“Don’t Wanna Hear About Expense”- 1999 Cup Series Champ Demands Major Change From NASCAR After Ryan Blaney Exposes Safety Concerns

NASCAR has seen more than 25 fatalities in the past 70 years of its racing history, and the most recent was when Dale Earnhardt lost his life on the last lap of the Daytona 500 in 2001. Many drivers including, Dale Earnhardt Jr have been vocal about the complexities of the motorsport. After Dale retired from NASCAR in 2017, he revealed the detrimental effects of his crashes from 2001 on his health. The Hall of Famer mentioned how NASCAR as a sport could be exciting and dangerous at the same time. The safety concerns talks have always made headlines, and this time it appeared after what happened with #12 Ford driver, Ryan Blaney in Nashville.

The incident happened at Ally 400 when Blaney hit the inside wall of the track which was without a SAFER barrier. This happened on the 146th Lap after a bump from Kyle Busch resulted in an imbalance followed by a collision. Blaney, after the race, commented: ‘I’m sure they’ll put one on it after this. It sucks that things like that have to happen, someone hit a wall head-on like that and then you’re like, ‘Oh, we’ll put a SAFER barrier on it now.’

Ryan Blaney Talks About the Hardest Hit of His Life

Explaining the altercation with the #8 driver of RCR, Ryan Blaney said: “Hardest hit I’ve ever had in my life.” I don’t really know what happened. Someone checked up on the restart I guess and I got hit from behind. I just couldn’t get it straightened out. I thought I was going to come back around and I’d be okay but it just never got back right. I don’t know why there’s no SAFER barrier there, it’s pretty ridiculous, hardest hit I’ve ever had in my life so, happy to be alright.”

Dale Jarrett Gives His Take Post the Controversial Statement by NASCAR

The officials issued a statement after Sunday’s race in Nashville saying: “NASCAR safety engineers work closely with safety experts on the implementation of barriers around the track. As we do following every race weekend, we will evaluate all available data and make any necessary improvements.”

After the chaotic superspeedway in Nashville, a lot of veterans came out to speak about NASCAR’s safety policy. The 1999 Cup Series champion Dale Jarrett was seen expressing his concerns on the NBC podcast.

The veteran was asked, “If Ryan Blaney were to miss races, whatever it cost is worth the investment versus losing drivers from races.” 

To which he replied “I don’t wanna hear about the expense, I am sorry that should not be even a factor when we are talking about safety in this day and time especially when we with this car with concussions and drivers and I did realize that Kurt Busch did hit a safer barrier. But that shows how finicky these cars are and how touchy they are and what issue this is,” Jarrett exclaimed.

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The governing body’s constant efforts to make it safe for drivers are evident. Jarrett also asserted the fact, “I know everybody is working hard with these cars. But we need to make sure that everybody is doing their job and this is something that has to be addressed. And we know that we are going to a brand new place this weekend coming up in Chicago and there are different barriers.”

Read More: After Ryan Blaney’s Nasty Impact Triggered Oversight Debate, NASCAR Senior VP Claims “Something Should Have Been Done There”