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All of them since 1995:
NASCAR.-
John Nemecheck (1997)
Adam Petty (2000)
Kenny Irwin (2000)
Tony Roper (2000)
Dale Earnhart Sr. (2001)
CART and IRL.-
Scott Brayton (1996)
Jeff Krossnoff (1996)
Gonzalo Rodriguez (1999)
Greg Moore (1999)
How many more will it take till we acknowledge that the oval racing series and the cars built for them need to be made safer?
No, I don't believe that "the driver must accept the risk to pay the ultimate price" unless every technological effort has been made to improve the cars or change the nature of the racetracks.
I know there will be a chorus stating "it can't be done".
Let us remember that Formula 1 was a similar scenario until the F1 community took ownership of the unreasonable risks involved. We haven't lost a single F1 driver since "black Imola" in 1994.
There is a lesson to be learned from F1.
More boring racing?
Perhaps, but how much fun is it to watch new widows and orphans?.
We need someone with the courage and integrity that Jackie Stewart had in F1 to focus everyone's attention and efforts for safer oval racing. An added tragedy to what happened in Daytona is that we lost the one driver that had the stature to lead such an effort.
And please, let not say "he'd prefer to see racing remain exciting and dangerous". I firmly believe, he'd rather be alive.
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