Darlington RacinDeals

HUMPTY BUMPTY: "We
can’t wait." That’s what H. A. "Humpy" Wheeler says
about the bumper that bears his nickname, the Humpy Bumper. After
a few tests and some computer simulation, LEW Composites says the
bumper is ready for prime time.

I would suggest that waiting is exactly
what needs to be done. They’ve rushed this bumper through design,
computer simulation and testing over the last three months. So,
it works when a car hits the wall. What would it do if the car
hit another car? Have they done any car-to-car testing? Why not
have test drivers driving on "track" in a big parking
lot somewhere, and bump one another like they do at Bristol?
Seems like that would be a safe way to find out if the bumper
imparts more force to the car it hits than what would normally be
imparted.

I just don’t understand the rush to get a
product out there when there are so many unknowns left. Why not
continue to test and develop, then give NASCAR 20 or so of the
bumpers and let NASCAR test them during the off season? NASCAR’s
safety experts can tell LEW Composites what changes need to be
made then, and they can manufacture enough for the teams at
Daytona.

NASCAR should not give in to the pressure
from Humpy Wheeler or anyone else to just put things in place
that haven’t been adequately tested. "Unintended
consequences" is the key phrase.

Don’t get me wrong; I applaud LEW
Composites, Humpy Wheeler and anyone else who tries to come up
with a device or system to make racing safer. But as I’ve said
for over a year, doing the wrong thing quickly is worse than
doing nothing at all.

[Later] Now I see reports that the "Humpy"
Bumper will not likely be approved for use this year. NASCAR is
taking the correct stance here. If the bumpers are proved to work
like they’ve been touted as working, and don’t cause other
problems, then they should be approved for next year.

100% SAFE RACING:
Actually, in their test at Charlotte Motor Speedway the other
day, they may have hit on a 100% safe way to race. I’m talking
about a way where not only fatalities are impossible, but
injuries as well. What am I talking about?

Remote controlled cars.

Here’s what you do: you go to all the
defunct NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedways and get their simulators.
You wire those simulators up to a remote controlled car, and
you’re ready to race. The drivers sit in the comfort of their motor home (heck, with high-speed networking, they could even
"drive" their cars from home). Of course, you’d still
need to have pit crews at the track, and they’d still have to
service the car on pit stops. But after this system is
implemented, you’d have 100% safe racing for the drivers.

You’re welcome.

CRASH DATA RECORDERS:
NASCAR has committed to using "black" box crash data
recorders for next year in their three top series. The reason
they’re not using them immediately is that the boxes actually
have to be manufactured.

I have an idea that will help NASCAR satisfy
the critics who say they’re not moving fast enough, plus
help them get a head start on next year. While there may not be
enough boxes to supply 120 teams every week, surely there are a
handful available to maybe supply four or five teams. So here’s
what you do: install one on the cars of Buckshot Jones, Brett
Bodine, Tony Stewart, John Andretti, and Jerry Nadeau for the
rest of the year. Then take the crash data you get from those
teams and you’ll get a jump on what might be needed for safety
improvements next year.

EDUCATION: When Casey
Atwood started racing full time in the Busch Series, people
wondered about his high school education. How can you go to high
school and have to be out a couple of days a week for a race?
Well, Casey was home schooled.

But what about Kyle Busch? Roush Racing has
dumped Nathan Haseleu (welcome to the Jack Roush Club, Nathan)
and will put Kyle Busch, who’s not much older than 16, in the
truck. So, what about Kyle’s education?

PROTECTION MONEY: So, now
I know where part of the money I pay to Protection One every
month is going…. They’re sponsoring the Kansas Cup race.

THE EARNHARDT REPORT: I
get the feeling that 90% of the people who are commenting on the
Earnhardt accident investigation haven’t even read the thing.
I’ve seen some of the stupidest comments regarding this report
that you can imagine. Some of the crazier headlines said NASCAR
put the blame on a broken belt, and that set Bill
Simpson off. Of course, the broken belt is one of three or four
sad coincidences that happened during the wreck. If any one
of them hadn’t happened, Earnhardt would probably have survived
the wreck.

ZERO SPONSOR: If your
sponsor is a dot com company, I hope you got your money. NetZero,
which sponsors Jack Sprague in the Truck Series, really should
rename themselves. When they first started out, they were a free
ISP; you didn’t have to pay anything to get dialup internet
access through them.

Then they started offering their premium
service, where you pay so much per month. And at the same time,
they reduced the number of hours in their free plan to 40. Now
they’ve reduced them even further to just 10 hours a month and
eliminated service to some areas.

I have a feeling that the #24 truck will be
looking for a sponsor next year.