RACERS! Don’t Skimp on Safety!

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RACERS! Don’t Skimp on Safety!

By: Pete MacDonald

Fire is every racers ultimate fear.

We were reminded again how dangerous this sport can be when 305 Sprint Car driver Jake Waters suffered serious burns following an incident at Selinsgrove Speedway in PA on Sunday night. A rescue worker and fellow driver Austin Burke also suffered burns while trying to extricate Waters from his car during the incident.

This proves even more that in the year 2016 you just can’t put a price on safety, there really is no excuse anymore.

Many drivers will reply with, “Well I can’t afford this or that”. But you can afford a fancy wrap to make your car look good or $500 shocks. Just saying.

Bottom line is, if you can’t afford to do it right then you shouldn’t be doing it at all.

I spoke to a driver at length yesterday about the incident and he admitted that what happened on Sunday at Selinsgrove bothered him, that he felt he had the best safety equipment that he can get but still felt that he could be safer.

Maybe its time for us ‘circle track’ racers to start looking into what some of the NHRA straight-liners use when it comes to safety. In addition to layers upon layers of fire-retardant clothing they wear an extra layer of gloves and also boots that come up to their knees over their driving shoes.

If you are wearing a two piece suit that’s many years old and has holes in it and oil stains from working on your car in it, do yourself a favor, throw it out. It’s just not worth it. There are many companies out there that will work with you on getting a new suit, hell some manufacturers will cut you a deal as long as you display their logo on the chest plate of your suit.

It shouldn’t just stop at a fire suit either, in this day and age a full containment seat and some sort of head-and-neck restraint should be mandatory everywhere. I know the State of New Jersey (who governs auto racing in the state of New Jersey) has made it mandatory for 2017 that every driver in competition must have some sort of head-and-neck restraint in order to compete. I can’t tell you how many racetracks I have been to that don’t even require gloves. Let that one sink in for a minute.

Another thing about safety is thinking outside the box. Make sure your fuel lines are tight and your fuel cell is the best money can buy, that should just be common sense though before strapping in to compete.

Granted they tell you right on the box when you purchase any safety equipment that Motorsports are dangerous but safety really needs to be every racers No.1 priority each and every week. I cant tell you how many times over the years I’ve heard “It won’t happen to me”, “I’m a good driver”, “I have the best safety stuff you can get”. Just when you think you are safe enough, take a step back and think about that. Are you?

What do you think? I can be reached at racersguide@gmail.com or found on Twitter @PMacDonald51. Thanks For Reading!

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