Word: daytona
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...told the New York Times, "This is one of the saddest days I've ever experienced in the sport." This is a man who knows sadness on the race track: Petty's son Adam was killed during a 2000 NASCAR practice run. (See pictures of 50 years of the Daytona...
...Edwards case crystallizes the harsh dilemma facing NASCAR. After the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr. during the 2001 Daytona 500, NASCAR officials put a premium on safety. Energy-absorbing walls were installed on the tracks, and new head-and-neck restraints were introduced for the drivers. A new car design, the so-called Car of Tomorrow, offered more protection. Some of the longer tracks mandated the use of restrictor plates, which place speed limits on cars...
...Even worse, as races became more staid, ratings declined and attendance dipped - and not all of it can be attributed to the recession. In 2009 attendance fell about 10%; this year's Feb. 14 Fox broadcast of the Daytona 500 was the lowest-rated Great American Race since 1991. "You can't watch these races without seeing swaths of empty seats in the superspeedways," says David Carter, executive director of the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California. (See the photo-essay "A Steam-Powered Car Sets a Land Speed Record...
...problem is NASCAR's policing, claim some racing insiders. "They were micromanaging the sport to death," says Fox NASCAR analyst and 1989 Daytona 500 champ Darrell Waltrip. "We weren't at a crossroads - we were on the wrong road. We went from race cars to safe cars, and it was turning people off." NASCAR admitted as much, and in January the circuit announced that it was loosening its grip. "Boys, have at it," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition...
...photos from 50 years of the Daytona...