Cavanah 1
Cavanah 2
Cavanah 3
Safety Gear in Sports
Are race car drivers athletes? There are many types of competitive games in the world. From the sports that are played on national television, to the ones played in an Olympic typesetting, they all include some type of competition. Often times these sports are not considered to take athletic skills. Recent comments made by Donavan McNabb have brought up the controversy of whether or not race car drivers require athleticism. The great writer Ernest Hemingway had quite a different thought to the sport. He is quoted saying “there are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering: all the rest are merely games.” But, this quote was taken during a time when car racing was very dangerous. Death at the time was accepted as part of the sport. Where does that put race car drivers in modern times? Over the last 20 years safety has been a major focus in the sport. While there are still dangers involved serious injuries are far less common. This has probably led to the perception that anyone can do this. The people around the sport know that auto racing takes a skill set unlike any other. It takes years of practice and real time experience to get close to perfecting the sport. Furthermore, today’s drivers train to get their body in shape for all the elements that are thrown their way on race days. Car racing is very unique and is difficult to compare with other forms of sports. The differences are immense.
One of the first differences that come to mind is the G-forces a driver is faced with during an event. During an IndyCar event 4 plus g-forces are experienced in every corner. This has been compared to holding up a 25 pound plate for hours or the duration of the event. Wrecks have been calculated to approach 100 times the gravitational force. This type of punishment can only be found in auto racing. Race car drivers must also contend with high temperatures. In Nascar the vehicles are closed cockpit stock cars. On hot days the inside temperature of the car often times reaches over 100 degrees. Hot enough to fry an egg on the floor panel. This is also dealt with in fire suits which are not the coolest piece of clothing. One of the major differences between auto racing and other sports is the rate in which they work at 100% efficiency. The average football game is played in 15 min quarters. These games last a couple of hours on average. During that time span it is predicted that a starting player works at 100% efficiency 11 min. Depending on the length of a car race a driver works at 100% efficiency for hours. Considering that it takes a lot of bravery, toughness, and skill sets it looks to be clear that race car drivers are athletes. It isn’t a sport for everybody. However, it is one of the toughest most grueling and demanding competitive sporting know on this planet.
The safety gear in sports often show the essential protection that is required for the activity being preformed. In the case of a race car driver, head and neck protection are the most important. Major racing series require drivers to wear the HANS head and neck restraint device. This connects to a drivers high impact helmet. The device prevents movement of the neck during a crash. Due to the chance of fire, head to toe fire resistant clothing is the norm. Everything from the suit, to the shoes protect drivers from flames. Even the clothing worn under the suit is customized for fire protection.
High Impact Helmet Hans Neck Device
Fire Resistant Suit Nomex Gloves
Flame resistant Shoes
Football players also have equipment that helps avoid a player getting hurt.The picture to the left illistrates sholder pads and head protection. Football players suffer from some of the same conditions race car drivers face. The important part is to prevent head and neck contact.. In both cases there are specific things required to preform a sport. Some require fire prevention measures while othere prevent heavy head to head contact.
Cavanah 4
Athletes come from all types of sports. Race car drivers are tuned in to preform activities others cannot. They work at it for years just like in football and other stick and ball sports. In this case they do something that others do on a daily basis. However, to do it competitivly is different. It takes a set of skills that many do not have.