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sad article to say the least, and also not very well researched -- main points taken away by a novice racing fan (or non-race fan as SI is pretty much stick/ball fanbase buying it) is that our tracks are unsafe because they don't have SAFER Barriers and drivers aren't required to wear a HANS device (even though short track racing wrecks on dirt are WAYYY different types of crashes than what those safety improvements were designed for (pavement).
None of the things they mentioned safetywise would have saved any of the drivers mentioned (a HANS device wouldn't have saved Josh Burton from the rollcage impact they described). If they could have I'm sure that there would be a push from within the sport to mandate them. Not sure if he had a containment seat or not, but doubtful it would have done him much good in the accident they described either.
Can safety be improved? Yes, there is always room for improvement. I just wish the writer would have talked to those that race sprints, modifieds, legends cars, etc. Seems like the information about safety was gotten from NASCAR or pulled from other articles over the past year running down any racing that isn't NASCAR.
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