The Black Number One – How Did the Death of Dale Earnhart, Sr. Become the Catalyst for Stock Car Safety?
July 30th, 2011 adminDale Earnhardt, Sr. was arguably the best NASCAR driver in history. He was hardcore racing at it’s finest and people LOVED to hate him! His final race at Daytona in February 2001, and the wreck that concluded it, would come as a shock to all and would help wake up many drivers, and NASCAR itself, as to just how safe they were out on the track. It was a wreck that Dale lost his life in and a wreck that many still refer to as “it didn’t look that bad”. The wreck taught NASCAR and it’s drivers many lessons. They installed safer barriers so when a car does hit the wall it has added give and protection. The HANS device, a helmet anchoring system, became mandatory and has become many drivers best friend, since Dale’s death was attributed to head injuries. Even the race cars underwent changes to make them safer. They now have larger crash zones, spoilers, and escape hatches in the roofs for the drivers. NASCAR took loosing Dale, Sr. very seriously and didn’t want the NASCAR family, another drivers family, or the fans to loose another driver. Thankfully it worked, there have been no deaths since Dale’s.