SAFETY Accident helps hike awareness

Dale Earnhardt Jr. hopes to drive the full 500 miles this Sunday at Pocono.
By MIKE HARRIS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
When Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car burst into flames, television viewers got a frightening, up-close look at the dangers drivers face when they wreck.
In-car camera shots showed Earnhardt surrounded by fire as he scrambled to unhook his seat belts and jump out of the burning Corvette, which he was driving in a July 18 sports car event in Sonoma, Calif.
Although the accident happened in a different car in a different series, the accident at Infineon Raceway raised concerns in NASCAR.
"It doesn't happen often but, when it does, it gets everybody thinking and the ideas come pouring in," said Gary Nelson, head of NASCAR's research and development facility in Concord, N.C. "We've looked at different systems and made some rule changes in the past year that I think have helped on fire suppression. And we've made some great gains in fire prevention. But our goal is to eliminate the chance of fire."
Hazard inherent
Perhaps, but there will always be potential for fire in a race car because of the fuel and parts that get hot under the vehicles.
Last year, after Cup drivers Ryan Newman, Ken Schrader, Dale Jarrett and Bobby Labonte were forced to scramble from burning cars in separate accidents, NASCAR began requiring a new fire-extinguishing cylinder in the fuel cell area at the rear of the car in all of its top series. The system is triggered automatically in a fire, but it can also be started by the driver.
NASCAR also made changes to improve the fire-extinguishing system in the driver's compartment.
Earnhardt said he panicked for a second or two at Sonoma when he was unable to find the lever to start the fire-extinguisher system because he was unfamiliar with the car. He never did find it and the car eventually burned to the ground.
"When the car caught fire, all I saw was fire," he said. "I didn't even see where to go to get out. The fire was within the helmet and all around the visor ... I was just trying to find out how to get where the fire wasn't."
Result
Earnhardt was burned on his legs, neck and chin, and he needed a backup driver to finish last Sunday's race at New Hampshire. He is hoping to be ready to drive the full 500 miles this Sunday at Pocono, but John Andretti will be standing by as a precaution.
The accident reminded many in the sport that fire remains the biggest fear for most drivers, no matter what kind of car they race. Race historian Donald Davidson estimated that fire probably killed 80 percent of the drivers who died in race cars before the '70s.
Technology has reduced the risks. The biggest improvement is the rubberized fuel cells developed for use in airplanes and helicopters during the Vietnam War to keep fuel from igniting when hit by snipers' bullets. Those fuel cells have been improved throughout racing by surrounding them with fire-retardant foam.
There is also a wide variety of fire-retardant clothing and underclothing to protect drivers from fire. Still, Newman said more needs to be done to keep them safe.
"The type of extinguisher that we're using is not ideal for the situation because it's a gas," he said. "You pull the pin on something that's a gas, while you're running 150 mph, you've got the air moving, so you're basically putting out a fire that's 100 yards behind you.
On the spot
"If you had a liquid or a semi-liquid, something like a foam that could suffocate a fire, even if it covered the driver, it would still be better than sitting there and getting burned."
Nelson said NASCAR is always looking for ways to improve safety, but he added that gas products, like Halon, always come out on top in testing of fire extinguishers.
"It's the one that puts out the fire," he said.
Fire, of course, is just one area of concern that NASCAR is looking at.
Dale Earnhardt, Junior's father and the sport's biggest star, was killed in a last-lap crash in the 2001 Daytona 500, setting off a wave of safety innovations in NASCAR and other divisions. The changes included mandatory head and neck restraints, energy absorbing barriers on racetrack walls and the creation of the NASCAR research and development facility.
But Earnhardt Jr. didn't take advantage of all the equipment available to keep him safe at Sonoma.