The compromises between safety and entertainment were already a topic in the racing world following the IndyCar race at Fontana. Following last night's horrible wreck at Daytona though, that topic will now be at full throat, both in the racing world and outside of it. Of course, those in racing have know about the dangers of plate racing in NASCAR for a long time. By one count, this is the fifth time in recent years where a car got up in the fence.
If we're being honest here, NASCAR got very, very lucky that no one was seriously hurt: both Austin Dillon and any spectators from the car hitting the fence. There has been a lot of progress made on safety over the years, but with a crash as bad as that, you're looking at hoping to get lucky. NASCAR got lucky here, and with the exception of the 2013 Nationwide incident at Daytona, has gotten lucky in terms of avoiding disaster. Maybe they'll keep getting lucky, maybe they won't. Again, if we're being honest here, we all know that will be the situation going forward, because we all know NASCAR won't do a damn thing about it except use the crash for promotional purposes.
Going back to IndyCar, earlier this week they put out the In-Car video for the Fontana race, which can be viewed above. Given the debate of the past two weeks, it's a fascinating watch. While I still contend that this wasn't traditional pack racing, it was still past the point of acceptable risk. Look at how many times cars come close to touching. For the most part, it wasn't because of drivers doing something stupid (with the exception of Sage Karam, whom Briscoe at one point says "is going to get someone fucking killed."). The very nature of the beast resulted in all the close calls, much less the actual wrecks during the race.
On the plus side, IndyCar has indicated that they missed the package, and hopefully that means they can find the right sweet spot between good racing and not ridiculously unsafe. However, as we've all discussed, this type of racing isn't a problem anywhere except Fontana, and there is no guarantee that it will return in 2016. Still, it's better to be prepared, because if a car ever *ever* gets up through the fence and into the stands, all of auto racing in this country will be in a world of hurt. This is something auto racing makes worse due to the sanctioning bodies' tendency to be reactive instead of proactive. Despite IndyCar's missteps (the new policy on dissent the latest thing), they realize that they got lucky this time and have a chance at being proactive. Here's hoping NASCAR at some point figures that out before its too late.
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