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CNN Sunday Morning
NASCAR Season Opens
Aired February 10, 2002 - 10:19 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: OK Reporter's Notebook time, we've gotten some good e-mails. We hope to have a good slew of phone calls shortly as well. The green flag drops on the Daytona 500 next weekend, a week from today, at almost precisely, I think it's about 12:30 Eastern time. It is the first big race of the 2002 NASCAR Season. Let's check in with Marty Snider, who is pit reporter for our sister network TNT, who is at the speedway and before we get into the e-mails and the questions, Marty, first of all I want to remind folks that the number to call is 404-221-1855. Feel free to dial in now. Our able staff is there to handle your call. Marty, first of all, just bring us up to date. What's going on at the track today and tell us a little bit about the speed week in general.
MARTY SNIDER, TNT PIT REPORTER: Well things really got going, Miles, on Friday with practice for the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Then yesterday, Saturday, was qualifying for the Bud Pole for the Daytona 500. Now it's unusual here at Daytona qualifying normally at a racetrack. They lock in all the spots now throughout the field, but here at Daytona they only lock in the top two spots, and on the pole, the youngster Jimmie Johnson, he is a rookie. He's very talented. Jeff Gordon, the Winston Cup champion, owns that car, along with his car owner Rick Henrick (ph) -- they own it together, but Jimmie has a lot of talent and is on the pole for the Daytona 500.
Only the third rookie ever to do that and outside of him is Kevin Harbert (ph) (UNINTELLIGIBLE) decide the rest of the starting spots basically through some qualifying races on Thursday. They do have some other provisional spots to fill out the field, but their top two are the locked in -- only ones locked in on Saturday.
O'BRIEN: All right, we got a lot of questions. Let's get to them while we can. Let's go ...
SNIDER: All right.
O'BRIEN: ... to the e-mail box first, shall we? This one comes from Michael Stumpf in Richmond, Virginia. What really happened with Earnhardt's seatbelt and why don't they install impact-absorbing walls, at least on the turns?
SNIDER: Well Michael, I think the biggest problem with installing impact walls that are so-called soft walls is that the technology is not quite there. They have actually hindered accidents in test dummy accidents and sled tests they have done. They've been a hindrance, so they're still probably four or five years away. That is the wave of the future. What happened with Earnhardt's seatbelt, we'll never know.
I think that the way Earnhardt had seatbelt installed is perhaps the thing that caused the seatbelt to have the dumping, as they call it, or the separating, if you will, and the angle at which Earnhardt hit was a critical angle. That's a very high G-force when you hit the wall like that, especially at that angle and especially at that speed. So that's what happened with Earnhardt's seatbelt. As far as the soft walls, they're at least four or five years away.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's go back -- let's do a phone call, shall we? Chris is on the line from ...
SNIDER: Sure.
O'BRIEN: ... Memphis. Chris, go ahead.
CHRIS: Hey there. I just have a question for you about the black boxes they installed last year. Are they expanding that or what's the status of that this year?
SNIDER: Well the black boxes will actually start -- actually in the Bud shootout today. The Budweiser shootout will be the first race really of the season, even though it's an unofficial race. It's just a race for drivers who want a pole position in the 2001 season, and they are in every car this year, and they are being used, and they will be very helpful in determining what happens in an accident, how much force these cars hit with, where they can make more preventive measures in the future to save drivers from injury. They did it in the CART series in 1986, and they make great strides after that in helping in preventive measures in terms of figuring out what are the best things in the car to fix to maybe make an accident safer for a driver.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's go back to the e-mail box, shall we? This one comes from Bob in Baker-Casselton, North Dakota. What safety improvements has NASCAR made since the death of Dale Earnhardt? You've referred to a few of them. Are there any others?
SNIDER: Yes they've made several. They've made -- the biggest one perhaps is making a head and neck restraint device mandatory. There are two on the market right now. There's the Hans (ph) device, which is a bigger safety device, if you will. It goes over the driver's shoulder, and there's a Hutchins (ph) device, which is kind of straps, and they both work to keep the head close to the shoulders in the event of an accident.
The worst thing that can happen in an accident is when the head goes forward, and obviously that's the tendency. The head is a 13- pound bowling ball, if you will, and it's going to roll if you hit something. So the idea is to keep the head attached to the body in the event of an accident. The Hans and Hutchins devices both do that very efficiently and very well and NASCAR made that mandatory last year. That's perhaps the biggest step that they've taken and of course the black boxes we just talked about will help with future studies.
