Jimmie Johnson Reveals Harsh Truth About How the Death of Dale Earnhardt Changed NASCAR Drivers’ Mentality Around Safety

The crash that ended Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s life at the Daytona International Speedway in 2001 is perhaps the worst moment in the history of NASCAR. It shook the very foundation of stock car racing and brought forward a plethora of new rules and regulations regarding driver safety. The most crucial of these rules was the mandate of the HANS device.

The core purpose of this carbon fiber-reinforced piece of polymer is to stop the head from whipping in the event of a crash. The importance of the device is evident in the fact that no driver has died in any of NASCAR’s top three tiers since Earnhardt. This brings us to the question, what would have been today’s reality — in terms of safety — had the terrible accident not occurred?

The seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson discussed this on the Rubbin’ is Racing podcast recently. He mentioned how the HANS device had been available for drivers to use long before 2001. They just chose not to wear it since it was uncomfortable to use during a race. But Earnhardt’s death and those before him finally struck a nerve in 2001.

Johnson said, “Sadly, it would have been more time. Who knows what would have happened? I’m not trying to cast blame anywhere.

“I start with myself. I had a HANS device sitting in my transporter since 1998-99. I never wanted to wear it. It was clumsy. I didn’t have the seatbelt geometry correct.” It had been a while before Johnson realized that all it took for him to wear it comfortably was some slight modifications to his seat belt brackets.

According to Johnson, another reason the HANS device wasn’t mandated until then was the hesitation by the promotion to take liability. The moment it makes a safety feature mandatory, it becomes responsible for what happens after.

He continued, “In our sport — and racing in general — nobody wanted to be liable. When I first started racing in NASCAR, it was suggested to wear a helmet. It was suggested to wear a fire suit. Suggested to wear a seat belt.”

As incredible as it sounds, Johnson also highlighted how Dale Sr.’s death wasn’t an isolated tragedy. He said, “We had four other drivers die before Dale — Tony Roper, Adam Petty, Kenny Irwin and Blaise Alexander. All from the same style of crash and same injury.”

It took these deaths to finally move a hard stone. Today, it is quite scary to look back at the crashes that have happened over the past two decades and ponder what might have been their outcomes had it not been for the mandatory HANS device.