Nationwide Series safety concerns

In addition to Earnhardt’s problems, Kertus Davis lost control of his vehicle due to a crash, which caused his car to burst into flames, and made him tumble out of his vehicle to escape the heat and flames of the crash. Thankfully, neither racer was injured severely, but if changes aren’t made soon to the Nationwide Series, this is going to change. It’s only a matter of time before someone is injured due to the present conditions with the car that’s being used in the Nationwide Series. Events like the ones above only highlight the need for a “new car” complete with the full array of safety features and enhancements of the Sprint Cup Series cars.

NASCAR has stated that a revised Nationwide Series car could be debuted on restrictor-plate tracks and road courses as early as 2010, with full implementation taking place possibly in 2011. This time table may have to be altered due to the present economic forecast though, so don’t start thinking that these comments are written in stone somewhere, because they aren’t, and they will probably change as the economy changes.

It’s unfortunate for Nationwide Series drivers who are every bit as deserving of state of the art safety features and enhancements as their better cared for Sprint Cup brethren that economic considerations could mean a death or severe injury to them or one of their fellow drivers, but this is the reality at present.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Post from: EveryJoe

Nationwide Series Safety Concerns

The buzz in the garage area and in the media prior to Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Daytona was all about – you guessed it – Dale Earnhardt Jr. The crew for Junior’s no. 5 Chevy tinkered with the deck lift after the initial round of inspections and were soon caught, causing him to start the race from the back of the field. Junior did manage to climb his way up through the 43-car field to finish the race in third place, but the team wasn’t left with as much of a sense of accomplishment when NASCAR issued their penalties on Wednesday.

Earnhardt himself was docked 50 driver points, which are probably of little concern to NASCAR’s most popular driver since he has no intentions of running the full Nationwide schedule. What does hurt the team, however, is the fact that NASCAR additionally dinged car owner Rick Hendrick with 50 owner points and not only fined Crew Chief Chad Walter in the sum of $25k, but also suspended him for the span of the next six races and placed him on probation for the remainder of the season.

The Nationwide Series cars of David Gilliland, Johnny Sauter, Kertus Davis, Cale Gale, and David Stremme were found guilty of rule infractions of their own. All of them have been docked 25 points and their Crew Chiefs also suspended for the next six races.  Click here for the complete story.

In similar news, after making a spectacular run in the Daytona 500, Robby Gordon was penalized for an unapproved front bumper cover that was caught in the opening day inspections for the race during speedweeks. Robby was hit with the loss of 100 driver points and his Crew Chief, Frank Kerr, was fined $100k and suspended for the next six races in the Sprint Cup Series.  Click here for the complete story.

Post from: EveryJoe

NASCAR Busts Junior in the Nationwide Series