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Safety's first among topics at Indy 500

 
Published May 28, 1994|Updated Oct. 7, 2005

Ever since the traveling circus that is IndyCar racing arrived at Indianapolis Motor Speedway three weeks ago, drivers and teams have been queried about this subject more than any other.

When, in the span of days, two drivers die and another is in a coma, safety naturally permeates the mind.

Sunday's Indy 500 will be the first IndyCar race since Formula One drivers Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna, the circuit champion, were killed in on-track crashes in Italy and Karl Wendlinger nearly died racing in France. So safety has been a topic in every Indy news conference and nearly every interview after nearly every practice session.

"What goes around comes around," said Mario Andretti, a veteran of IndyCar and Formula One racing. "Motor racing is dangerous, and we've got to pay attention to that."

Still, talk about safety always has made some drivers instantly uneasy. "The older you get, the more capable you are of understanding why these things happen," driver Eddie Cheever snapped, without elaborating.

"I'm concerned," admitted defending Indy 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi. "It's a very high-risk race. As long as everyone wants to finish the race, that's my only concern."

Although they look similar, Indy cars generally are considered safer than Formula One machines, if only because they are bigger and about 400 pounds heavier. Indy cars have 21 built-in safety features, including a collapsible aluminum honeycomb construction that allows energy generated by a collision to be released, thus reducing the impact on the driver.

"We have proven we can hit walls and survive," said former F1 driver Nigel Mansell, the reigning IndyCar champion.

Of course, the race track, which has been the target of most F1 safety complaints recently, figures heavily into the equation. Indy was reconfigured last year (warm-up lanes were added to the corners, making the turns sharper), but some maintain that the changes have made racing more dicey at the 2.5-mile oval.

"I'm just not a fan of it," Michael Andretti said of the speedway. "We used to have two lanes (to pass cars) and now there's really only one, and that could make things kind of hairy."

In contrast to the way safety concerns are handled in Formula One, Indy officials said they constantly seek driver input in planning safety upgrades to the track.

"It's pretty obvious the track and the cars are built to protect the drivers and the spectators," speedway official Bill York said. "The corners aren't a problem. You just have to go slower through them, that's all."

There have been no major accidents during qualifying and practice at Indy this year. The only ones of note occurred the opening weekend of qualifying. Paul Tracy hit the wall and was knocked unconscious momentarily, prompting an overnight hospital stay. Two days later, Scott Goodyear bruised a thigh after tagging the wall in Turns 3 and 4 and spinning out of control down pit road.

There doesn't need to be a serious crash, though, for drivers to think about safety.

"It's is a ongoing process. There are always ways you can make small improvements to make the track safer," Cheever said. "But I'm pleased with the way it is now."

The race could be a different story, several drivers said. Some of them are a bit nervous because the field is so tight (only 7 mph separates the pole-sitter from the slowest qualifier) and because there's an unusually large number of rookies (nine) among the 33 drivers.

Mansell said he is unsure whether these young drivers have enough appreciation for safety.

"I would say to you that through the plateaus and the experience and the years, we've seen a lot of life," he said. "These new bloods, I think, are a bit crazier and a bit braver, and they don't have the perspective of being seriously hurt because they haven't been yet.

"Hopefully, it won't take that to happen for them to understand."