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Was there legitimate pain and suffering though? Reeks of 21st century American law if you ask me. Only one person went to the hospital and they were released soon after. Take your free ticket to next race and move on.

The fact that NASCAR has millions in liability insurance for their Daytona races means that the lawyers probably see an easy win. NASCAR would rather settle this out of court than get any negative press.

Imagine Mike Joy calling that crash...

Imagine DW - He'd have a heart attack

It is, but like it or not it's probably the biggest concern out of catch fence crashes.

Aside from the lawyers, it's possible that a *very* serious wreck where many fans get injured possibly will add further headaches to the general attendance decline in NASCAR. (Flying tires killing fans did *not* help CART or IRL attendance in the late 90s). Possibly not, but you never know...

There's actually a solution to this potential problem that probably will reduce 90% of the chance -- create an appropriate sized buffer zone of closed grandstands. Which I know Daytona has sort of done a bit of, but probably needs to push back a bit more (same with Talladega). So no big deal as long as NASCAR is semi-competent



Restrictor plate racing (as well as the pack racing in Indy/IRL) really is a "change for safety" -- slowing the cars down -- combined with an "entertainment" factor of keeping the cars very close. (This is polarizing actually, in both series some really really love this style of racing, some really really hate it; in NASCAR I think the haters are the minority, but...).

I'm actually willing to bet that quite a few of the drivers who have complained about this style in the past (both series) for "safety reasons" would actually love it if racing returned to the higher horsepower style of before, which was much less of a pack, and much faster. Ironically it would probably not be quite as safe, but I bet it would *feel* "safer" for some drivers (or, at least, they'd feel like they had control -- they could race, not have it be a semi-lottery).

Restrictor plate racing (as well as the pack racing in Indy/IRL) really is a "change for safety" -- slowing the cars down -- combined with an "entertainment" factor of keeping the cars very close. (This is polarizing actually, in both series some really really love this style of racing, some really really hate it; in NASCAR I think the haters are the minority, but...).

I'm actually willing to bet that quite a few of the drivers who have complained about this style in the past (both series) for "safety reasons" would actually love it if racing returned to the higher horsepower style of before, which was much less of a pack, and much faster. Ironically it would probably not be quite as safe, but I bet it would *feel* "safer" for some drivers (or, at least, they'd feel like they had control -- they could race, not have it be a semi-lottery).[/quote]

Agreed. 100%

As I posted earlier, the increased number of cars in the fence since the introduction of plates suggests they're not making anything safer. The lower speeds may make crashes safer for the driver, but that wasn't the primary reason plates were introduced. They were introduced after Bobby Allison's flight into the fence in '87 (the only notable example of a car getting close to the stands to that date).

The lack of control by the driver when packed in a 10x3 grid of cars at 200mph, as well as the much higher likelihood of being hit by another car once you've lost control, is why cars are getting in the fence. Every example in recent years, Edwards, Larson, Dillon, Bodine, all of them probably wouldn't have hit the fence if not for ricocheting off another car.

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It's kind of weird that the cars seem to be flying a lot more in recent years. The speeds haven't really changed all that much, but it does seem like, given the right circumstances, these newer cars have a tendency to take off. Have the cars become lighter in recent years?

Couldn't they, instead of removing the restrictor plates entirely, just reduce the size by a little bit?

I know the Gen 6 is lighter than the Gen 5 but it can't be by more than a couple hundred pounds.

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"The track's wet, that's what I think about it. Fucking shit gets wet when it rains."
-Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The younger drivers driving the last laps of the plate tracks like a fucking video game doesn't help either.

Although I agree with your sentiment, Harvick isn't someone I'd consider to be in the 'younger driver' bracket.

Yeah. Same with Stewart at Talladega in 2012.

Fuck these idiot fans suing DIS/NASCAR.

I agree with Kurt Busch. Don't allow spectators at DEGA or Daytona or at best limit them to the upper decks of the grandstands (especially if they are going to sue in instances such as these), take the damn plates off and let them run 230.

When your sport is so fearful for it's fans that some of their own athletes tell fans NOT to go to their events, you really need to reevaluate your sport.

^^^ Wow, no fans at those events would be wild, but I would tune in like a mo-fo if they took the plates off and ran 230. That would be insane to watch!!

*I may have a valve cover sticking out of my forehead but I'm not going to sue Nascar because I'm a real race fan and it comes with the territory lol*

Make outside walls and fences a lot higher, build huge grandstands in the infield.

ta-daa

Invent invisible forcefields.

I mean the result of the wreck was really the best you could ask for provided the circumstances. Dillon's car came all the way from the bottom of the track and hit the fence with almost as much force as a stock car could possibly muster. The result of Larson's crash was 10x worse than this and a call to arms was never this loud.

I guess Larson wasn't driving the Dalecar