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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
JENSEN: The Debate Rages Anew
What we witnessed this weekend at Talladega was infinitely more interesting than some of the races we’ve seen this year...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted April 27, 2009   Charlotte, NC
SPEED.com's Editor-in-Chief Tom Jensen. (Image: SPEED)

There is no more sickening sight in all of racing than a car speeding at nearly 200 miles per hour when it suddenly gets airborne and goes into the catchfence that separates the racers from the race fans. It’s horrifying to witness in real time, more so in slow motion.

When Carl Edwards’s Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion flipped on the last lap of the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, it was a flashback to 1987, when Bobby Allison’s Buick went into the stands and tore down a long stretch of fencing. Geoffrey Bodine had a similar incident in a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Daytona a few years back.

While Edwards walked away unhurt, there were eight people injured in the grandstands, the most serious incident apparently being a broken jaw suffered by a race fan.

After the race, Edwards was understandably shaken and angry. “I know it’s a spectacle for everybody and that’s great and all, but it’s not right to ask all these guys to come out and do this,” Edwards said. “What if the car goes up in the grandstands and kills 25 people? You know what I mean? At some point, they’ve got to say, ‘Look, we’ve got to change this around a little bit.’”

I don’t blame Edwards one bit for feeling the way he did.

But here’s the cold, hard reality: You take 43 cars that weigh 3,450 pounds each and race them inches apart for 500 miles at speeds approaching 200 miles per hour and there will be accidents and there will be danger. What NASCAR has tried to do over the years is mitigate that danger as much as it can, which is why you have SAFER barriers, roof flaps, hood and trunk tethers, HANS devices and even the entire new-generation Sprint Cup race car.

Now, I’m no apologist for NASCAR. In fact, it was downright shameful that it took the death of Dale Earnhardt for NASCAR to get religion about safety. But I believe that the sanctioning body has made great strides in recent years in terms of safety. Is it ever enough? No. Is it ever perfect? No.

Eight people were injured by debris at Talladega on Sunday. Is that acceptable? No. But did the catchfence do its job? Yes, it most certainly did do its job, just as it did with the aforementioned Allison and Bodine issues from years past.


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