O'BRIEN: Some of us often feel like our heads are bowling balls. That is the case ...
SNIDER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: ... that's for sure Marty. But let's go to -- we've got a phone call. Who is it from again? Mike is in New Jersey. Mike, good morning to you.
(CROSSTALK)
MIKE: Yes hey Marty. I read in a local newspaper that NASCAR introduces a new aerodynamic package for Daytona. I'm just inquiring ...
SNIDER: Right.
MIKE: ... if that's true and what is it.
SNIDER: That is true, and last year what they did is they had an aero-dynamics package that had a strip over the top of the roof, and they had a lift on the rear spoiler. What that did is it knocked a really big hole in the air and that allowed for three-wide racing. It was very exciting racing, but the drivers didn't like it that much. And what they've done is they've taken that Winthrop Bill, as they call it, off the top of the roof, and they've taken the lift off of the spoiler and that's made for more two-wide racing. The racing is still great, passing is a little difficult here in Daytona, but yes they do have a new aero-dynamics package here for the Daytona 500.
O'BRIEN: All right, Marty, as I scroll to the appropriate e-mail here, this one comes from Tim in Chesapeake, Virginia. He asks this, when will NASCAR realize that it's not the cars but the tracks that need changes at Daytona and Talladega. Restrictor plate events -- I refuse to call them races -- are way too dangerous. You might want to explain what he means ...
SNIDER: Tim I ...
O'BRIEN: ... when he refers to a restrictor plate event by the way.
SNIDER: Well the restrictor plate racetracks are the tracks that are two and a half miles and Daytona and Talladega fit that mold. The speeds here are very fast. Restrictor plate racing is very dangerous, but Tim, I tell you what, I'll bring you with me to that meeting with Mr. France and we'll tell him he needs to change his racetracks. I don't think the racetracks are ever going to change. They were built for speed, but NASCAR needs to maintain that speed. And they're doing -- I think they're doing a very good job. It is a delicate balance of making the drivers happy, keeping the fans happy, keeping the racing exciting, and keeping the drivers safe, and I think NASCAR does a good job.
It is a ever-changing process, and that's just part of the system. You're going to find a balance -- someday they will find the correct balance and maybe someday we'll be happy with these rule changes, but I don't think the racetracks are ever going to change and yes, racing is dangerous and yes, restrictor plate racing is even more dangerous, but it's very, exciting for the race fan.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's go to -- out to San Diego where we have Keith on the line, is that right?
KEITH: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Good morning to you and welcome to the program. We appreciate you getting up early, you have a question.
KEITH: Yes, Marty, I was wondering if you think NASCAR will change the rules for the Fords prior to the race being as the event (UNINTELLIGIBLE) only qualified 13 yesterday.
SNIDER: That's a good point Keith. The best one was Dale Jarrett qualified 13th, but you're looking at one lap on the track versus 500 miles. Take the Bud shootout practice yesterday, of the top eight speeds, seven were Fords. I think the Fords will draft very well. I do think, however, we will see a rule change after the Budweiser shootout today before the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) 25 on Thursday giving everybody a bigger restrictor plate because the drivers are having a very difficult time passing. NASCAR will watch today's race very closely. If there is any difficulty in passing, I think they will go one plate size up, one restrictor plate size up to give these guys more horsepower and more ability to pass. So I do think we'll see a rule change, not Ford specific, but for everybody.
O'BRIEN: All right, Marty, what time is the race today?
SNIDER: Today 1:30 on TNT. Our coverage begins 2:00 as the green flag on the Budweiser shootout.
O'BRIEN: Marty, I got to ask you, how do you protect your hearing when you're covering (UNINTELLIGIBLE)? What do you do?
SNIDER: Well I have big headsets on, so I -- you know when we're on the race (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I have big headsets on. They have gel muffs. I can't hear anything but my producer yelling at me, and other people talking on the air. So -- but, I do have earplugs. I don't have them on right now, but around my credential insistent I wear my earplugs.
O'BRIEN: All right, I certainly can relate to that, only hearing the producer screaming at you. All right ...
SNIDER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: ... Marty Snider who is ...
SNIDER: There you go.
O'BRIEN: ... the pit reporter for TNT. Have fun during Speed Week. We appreciate you joining us today. Thanks for taking some questions.
And we'll take a break ...
SNIDER: Thanks Miles.
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