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Driving home the need for safety in motorsports

By Erica Batten. For a sport that got its start with bootleggers running ‘shine on the back roads of Appalachia, stock-car racing didn’t exactly begin with safety in mind. But safety has been at the forefront of sports news recently, particularly with the NFL’s woes over chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease linked to playing football. After years of denial, an NFL spokesperson recently acknowledged the link in a hearing with the House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee.

There have been nearly 4,000 studies on football injuries, but only five on motorsports-related injuries, according to Dr. Glenn Gaston, who also serves as hand consultant for Huntersville-based Joe Gibbs Racing and Stewart-Haas Racing in Kannapolis.

Safety concerns have been more obvious in the auto-racing industry. Since 1990, more than 500 drivers and crew have been killed in U.S. racing. And developments in safety have come largely as a response to these deaths, particularly that of Dale Earnhardt in 2001. After his accident and another involving a pit crew that same season, NASCAR made full-face helmets mandatory for both drivers and crew members. Many drivers also switched to the six-point safety harness.

“I don’t think people are really very aware of all the great things that have been done in the area of safety. We’ll continue to emphasize that, and we dedicate significant human and capital resources every year and continue on improving that.”

– Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR’s vice president of innovation and racing development

In 2002, NASCAR opened its 60,000-square foot research and development center in Concord, which focuses not only on racing tech but also on safety of drivers, crew and fans. That same year, NASCAR began using SAFER barriers at Indianapolis to help minimize damage of impact. The “Car of Tomorrow” chassis, implemented nearly 10 years ago, includes a more centralized driver’s seat and crushable material in the door frames.

“I don’t think people are really very aware of all the great things that have been done in the area of safety,” said Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR’s vice president of innovation and racing development. “We’ll continue to emphasize that, and we dedicate significant human and capital resources every year and continue on improving that.”

When stock-car racing began in the 1940s, the very idea of safety belts and helmets was far-fetched. NASCAR made roll bars mandatory in 1952. By the 1960s, safety innovations included roll cages, fuel cells to minimize explosion risk, onboard fire extinguishers, safety liners for tires and fire-retardant uniforms for drivers. In the 1970s, window netting became mandatory. And in the 1980s, racing seats were the latest safety innovation.

Crew members have been required to wear safety helmets since 2002. In 2011, NASCAR reduced the number of crew allowed over the wall from seven to six, and has more recently tightened rules about when crew members can leave the pit wall to start working on the cars.

NASCAR’s managing director of research and development, Mike Fisher, said there’s a “complete system of safety” in the racing industry, starting with pre-race inspection and continuing through to comprehensive investigations of accidents and injuries.

As risk of serious injury is reduced, perhaps the next generation of racing safety can focus on repetitive-use injuries that are not fatal but can affect performance and quality of life. Hand surgeon Dr. Glenn Gaston recently completed an epidemiological study tracking upper-extremity injury trends in NASCAR drivers and pit crew members. Gaston is hand consultant to Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports and Stewart-Haas Racing.

“Each position has specific movements that could cause injury if you don’t understand how to take care of your body over time.”

– Curtis Walls, sports performance coach at Chip Ganassi Racing

The study, conducted with physician assistant William Heisel, was a retrospective chart review of 226 NASCAR patients between July 2003 and October 2014 to assess position-specific, upper-extremity injuries and provide a comprehensive picture of musculoskeletal forces placed on the athletes.

The study found that orthopedic injuries in NASCAR can be linked to the demands of each role. Changers were most at risk for hand-related injuries, while carriers were most susceptible to finger injuries. Drivers were at risk for hand-arm vibration syndrome and carpal tunnel syndrome.

“Each position has specific movements that could cause injury if you don’t understand how to take care of your body over time,” said Curtis Walls, sports performance coach at Chip Ganassi Racing in Concord. He works with crew to ensure that repetitive motions are addressed with appropriate stretches and strengthening exercises.

An aggravating factor for pit crews is that motions are one-sided, said Ganassi’s pit crew coach, Shaun Peet. A jack man, for example, will plant with the same leg every time, leading to asymmetrical development of muscles on one side of the body and compensatory movements on the opposite side.

So Ganassi employs trainers like Walls as well as massage therapists. They’ve also brought in efficiency consultants who, said Peet, were “aghast at the number of bad body positions in a pit stop.”

Ganassi isn’t just protecting its investment here. “You’re around those guys 24/7 from February to November,” said Walls. A former wide receiver with the Pittsburgh Power, he understands that in order to create a team culture, members need to feel valued. In turn, helping athletes prevent long-term issues enhances both their physical and their mental performance.

Operating outside the law was the reason for speed when NASCAR began. There’s no escaping the laws of nature, though, so research-based solutions and a holistic approach to athlete health will be paramount as auto racing continues to evolve.

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