Motorsport on Demand

Details from TMMC 2011 Round of Daytona crash investigation leaked (current TMMC 2019 timeline)
In an anonymous post on popular messaging board stockcarinsiders.com, a 17-page document detailing an independent investigation by local Daytona Beach authorities into the crashes in the TM Master Cup Series' 2011 Round of Daytona was posted. The post has been subsequently removed; however, like on the racetrack, things happen fast on the internet and the document has been spread.

The document is prefaced with the statement "due to the violent nature of several wrecks in stock car racing at Daytona International Speedway since 2000, the value of hosting stock car racing events for the Daytona Beach community, growing opposition to the TM Master Cup Series racing at Daytona, and the inherent common interest of safety for drivers, crews, spectators, and all others involved in stock car racing, this objective-less and not-for-profit investigation aims to increase understanding of the current situation of stock car racing at Daytona International Speedway and options moving forward." The report was completed approximately two months after the 2011 Round of Daytona and distributed privately to officials of various forms of stock car racing as well as officials at the Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. It is not clear if these documents were ever meant to be released publicly.

A lot of the findings in the report were to be expected... "The racing speed of over 200 MPH and in some cases over 220 MPH comes with dangerous risk including serious injury and/or death regardless of the safety measures taken by teams, drivers, track officials, and sanctioning bodies," "with the increasing structural integrity of the cockpit and driver restraint harnesses, the risk of internal injuries becomes higher," and finally "the unexpected cannot be accounted for."

One particularly interesting finding: the roof flaps on the car driven by Woody Watts in the TMMC 2011 Round of Daytona failed to deploy. Looking back, this can be seen clearly in the footage of the wreck. Further examination of the car after the wreck revealed that Watts' driver's seat was nearly entirely dislodged within the cabin. The report also comes to the defense of Leslie Riggs, stating "with how mangled and misshapen Watts' car was after the extreme flipping spree, there was realistically no reliable way to estimate where the car would roll to next."

Back in 2011 during his coverage of the race, Dan Mullen commented that TM Master Cup Series cars handle front impacts well. The findings of this investigation found those claims to be true and went as far as praising the regulations mandated by TM officials because of the performance in handling not only heavy front impact to the front bumper, but also heavy front impact to the windshield and roof. Nonetheless, due to the high-speed collision, Leslie Riggs sustained very serious injuries. For both drivers, the outcome could have been far worse. Both were knocked unconscious and had to be cut from their cars and airlifted from the track to a local hospital. The injuries to both drivers were detailed in the investigation: Riggs suffered a traumatic brain injury and various upper body injuries. Watts also suffered a traumatic brain injury as well as various lower body injuries, including a double fracture of the right femur, pelvic fracture, and traumatic lower abdominal injuries. Watts' lower abdominal injuries were reportedly caused by the broken bones of his pelvis/hips cutting through organs such as his small and large intestine. This led to further complications such as internal bleeding and sepsis.

The investigation offered several options for proceeding with stock car superspeedway racing. To increase spectator safety, fans could be moving further away from the racing surface, wall, and catchfence - although the report does state this would likely be a very unpopular move amongst fans. As for changes to the cars themselves, a variety of options for use at high-banked superspeedways were noted: reinstating restrictor plates, introducing mandatory drag devices, and/or requiring the use of low-pressure fuel pumps/smaller carburetors to reduce top speed. Another option is deciding that stock car superspeedway racing isn't worth the risks it presents and ultimately that was the decision reached by TM officials. It is hard to find fault with their decision considering the loss of Steve Marshall at Talladega in 2007; and other non-superspeedway deaths like David Durbin, Benny Dwyer, and Jonathan Smith, Jr., all since 2000.

RROL quietly removed tapered spacers from NOMAD specifications
As the 2020 NOMAD season draws to a close, there was a quiet change that took place after the Live Free or Die 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the series' marquee event. RROL officials sent a memo directly to participants prior to the Lime Rock 65.

The memo detailed a change in technical regulations in which teams are no longer required to outfit their engines with tapered spacer restrictor plates. This move was not publicized. According to those involved, the memo from the sanctioning body declared that the first 7 races of the season was enough of a sample size to decide to move forward without tapered spacers.

One could infer that RROL officials have come to the conclusion that their on-track product is not better with the tapered spacers involved.

When it was first announced, the RROL made points about how using tapered spacers at all races would provide the competitors with consistent technical regulations for all events in the series. This would, in theory, make things simpler for teams financially and otherwise. However, at this point in time, the thinking about this topic is clearly different.

It is unclear at this time what regulations will be used at New Hampshire Motor Speedway going forward, where traditionally restrictor plates are mandated for modifieds.