(Photo: Stephen Conley | The Podium Finish)
After Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman were sidelined with concussions suffered in moderate wrecks, drivers began voicing concerns and wanting to see changes made.
NASCAR met with drivers on Saturday morning at Charlotte Motor Speedway to discuss the new car, its lack of crumple zones, and injuries being sustained because the car is too stiff, as many feel the impact is being absorbed too much by the driver and not enough by the car.
One of the other concerns voiced by the drivers is communication. Denny Hamlin has been at the forefront of saying drivers are not being heard, especially when it comes to their safety and concerns with the Next Gen car. Hamlin is not the only driver to voice these concerns, and even after the meeting, several drivers said Saturday’s meeting resembled an episode of the TV show Seinfeld, specifically the episode surrounding Festivus and the airing of grievances.
Prior to practice, Christopher Bell said that he just sat back and listened during the meeting, but there were a lot of “tense” moments. However, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver believes some good things did come out of it. “We saw the results of the crash tests, and on paper, it looks better, but we won’t really know until we get the pieces on the car and we (the drivers) feel it.”
NASCAR is expected to make some changes and announce the test results after a few more meetings are held.
While Bell believes more work needs to be done and feels they are on the right path as far as the rear of the car, he made it clear that nothing inside of the car needs to be touched. When asked if the seats and helmets should be looked at, Bell said sternly, “Absolutely not! Those are things that have been consistent, they haven’t changed.” Bell added that those items are doing their jobs and the focus needs to stay in the rear of the car.
On the other hand, Chase Briscoe said, “When it comes to safety, it doesn’t matter how well it’s worked or how long it’s worked, you can always improve and should always look at things you can change.” Briscoe added, “Don’t get me wrong, they can work on that, but the focus has to be on the rear of the car and fixing that first.”
The concussions and injuries to drivers must be addressed. Most drivers are happy that it is being addressed, but will not be satisfied until it is fixed. Every driver that spoke about the issues said they were aware of the situation, but had thoughts on all of this from the beginning. Now they are becoming hyperfocused on their health after a crash.
As NASCAR works on the car to make it safer for the drivers, the impact of concussions is becoming more prominent. For drivers like Bell, understanding is essential. “I haven’t taken any hard hits this year, especially rear-end impacts. I don’t think I’ve had any concussion symptoms from any prior impacts, but now that they are talking about the seriousness of them, I’m more aware and paying more attention to how I feel.”
