them sign a statement of receipt and disclosure that prevents them from sharing the data, except under certain circumstances.

On occasion teams are allowed to share the data with certain manufacturers, like seat manufacturers. But, he emphasizes, that is only in rare cases that the team deals with outside manufacturers. The bulk of the dialog involving safety originates with NASCAR officials.

When asked to link specific events to specific changes in the sport, Gideon was quick to point out that it takes a series of events to initiate any changes.

“What we’re trying to do is look at each individual accident and say, ‘What could we do?” Gideon said. “And if we did that, how would we validate it? How do we track test it? How do we introduce it to the teams? How do we move any change forward?”

Pocono Raceway officials had already announced major changes to the walls and grassy areas of the 2.5-mile triangular-shaped oval. Removal of the infield Armco barrier and replacing it with a SAFER barrier is among the changes that were planned even before Sadler’s wreck.

Despite its seriousness, Gideon is pleased with the outcome of Sadler’s wreck.

“This was a high energy event and we’re looking at all the pieces that came out of it,” Gideon said. “The number one thing that came out of this event was that the driver’s compartment did stay whole and the driver has a soreness that’s pretty well associated with what we call ‘the principle force of direction.’ That gives us a good feeling. That means it was predictable. He was tied down and that is the important thing. That’s why the helmet, the HANS, the six-point restraint and the seat all worked together.

“Over the years, we’ve gotten to the point where the driver can’t move very far. And we’ve found the more we restrain him, the better he comes out.”

Although the current-design driver’s seat did its job, NASCAR has mandated a newer, safer design for implementation beginning in 2011.

“We found that the key is to start at the driver and move out,” said Gideon. “If you can keep his capsule protected, we’re seeing the results of that.”

Every Tuesday, Gideon’s safety group has a roundtable discussion that reviews the past weekend’s activities. Included are field investigators from across the country, including representatives from all of NASCAR’s three national touring series and all of its regional series, as well a medical personnel. Every incident is discussed in detail and proposed changes to procedure are discussed. While NASCAR does not issue an official report following an incident, it does keep detailed records, which on occasion it shares with other racing series around the world and with the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), an internationally recognized body of engineers and scientists.

The introduction of the Car of Tomorrow into competition in 2007 was a milestone for the sport and it signaled a new era of safer racing. It did not, however, remove all risk. Racing is inherently a dangerous sport for everyone involved.

And Gideon’s work never stops.

“We’re proud of what we’ve done,” Gideon said. “But, we’re always looking towards the future.

Bob Margolis is a veteran motorsports writer and television producer. Make sure to check out his blog Sledgehammerblog.com and follow him on Twitter