Racers react to Saturday crash at Daytona

GREENVILLE - Daytona race officials say they are reviewing video of Saturday's crash that injured about 30 people. It happened during the final lap of the Nationwide Series opener. Car parts – including a tire – flew into the stands.

And some local racers say this incident might be the push to make watching races, safer.

"It was a very freak thing that happened with the tire coming over the fence," said Lowell Bennett, a stock car driver. "Probably, statistically-wise, a person is probably in more danger driving to that race track, than they are sitting in the stands watching."

Bennett's been racing for the better part of 37 years – even trying his hand at the NASCAR Busch series in 2002.

He says Saturday's crash at Daytona might be the push to better protect spectators – just as NASCAR has worked to better protect drivers.

"We’re constantly trying to improve and build a safer race car, from all specs – of crashing, of fire,” said Bennett. “The safety part of it, we have to be there to have more fun again the next week."

Bennett – whose home track is Wisconsin International Raceway in Buchanan, near Kaukauna – should know.

"I took one head-on at Kaukauna,” said Bennett of the 1989 crash. “We jumped over a car before we hit the wall. We didn't have a neck restraint. I turned the steering wheel inside-out with my chest. Put my hands through the gauges."

He says safety advancements – for both the spectators and drivers – can often come as relatively cheap solutions. NASCAR already requires suspensions to be tethered to the car, in an effort to try to keep debris from becoming 200-plus mile-per-hour projectiles.

Others can take more work, like the re-designing of a roll cage for a new race care he’s working on.

"What we have done with this car was move the roll cage in 2 inches. So if you do that, the tires hit first to absorb some of the (impact)."

Bennett says sometimes, as much as you plan for the worst, the worst can still happen – as it did at Daytona Saturday night.

That being said, Bennett says as incidents – like the death of Dale Earnhardt led to the use of neck restraints – it wouldn't be surprising for not only Daytona, but other tracks to take a look at ways to better protect spectators in the stands.

Daytona has plans to remodel the grandstands. Track officials said Saturday's wreck could result in stronger fences or moving stands farther from the track.

Fans feeling unsafe were able to change seats for NASCAR's biggest race Sunday.