NASCAR’s safety department and certain tracks were under fire earlier this season following Kyle Busch’s crash to a concrete wall in the opening Xfinity Series race.
The wall did not feature any safer barriers, so the impact Busch suffered was far greater than it would be with a padded safer barrier.
A similar incident happened a week later when Jeff Gordon hit a wall at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Gordon was displeased with NASCAR and asked why they don’t have safer barriers everywhere in the sport.
However, NASCAR was faced with a different problem on Monday Morning. After cars crossed the finish line at the Coke Zero 400, Kevin Harvick got into the back bumper of Denny Hamlin. Hamlin spun into Austin Dillon’s #3 Chevrolet which was propelled into the air and into the fence.
Dillon’s car looked as though the front and rear ends were chopped off and flipped to a stop near the end of pit road. Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s pit crew raced out to help Dillon and gave thumbs up as soon as they found out he was alright.
At that moment, everything was focused on Dillon, and no one cared that Jr. took the win. Fans were concerned of safety and nothing more.
When all the dust had flown by, Dillon was left with just one injury: a bruised tail bone.
This is when NASCAR’s safety department comes in. Dillon was moving 200 mph when his car was launched into the catch fence, which corralled the car as best as one could hope. Just three fans were injured in the incident from minor pieces of debris that snuck through the fence.
The department has made many changes to improve on track safety ever since Dale Earnhardt’s death in 2001, and now they should be thanked.
In retrospect, the death of a number three 15 years ago saved the life of a number three today and that is what really matters.
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