How NASCAR Picks Others' Brains to Make Sport Safer

• NASCAR safety official and 1994 Xfinity Series champion David Green is a firm believer that different racing series can benefit from working together to make racing safer.

• Green spent his off-weekend at the Circle K NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina, visiting with friends and looking at driver compartments in the various cars.

• During that visit, Green constantly asked himself if there was anything he saw that he could implement at the next NASCAR race.

Decades of NASCAR and NHRA racing have provided NASCAR safety official David Green with the belief auto racing could benefit from the various sanctioning bodies working together to continuously advance driver safety.

“After each event it would be so nice to be able to be on a Tuesday call with NHRA, NASCAR, John Patalak (NASCAR’S managing director of safety engineering and FIA group member), and Matt Harper (NASCAR’s safety systems director),” said Green, who competed in his last NASCAR race in 2013. “It shouldn’t take a fatality or a serious injury to kind of prompt that. I think all of the racing series all across the country have challenges.”

NASCAR’s 1994 Busch Series (now Xfinity) champion, Green spent his off-weekend at the Circle K NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina, visiting with friends and looking at driver compartments in the various cars. He constantly asked himself if there was anything he saw that he could implement at the next NASCAR race.

Last year Green reviewed with NHRA safety officials the items NASCAR was working on regarding driver headrest foam and seat belts.

Prior to the 2023 NASCAR season, John Probst, NASCAR’s senior vice president innovation and racing development, managed a program in which NASCAR conducted in-depth individual safety reviews with drivers at their race shops. Previously, thorough safety inspections of the race cars and driver’s equipment were done at the track.

In addition to Green, Patalak and Harper were available for the shop visits. Thirty-six drivers participated in the voluntary program. Green allotted approximately two hours for each driver and was surprised at the competitors who wanted to extend their time.

“Kevin (Harvick) has always been buttoned up, safety conscious,” Green said. “I thought I would be there about 30 minutes. Three to three-and-a-half hours later I left.”

Green said they made “several small changes” based on their conversation and he used them when he visited with other drivers.

During the meetings, Green had access to data collected by NASCAR, but he said none of the drivers requested he show it to them. He also noted that drivers who have worked on their race cars accepted the information NASCAR provided quicker than those competitors who had never turned a wrench. In those cases, Green talked with the crew chief or the team’s interior specialist. He asked those crew members to explain the actions taken to the driver.

Ultimately, under NASCAR rules, it’s the driver’s responsibility, not the sanctioning body’s to “ensure that he/she maintains, wears, and properly uses protective clothing and equipment during Competition in accordance with Section 14.3.1.1 Driver Protective Clothing/Equipment.”