Safety: The Result of the Dark Side of Racing!

Full-faced helmets, head to toe layers of nomex, head and neck restraints, window nets, side impact nets, roll cages, 7 point harnesses, fuel cells, electric kill switches, push-button fire retardant systems, and one piece racing seats. These are only some of the basic safety needs of both a racer and race car must have in perfect working order every time they are on the track. Each piece and item regulated and tested and certified to give the racer the safest on track experience possible. The sobering reality is that each one of these items came to be after someone was killed or severely injured enough to make people think change was necessary. Racing is a dangerous sport, and the very staggering fact is that after all these years the possibility still exists for death to occur. The silver lining, if you can see it as that, is the racing community learns from these incidents and works to make the sport safer. No-one knew what a head and neck restraint (hans) device was until Dale Earnhardt passed away in the final turn of the 2001 Daytona 500. For the better part of 12 years, they now have been mandatory in almost all forms of racing. This is just one example but there is at least one similar story for each safety advancement made. With the history of the sport what it is, one thing is for certain, every driver strpping in is aware of the risk. They are pushing a 2,000 lb missile around a track, past limits the car was often designed to do after all. Being aware however, does not mean they are driving scared or thinking about the risks. On track they are laser focused on doing what they love. The risk is only assessed prior to getting in the car.  Niki Lauda famously drove only one lap of the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix because the risk with the weather that day was too much for him. The love and passion for racing is why we as drivers drive despite the risk. You cannot push boundaries, test limits and feel the adrenaline rush of those limits without facing those risks. By now you have noticed that this edition of Hittin' the Apex is a little more monotine, a bit darker. Discussing the sport without addressing the risks doesn't paint the full picture and doesn't do anybody any good, so here we are. I want to make it perfectly clear here. Although racing has a side of ot that is absolutely dangerous, every other aspect of it is amazing and so much fun! Like any sport, the glory is worth the scars and pain. All you have to do is understand that, like any sport, a person is fueled by that passion. Dangerous or not, don't be the person to ruin that passion for them. Until next time!

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