Here is his complete response:
“I think that
the changes that were made in the last 10 to 15 years to help safety have been
great. We put barriers where we felt like were common places the cars hit. But
as we found out over the last couple of years, specifically, we’ll find all the
empty spots where there aren’t any barriers. And I think that NASCAR is taking
some steps to make it right. The tracks are taking some steps to move it along.
You never can be safe enough. You never can do enough to be safe and keep the
competitors safe and keep the fans safe. You never can do enough. So you
shouldn’t ever stop trying. But unfortunately, it takes an accident like that to
wake everybody up and make things happen. I know that NASCAR was very
disappointed that there wasn’t a SAFER barrier on the wall at Daytona and that
Kyle (Busch) was injured. And it’s real unfortunate to have to go through that
whole process to really fire this thing kind of back up and get people moving on
it," he said.
“But, at the
same time, I appreciate the things that they’re doing. And I know that the tire
stuff is temporary. The tires are better than the concrete wall, but at the same
time those tires can be a problem when you get into those. There’s no telling
what direction that car is going to go when it hits a tire barrier. It’s better
than the wall, for sure, but nothing’s better at this point than a SAFER
barrier. So I guess their intent, over time, is to get SAFER barriers where they
feel like they need it. And until then, we’ll have these tires in those areas.
I’m happy with the things the tracks are doing. You look back at the cockpit of
these cars when I first started driving them, and look at the advances we’ve
made inside the cars and outside the cars, and when I was racing in 1998 and ’99
and 2000; and when I was racing Late Models without headrests and neck
restraints, I never once was worried about anything ever happening to me. You
get complacent, I think.
“You look
back at how stripped down safety was inside the cars years ago, and we didn’t
worry about it then. And I think over time, you kind of get a little complacent.
You do a lot to get better and get safer and then maybe you get complacent and
you think you have enough. And there’s just never enough, you know? You just
always keep trying. It’s evident, unfortunately, when someone is injured. But
we’ve done a ton of stuff over the last several years that we need to be proud
of and thankful for and appreciative of. But it’s weird how just looking back
over time and I never got into a car worried about my safety. And we’ve come a
long, long way. We’ve got headrests wrapped around us, and harnesses and six,
seven, nine-point harnesses. We’ve got straps going everywhere. We can hardly be
comfortable in the cars with so many damn straps down there. But you’ve just got
to keep trying, I guess, is the message that we are all learning. We’ve got to
keep trying to improve all the time and never really let it plane out; and
always keep trying to improve.”
