Bristol Motor Speedway
Notebook: Series add incentives to wear HANS
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt.com chief writer
Ray Cook
Like most Dirt Late Model racers, Ray Cook figured head-and-neck restraints like the HANS device were strictly for NASCAR drivers flying around superspeedways at nearly 200 mph. Cook owned a HANS device he'd worn while dabbling with asphalt racing through his association with former Winston Cup champion Bill Elliott, but it gathered dust when he went dirt racing.
Cook shook the dust off that protective gear not long after he watched driver Derrick Rainey airlifted out of North Georgia Speedway following a serious accident a few years back.
"It's one thing to not have one and not wear it," Cook said, "but I had one and wasn't wearing it. That made me dumber than everybody else."
At a time when safety issues are at the forefront with rollover accidents at February's Florida Speedweeks by Hall of Famer Scott Bloomquist and three-time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion Earl Pearson Jr., Cook is a proponent of the HANS device and other safety improvements. He's also in a situation to make a difference as the promoter of the 4-year-old O'Reilly Southern Nationals Series, a 10-race minitour scheduled for July 14-26 through five states.
Last season, Cook implemented rules to encourage drivers to wear a HANS device and add a functional on-board fire extinguisher. The safety measures weren't mandatory, but drivers got a 30-pound weight break for the HANS device and a 20-pound break for the fire extinguisher.
"As weight-conscientious as all the drivers are," Cook said, he added the rules "to give them incentive to protect themselves."
A handful of Southern Nationals regulars took advantage of Cook's rules, and he hopes even more do so in 2008. Cook noted the Advance Auto Parts Thunder Series added a similar rule for 2008, and he hopes more series follow.
AAPTS founder Brad Byrd said the rule was implemented following last year's violent rollover by Mark Douglas at Mountain Raceway Park in Maryville, Tenn. Douglas suffered a concussion and began wearing a HANS device thereafter.
Besides offering a 25-pound weight break for drivers wearing a HANS device, the series added a chance at a $1,000 bonus for HANS-wearing drivers. FSR (For the Serious Racer) of Sevierville, Tenn., is sponsoring the Head and Neck Restraint award at each event offering a discount toward the purchase of a HANS device. At the conclusion of the season, FSR will pay $1,000 to the highest-finishing driver in series points who has run a minimum of 15 series events wearing an FSR-purchased HANS unit.
Cook hopes to see more series implement incentives for drivers to improve safety. While dirt racing has made strides in making the sport safer in recent years, "there's a lot more to be done," he said.
REBEL CHALLENGE REVISES OPENER: The seventh annual Brown Engineering Rebel Challenge at Columbus (Miss.) Speedway will see a format change for the March 7-8 event. To allow more drivers to race in an opening night feature, the Friday night event will be made up of twin $1,500-to-win events. Entries will be divided into two groups via pill draw with each group qualifying, running consolation races and then competing in 25-lap features for 26 cars apiece. Saturday's program will revert to a standard single-feature format paying $7,000 to the 50-lap winner. — Ben Shelton
CLASH CHANGES RACE FORMAT: The 9-year-old Carolina Clash Super Late Model Series has beefed up its race format to add more racing laps for fans. The series, which previously locked cars into the feature lineup through time trials and added others through consolation races, will add a pair of dashes for the top 12 drivers in time trials. Two six-lap dashes (one for odd-numbered qualifiers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11, the other for even-numbered qualifiers). The dash finishes will determine how the first six rows line up. Consolation races will set positions 13-22 and two provisional starters will complete the 24-car field. In another rule change, the series has outlawed radio communication between drivers and crew members. The series also announced that Terry Harris will serve as technical director and Steve Fish will serve as pit steward. — From series reports
