NASCAR Crash Safety Innovations

With fast cars competing for space and position in a NASCAR race, there's always the potential for crashes. In actual NASCAR crashes it's evident that tougher competition, over-aggressive driving and carelessness too often contribute to these unfortunate events in car racing.

NASCAR race cars are specially designed for safety. Any driver who's survived a NASCAR crash will often attribute their still being alive to luck, to the will of God, and to the advances of race car safety technology.

The effect of a NASCAR crash could be even worse, if not for the safety innovations of these NASCAR race cars.

Look at a NASCAR race car frame, which is composed of the front clip, the middle section and the rear clip. The front clip and the rear clip are made out of thinner steel tubing and designed to crush on impact, to absorb most of the force of a crash. The middle section is designed to be much tougher and withstand the crash, making it much safer for the driver.

Then comes the seat of the race car. Its main function is to keep the driver in place, especially if his car should crash so that contact with other parts of the car is prevented. These seats actually bend to soften the impact of the crash. Recent seat designs have wraps over the entire rib cage and that of the driver's shoulder.

The use of seat belts greatly enhances the overall safety level of the race car. These cars use a five-point harness made from thick, padded nylon webbing, which is much stronger than those used in street cars. This is made even safer with the head-and-neck restraint, which came about due to severe head and neck trauma from NASCAR crashes.

With the use of window nets, the driver is protected from debris that could hit him and otherwise would hit him if not for the net. At the same time, the net ensure the driver's arms aren't whirled out of the car during an unfortunate crash.

The use of innovative roof flaps ensures the race car won't go airborne when they tumble and spin over the race track. Two roof flaps are utilized, and are let go, to minimize the lift, and to keep the car on the ground in the event of a crash.

The windshields of NASCAR race cars are made of polycarbonate material or Lexans. This has a soft characteristic which absorbs impact and prevents windshields from shattering. This type of material scratches easily however, which is why an adhesive film much harder than the Lexan material and as clear as glass is used before every race. This can be peeled-off after the race.

NASCAR race car fuel tanks are also designed with a steel outer layer, and a hard plastic inner layer. The inner layer is filled with foam to absorb an explosion if it should come to that. The fuel tank is held firmly by four braces, and it also has check valves that will cut off fuel supply if the engines should be separated from the car.

Certainly crashes during a NASCAR race can't be totally prevented or eliminated, but with ongoing safety innovations on thes race cars, the drivers are a lot safer.