IS NASCAR SAFE ENOUGH TO KEEP RACING GOING ON? BY: ALEC WASHECKA

INTRODUCTION The safety in NASCAR has improved massively 44 people have been killed, but nobody has been killed since 2010

SO WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF NASCAR IN 1948?

SPOTTER NASCAR officials came up with a spotter A spotter is someone who looks to see if the driver can turn or move sideways, because there might be a car in the driver’s blind spot The cars don’t have side mirrors, so the driver doesn’t know if there’s a car in their blind spot The spotter will tell them through a two-way radio

TRACK It’s not just the vehicle safety Beginning in 2002, many tracks were fitted with safer barriers along the walls of the track The Iowa Speedway was the first track that was built with the safer barrier around the entire track

MORE INFO! Many people believe that NASCAR is extremely dangerous and may have to be cancelled Although it’s dangerous, racing officials are doing everything they can to try and make racing safer But the big question, should NASCAR be cancelled because of its danger?

BOTH SIDES COULD BE SUPPORTED NASCAR is extremely dangerous. But why? The drivers are traveling at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour, in big packs, inches away from each other If a driver wants to get past someone, they could just hit their car and send them flying!

WINDOW NET For even more safety… To protect the driver, all cars must have a window net to protect the driver’s head and arms from flying out the window during a crash After a wreck, the driver who crashes is instructed to lower their window net to show that they are uninjured

ROOF FLAPS Since fatal crashes were still common, in 1994, NASCAR fitted the roof flaps to each car Roof flaps were designed to prevent the car from going airborne and possibly flipping down the track When the car is spinning, it eventually gets to an angle where the air that is whipping by can deploy the roof flaps. They only deploy when the car is backwards and is moving fast enough There is a total of six roof flaps on the vehicle two on the hood two on the roof two on the trunk They are useful because the cars have no brakes whatsoever

FIRE-PROOF CLOTHING Another safety precaution for NASCAR drivers is to wear a fire-proof suit The suit is useful because people can identify the driver from outside the car because its the color, and protect the driver during a fire The racer also wears fire-proof shoes and gloves During races, the heat of the engine might warm the feet too much, so most drivers wear a heat shield on the bottom of their shoes

SEAT BELTS And finally, the most important, seat belts… The seat belts used are five or six point harnesses, which have two straps coming down over the driver’s shoulders, two straps wrapping around the waist, and one or two coming up the legs

ENDING NASCAR is still extremely dangerous even though it has a of rules and safety precautions The drivers are definitely risking their lives for their dream. And don’t forget… First place!

PICTURES

WHERE TO GET MORE INFORMATION My main website! Wikipedia Many people think that Wikipedia isn’t that great, but I actually got many good things from there for this topic.