WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT

A wise person once said, "Safety never takes a holiday." In addition, from this perspective the NHRA and IHRA needs to be proactive not reactive.

The FAA requires that airline pilots must retire from active flight status at the age of sixty. The FAA also requires commercial pilots to have a class one flight physical every 12 months (under the age of 40), and every six months (over the age of 40). This includes an Electrocardiogram, better known as an ECG or EKG.

The NHRA in the Big Show has a 66-year-old funny car champion and 80-plus year olds driving in Top Fuel and Pro Mod, not to mention how many competitors over the age of sixty driving cars both in the big show and in nostalgia racing.

From this perspective, it is just asking for trouble if these drivers not medically cleared at the most stringent of levels. The NHRA does require all drivers over 55 to have ECG or EKG's as a part of their physicals. Once again, it is every two years for all drivers except those in the Big Show Top Fuel and Funny Car classes when it is every year.

Currently, according to the NHRA Heritage Series Rule Book, in regards to nostalgia top fuel and funny car drivers "All license applicants are required to have a physical examination before making any test runs. (Physical expires every two years. License expires with physical.)"

The problem is that as a person becomes older issues do not take two years to affect someone. It can be a matter of weeks or months.

The IHRA rulebook is slightly more ambiguous. The only line in the rulebook when it comes to a driver's physical requirement is that "current physical records are required for all professional drivers, TS (Top Sportsman) and TD (Top Dragster) drivers. Forms must be filed with IHRA Technical Department prior to competition."

So what is the definition of current?

Additionally, there is no breakdown by age on the frequency of the physical examination required to hold an NHRA or IHRA license.

Once again, from a risk management perspective the NHRA and the IHRA are cryptically stating that a 25-year-old and a 55-year-old are in the same medical risk parameters. I feel that many health insurance companies would tend to disagree with that assessment.

Am I calling for a moratorium on drivers in motorsports, drag racing in particular over the age of 55? No, but what I am suggesting is that both the NHRA and IHRA have drivers over the age of 55 required to take those FAA Class One flight physicals every six months.

MITIGATION OF RISK

As stated, I am not looking to send those drivers who are over the AARP line out to pasture. No, not at all. I just want the sport to be safer for the drivers as well as the fans.

Can we take all risk out of motorsports? No, racing is an inherently dangerous pastime. Everybody associated with racing understands this from the drivers right down the line to the fans. However, is it not the responsibility of the sanctioning bodies and the racers to mitigate as much of the risk as possible?

The sport of drag racing in my opinion has used up a great deal of its luck when it comes to cars crashing and not getting into the grandstands. True, the probability of a drag car getting over the wall into the stands is not as prevalent as the circle track racers see, but all circle tracks have catch fences while drag strips, not so much.

I feel it is the responsibility of the NHRA and IHRA to take what happened to Roger Garten and learn from it. Go back and reevaluate the corporate policies and procedures in regards to how often drivers over a certain age are required to have medical examinations and establishing what those parameters are for passing the medical examination for drivers over a certain age.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

I understand that some of you readers might see this as some sort of draconian stance against "older" drivers. It is not. I am just saying that we should be taking all possible precautions to ensure the safety of the competitors and the fans.

Now, if the for some reason a driver is disqualified due to medical reasons, the detection of this medical problem might just help save that driver's life in the long run. Moreover, the unintended consequences are that it might open up that seat for a newer, younger driver to get into the sport. This will help grow the sport and the older former driver then is utilized to help mentor the new driver.

CONCLUSION

When we lose someone the caliber of a Roger Garten, whether it is in the seat of a racecar, a passenger car, or in his own home, it is a devastating loss to not only his family, but the racing community as well. Roger was class, and honesty and professionalism personified.

The NHRA and IHRA require that nostalgia top fuel and funny cars must have the same safety systems as the Big Show cars, i.e. carbon fiber brakes, fire suppression systems, drivers uniforms, roll cage padding those standards are identical.

However, the driver's physical requirements are vastly different and less stringent for the Heritage series than the Big Show drivers. The Heritage series has a large population of mature drivers who are not required to adhere to a more stringent physical fitness requirement.

Is this sending a conflicting message? Are the sanctioning bodies more concerned with the machine than the driver?

I feel let's learn from what happened to Roger and work towards attempting to make the sport better as a whole. Making it safer for the racers and the fans should be the primary focus of those who oversee the sport of drag racing.