NASCAR executives were taken aback by complaints from Bill Elliott, in his new autobiography, about NASCAR’s safety policies, and they say the sport’s record speaks for itself. Since NASCAR undertook a major expansion of its safety programs after the 2001 death of Dale Earnhardt, there have been no drivers killed in any of NASCAR’s national touring series.

But Elliott, in his book, said NASCAR should have a regular medical trauma unit, with trained specialists, that travels the entire circuit. Elliott said his wife, 10 years ago, had found a doctor willing to head such a team and that the NASCAR Wives Auxiliary was willing to pay for that project, but NASCAR rejected the offer. Elliott, saying he believes NASCAR passed on the project because of liability risks, said “I think NASCAR and the France family are sticking their heads in the sand” on the issue.

Elliott also calls on NASCAR to make the interior of the race cars larger, saying it is difficult to get out of one in an emergency.

The idea of a traveling medical team has been long discussed and debated, for perhaps nearly 15 years, and Darby said the organization stands by its long-time policy that local doctors and local medical staffs best know how to deal with emergencies.

“Our position on that hasn’t changed since we investigated that and put what we have in place, years ago,” Darby said. “Every area we go into, we have the best facility in that area, and the best doctors. We still believe the folks who live and operate at a facility five, six, seven days a week, are going to know better the resources available than just one person hopscotching across the country … even if that’s legal to do. As a physician travels from state to state to state, there are certificates and licenses involved.

“I know what we’ve done and I know what we do and I know what we continue to do, and I think our results speak for themselves. Our efforts are unparalled to any other motorsports series in the world.”

Still Jeff Gordon agrees with Elliott about the traveling medical staff: “I agree the local medical staffs know the local hospitals. But I would like to see a designated safety team that travels.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. agrees with Elliott and Gordon on that: “I’m happy with the care. We have sufficient support medically at all the tracks.

“But it would be more effective if you had the same person all the time. Other motorsports have that. It’s just more effective. That’s invaluable in certain situations. That would be a big plus.

“NASCAR definitely has the funds to afford it. I don’t see why it shouldn’t be there. What we have is very sufficient and good, but to have a (medical) team that’s consistently there, would take a lot of confusion out of certain situations. And you never know, it might save a life.”

Winston-Salem Journal

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