Jason Leffler Tragedy Likely to Bring Greater Scrutiny to Dirt Tracks

[Returning to Dirt]

On Wednesday night the racing world was saddened by the news that driver Jason Leffler had been killed in a tragic accident while racing in a winged sprint car at the Bridgeport Speedway in New Jersey. According to reports, the 37-year-old was competing in a heat race when his car hit the outside wall and flipped multiple times before coming to rest on the high-banked dirt track’s front straightaway.

http://tennesseeracer.com/?p=4721

[jog49]

Greater scrutiny.......why? If you run into anything solid at 100 mph, there's going to be problems; the severity of which is variable.

[TS FAN]

Not likely. Unfortunately deaths in racing have been going on since it started. There is far less of them than there used to be. There is nothing to scrutinize unless you are talking about banning dirt tracks.

[birkysfan]

Safer barriers are really not practical at the normal local dirt track. Most tracks can't afford the equipment it takes to keep a track up today. Maybe Eldora,Knoxville and Charlotte could cover the cost to install safer barriers but that's about all. From what I have read about Bridgeport Speedway it is a fast 5/8ths mile track with high speeds. Maybe reducing the size of the track maybe a better solution.... They have a quarter mile track inside the 5/8's there. Look at Terre Haute a big 1/2 mile that is almost a 5/8th that is where Shane Meil got hurt in a sprint car.

After talking to a friend of mine that races a sprint car that knew Jason he says the frt axle broke and the car turned straight into to wall but what the real problem was he says that he was told the seat came loose and his helmet hit the roll cage.

if the seat came loose that is probably the real cause. From the pictures I saw of the car after the wreck the car wasn't severely damaged and the seat does look out of place..

Safer barrier would be great but not practical.... Making the size of the track smaller for certain high speed divisions would be a immediate solution.

I cringe every year when ump mods run the miles here in IL... Their laps times are a couple seconds faster than the ARCA cars and weight 1000 lbs less... No reason to run those cars on that big of track..

[th3Swami]

in todays world, society needs an excuse to exercise their want of control over other people and this is one of those opportunities. theres already talk about sprint cars suddenly being too fast, cars and tracks being unsafe...

[Clayton_Wetter]

in todays world, society needs an excuse to exercise their want of control over other people and this is one of those opportunities. theres already talk about sprint cars suddenly being too fast, cars and tracks being unsafe...

Only to a brainwashed society that listens to Progressives in government and it's news media tools on TV. Listen to and beleive these people and this country will finally cease to exist as we know it.

[th3Swami]

you sound as if you think they are the minority lol

[Returning to Dirt]

When I say there will be more scrutiny, I don't mean it will come from within. Because of the notoriety of the person involved, ESPN and Fox, among others, will jump on the bandwagon and act as if they are doing everyone a favor.

Believe it or not, there are many people out there who actually believe Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds and the other talking heads actually are knowledgeable. When those guys start talking, things like SAFER Walls on dirt tracks will become an issue.

[Returning to Dirt]

BTW, Mark Richards added an interesting comment to the column linked above. You might want to check it out.

[Barbecueboy]

We all stand a worse chance of getting killed on the way to the track than we do at or on the track....
As sad as it is ,it's the risk that most racers take every time they strap in.

If it gets one more racer to check there restraining belts, tighten and check a bolt on there seat or do something a little more safely to there car then his death will not be in vane.......
I'm glad that everyone is talking about safety, it can't be talked about enough at the track or in the shop.

[t3r3e3]

Only to a brainwashed society that listens to Progressives in government and it's news media tools on TV. Listen to and beleive these people and this country will finally cease to exist as we know it.

Really man? We're talking about the fallout of a death at a Sprint Car race and you bring in your lame liberal media rant. Take off the aluminum foil hat compadre. This isn't the politics section. And last time I checked the major media corporations are all controlled by billionaire conglomerates run by and for the other side of the political spectrum. Can the stupid political rant.

Racing is dangerous. Always has been. Always will be. Equipment gets better, but it'll never be perfectly safe. Deaths in racing are tragic, and have major consequences to families, friends, tracks, etc... Hopefully the seat issue can be fixed or improved so that no one experiences a failure similar to Lefturn's.