Technology has progressed to the max when it comes to safety and design of a stock car. First race was June 19,1949 at the Charlotte speedway in SC won by Jim Roper, Last Sunday Jamie McMurray was the winner of the 2013 Daytona 500.
From 1949 a lot has changed in the world of racing. More than anything Dale Earnhardt's crash in 2001 this event changed NASCAR and how it viewed safety. It revealed the flaws in the design of the car and exposed the weak points that could be strengthened to make the car much more secure.
The driver as moved toward the center of the ca a little bit so they could install a layer of high energy absorbing foam. The greenhouse area (the bottom side windows to the roof) was expanded creating more head room for the driver. The chassis designed with crush zones. the drive shaft was placed inside to protect the sleeve to keep it with the car should the the shaft mount fail. The conventional nose was traded for a splitter,designed to utilize air from underneath the car to provide more front down force and to eliminate the aeropush. A wing with two side plats were added. The wing was installed to replace the standard spoiler to get air under the wing to the trailing cars nose when angled right it will inter fear with the trailing cars downward force by sending more air under the car lifting the car and creating drag. The HANS device was brought to NASCAR with the 2001 Dale Earnhardt crash. NASCAR mandated the use of some kind of neck and head restraint by all drivers.
In 2001 DE crash took place last lap turn 4 Sterling Marlin clipped the rear of Earnhardt's car. Earnhardt's car slid off track resulting in Ken Schrader ramming in to the passenger door on Earnhardt's car causing the car to snap sending him nose first in to the wall and 155mph then both card slid down the track in to the infield. Earnhardt died from a Basilar Skull Fracture.
If the technology we have today was the same in 2001 i believe that his life would have been saved by the advancements in the safety of NASCAR. But seeing ho far this sport has developed from when it was first founder by Bill France in 1948 to the not current president of NASCAR Michael Helton the changes are major but life saving but we will still be making many advancements in the years to come to make them safer and then the best part FASTER!!!
"The winner ain't the one with the fastest car, it's the one who refuses to lose"-Dale Earnhardt
