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Live From...
NASCAR in Atlanta
Aired October 24, 2003 - 13:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, ANCHOR: Stock car racing has become one of the most popular spectator sports in the world. In fact, NASCAR racing has become the second most matched sport in America, ahead of both baseball and basketball. Only football is more popular. Time now to go back out to Atlanta Motor Speedway, where Kyra Phillips is standing by.
Hey, Kyra.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Heidi.
You know, you and I thought we were on deadlines -- when these guys strap into their cars and then, God forbid, something happen to them and they have to get out, they pretty much have about 30 seconds to get out of safety devices and out of their cars. So we're going to kind of demonstrate what they have to go through as we talk about safety this week and safety before the rates.
We got Robby Gordon all strapped in here. He's going to kind of give us the run-through of all the safety devices.
Now, Robby, we thank you for being in here, ready to go. Why don't you demonstrate for us everything you've got to do as you get into the car, thinking about safety first?
ROBBY GORDON, WINSTON CUP DRIVER: OK. Well, NASCAR's done a good job lately. They've come up with a new device called a Hans Device. It clips on to my helmet right here. It hooks into this strap right here. It's build for frontal impact.
Also, we've now got these things over here on the sides of the seats to support the head from falling -- coming to the left or coming the right if we have damage. The steering we'll, between here and here, the steering wheel will not let my head come between here, so it stops right here since I have seat belts on. This keeps me in this little box. And they've found out with a lot of crash testing lately that this is better if you keep the head and body pretty much parallel in line.
As far as safety things, we have headrests pop off. They have the same foam inside the headrests that we have inside the helmets. That's one thing we take off. Steering wheel comes off for easy access. Seat belts pop off here...
COLLINS: Show me how quickly you got to get out of here.
GORDON: And you can be out of the car. So it's probably just 15, 20 seconds. We've got fireproof uniforms made by Sparko that keep us safe under fire and stuff like that. Obviously, if you put something on enough, you know where all the pieces are. I do not have to take my helmet off or my harness device off to get out of the car. I just did that for convenience today.
COLLINS: In your career, how many times have you had to get out of that car in less than 30 seconds?
GORDON: In my Winston Cup car, never. Only one time at the Indianapolis 500 I caught on fire, at speed, and that was the only time I really had to get out of the car in a quick hurry.
COLLINS: Robby, you know how much talk there's been about, do we have Hans Device? Do we not have Hans Device? How difficult is it dealing with that, when you're having to get in and out?
GORDON: I think the Hans Device is a very good thing, especially from what we've learned, unfortunately, after the Earnhardt incident. They've done a lot of testing. I think it should be mandatory in Winston Cup. Some guys use a little bit different device from that. But I think the Hans Device is probably the best one. I think all of the safety companies from Simpson, to Sparko to Impact, everybody's working together, trying to make it safest for the drivers. And when it's safest for the driver, they're going to put on better races for the fans , because they're going to feel more comfortable and be more competitive.
COLLINS: Robby Gordon, a young man who had dreams of doing this for a long time. Appreciate it. Thank you so much. Good luck this weekend.
All right.
Coming up in the next hour, we'll be talking with Jeff Gordon, also, Elliott Sadler. Heidi, as we told you, we had a chance to jump into one of these cars and see what it is like for real, just the feeling, and to understand why it is so important to think about safety first.
COLLINS: All right, Kyra, just amazing technological advances they have made, that is for sure. And we are looking forward to seeing you behind the wheel, I think.
All right, Kyra Phillips, thanks so much. We'll check in a little bit later on.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 24, 2003 - 13:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, ANCHOR: Stock car racing has become one of the most popular spectator sports in the world. In fact, NASCAR racing has become the second most matched sport in America, ahead of both baseball and basketball. Only football is more popular. Time now to go back out to Atlanta Motor Speedway, where Kyra Phillips is standing by.
Hey, Kyra.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Heidi.
You know, you and I thought we were on deadlines -- when these guys strap into their cars and then, God forbid, something happen to them and they have to get out, they pretty much have about 30 seconds to get out of safety devices and out of their cars. So we're going to kind of demonstrate what they have to go through as we talk about safety this week and safety before the rates.
We got Robby Gordon all strapped in here. He's going to kind of give us the run-through of all the safety devices.
Now, Robby, we thank you for being in here, ready to go. Why don't you demonstrate for us everything you've got to do as you get into the car, thinking about safety first?
ROBBY GORDON, WINSTON CUP DRIVER: OK. Well, NASCAR's done a good job lately. They've come up with a new device called a Hans Device. It clips on to my helmet right here. It hooks into this strap right here. It's build for frontal impact.
Also, we've now got these things over here on the sides of the seats to support the head from falling -- coming to the left or coming the right if we have damage. The steering we'll, between here and here, the steering wheel will not let my head come between here, so it stops right here since I have seat belts on. This keeps me in this little box. And they've found out with a lot of crash testing lately that this is better if you keep the head and body pretty much parallel in line.
As far as safety things, we have headrests pop off. They have the same foam inside the headrests that we have inside the helmets. That's one thing we take off. Steering wheel comes off for easy access. Seat belts pop off here...
COLLINS: Show me how quickly you got to get out of here.
GORDON: And you can be out of the car. So it's probably just 15, 20 seconds. We've got fireproof uniforms made by Sparko that keep us safe under fire and stuff like that. Obviously, if you put something on enough, you know where all the pieces are. I do not have to take my helmet off or my harness device off to get out of the car. I just did that for convenience today.
COLLINS: In your career, how many times have you had to get out of that car in less than 30 seconds?
GORDON: In my Winston Cup car, never. Only one time at the Indianapolis 500 I caught on fire, at speed, and that was the only time I really had to get out of the car in a quick hurry.
COLLINS: Robby, you know how much talk there's been about, do we have Hans Device? Do we not have Hans Device? How difficult is it dealing with that, when you're having to get in and out?
GORDON: I think the Hans Device is a very good thing, especially from what we've learned, unfortunately, after the Earnhardt incident. They've done a lot of testing. I think it should be mandatory in Winston Cup. Some guys use a little bit different device from that. But I think the Hans Device is probably the best one. I think all of the safety companies from Simpson, to Sparko to Impact, everybody's working together, trying to make it safest for the drivers. And when it's safest for the driver, they're going to put on better races for the fans , because they're going to feel more comfortable and be more competitive.
COLLINS: Robby Gordon, a young man who had dreams of doing this for a long time. Appreciate it. Thank you so much. Good luck this weekend.
All right.
Coming up in the next hour, we'll be talking with Jeff Gordon, also, Elliott Sadler. Heidi, as we told you, we had a chance to jump into one of these cars and see what it is like for real, just the feeling, and to understand why it is so important to think about safety first.
COLLINS: All right, Kyra, just amazing technological advances they have made, that is for sure. And we are looking forward to seeing you behind the wheel, I think.
All right, Kyra Phillips, thanks so much. We'll check in a little bit later on.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
