Where does NASCAR go from here on everything — restrictor plates, rules, spectator safety, etc.?
GM: There’s been a lot of calls this week for various changes to both the race track and the race cars. To me, though, I think its solved a whole lot easier without even changing the on-track show, but also realizing that the safety of your paying audience should be goal No. 1. Let’s mandate the catchfences at each of NASCAR’s tracks be to a conforming height (I like the 20+ feet tall and a 6+ feet overhang version at Lowe’s Motor Speedway) near spectator areas and reinforce the heck out of them so they aren’t just a guess if they’ll hold an airborne car inside. Next, print up some huge tarps with paying sponsors on them and covering any seats within 20 yards of the fence and keep fans farther away from the danger. A variance in yellow-line rules on the front stetch during the last lap at Daytona and Talladega wouldn’t hurt either. HC: NASCAR is not one to react for the sake of reacting. Even in light of Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s fatal accident in the 2001 Daytona 500, it took days, weeks a
