Newman calls for NASCAR dedicated safety team
Quote selected text Published March 4th, 2008 in NASCAR News
Ryan Newman on Tuesday repeated his call for a dedicated safety crew that would travel to all NASCAR events and would be able to meet the medical needs of all drivers.
Newman’s statement came at Phoenix International Raceway, where he was participating in a NASCAR Sprint Cup test.
“The tracks typically have held the responsibility of a medical crew or a safety crew, and NASCAR has their medical liaisons and they have a medical staff that travels with them, but they’ve got a bigger staff in their catering business to feed their people,” Newman said. “We, as drivers and as teammates, would prefer if NASCAR had a traveling safety team that knew our cars in and out. There’s been times I spoke about – I guess it was probably almost four years ago now, at Watkins Glen – when it took them 25 seconds or whatever to get me out of the car, and they didn’t know what to do when they got there, and that’s not cool.”
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I know the IRL has something like this, but is there’s the entire safety crew, or is it like one person per safety vechile that works for the IRL.
Either way NASCAR should do something like that, or at least hold training exercises for all of the safety workers to show them the ins and outs of the cars and what to do in “X” situation
NASCAR really shut down this idea a few years back. They even had me convinced that it was no good, but after watching other series do their thing with their own dedicated people, and having read accounts of the track workers who have worked under both systems, the dedicated safety team members are really a no brainer.
I agree with Ryan. They should have a NASCAR safety crew. This people would get to know the driver’s better and I think be able to respond quicker. COME ON NASCAR it’s a really good proposition. I know you’re in the business to make money but I think you also want the drivers to be safe. So let’s get it started.
Problem is getting doctors and staff certified to practice medicine in every state the series goes to, and the liabilities involved with it… If other series actually do it, there’s no reason NASCAR can’t learn from them and figure it out, but I remember the big hangup was getting them licensed to practice in all those places.
I dont know if anyone remembers back several years ago there was a driver at Lowes Motor Speedway during race weeks in a Late model race that died when his car caught on fire and the safety crews were very slow to respond.
I got my information from Barry Cook of JGR a long time friend. Barry told me had they responded properly the driver might have survived.
the infield care center is well staffed with doctors from the best local hospitals around that region where the track is. their is always a medical team and helicopter there for serious injuries. and the safety team that gets to you wreck are there just to get you out of your car. the drivers always complained that the doctors in the infield care center wont familiar with the drivers history and other injuries the driver had before that wreck. nothings perfect but it does work
NHRA has the safety safari. IRL has their crew with all the IRL safety trucks and what not. It’s time NASCAR had a traveling safety safari.
You guys bring up good points regarding the other series that provide this type of service to it’s competitors. NASCAR has been around for 60 years but has not been receptive to this concept. Why? If they claim they’re all about driver safety, wouldn’t a program like this only reinforce that belief? Like a few people here have said, litigation usually rears it’s ugly head when tragedy strikes. This whole safety team idea is long overdue. NASCAR should take care of it’s own. Maybe NASCAR should quit whoring themselves out with night races and memorabilia to do something really important and worthwhile like this.
As a firefighter, i support the arguement for a dedicated safety crew. we know the businesses inside and out that are
around our station. likewise, NASCAR race cars are WAY different than anything found on the road, and specialized
knowledge is needed. Granted, i could show up, grab a Hurst Tool (the Jaws) and take apart the car, C-Spine the driver and
extricate them safely. however, i know nothing about which bars, if cut, could cause a wrecked car to collapse on itself.
Nor do i have the knowledge of how they’re built, so that i don’t wast time cutting unnecessary tubes.
while i could do MOST of it, just based off my training and job knowledge, the stock car is truly a different beast.
You don’t send a security guard to go serve a warrant, even if they do carry a firearm.
the NASCAR safety teams that travel with the series do all that, it the medical teams that dont travel with us. it the doctor part that everyone is sayin we need out here and you cant pay them enough to travel because what doctor wants to travel with a sport when he can make more money with a [private practice