People often ask me, "How could you get back in a race car after a wreck like that?" usually referring to my tumble at Talladega in 1996.
The only explanation I can give them is to try and describe how a driver thinks. Oh boy!
On race day, drivers don't wake up in the morning thinking about the possibility of being in a big wreck. Instead, they're focused on the last few laps of practice the day before the race, the info they can give the crew chief before the car rolls to the starting line and preparing for that day's race and the idea of winning.
You see, drivers are all about finding speed. That is where their total concentration is. They understand and accept that wrecking is a part of their job. But their minds are occupied with finding a way to be better than the driver next to them. A lot of energy and effort goes into finding an area on the track or an adjustment in the car that translates to having an advantage.
This may explain why after a particularly scary wreck, like the one we saw Monday at Watkins Glen, how drivers seem so calm in their interviews. Throughout all of their racing lives, drivers are obsessed with the idea of competing and winning. That is what occupies their minds.
Because of this, you don't immediately realize what you just experienced. You have no consideration for how spectacular a wreck might have been. The only things you're thinking about is that your day is done, that you lost points in the standings and, possibly, that you just destroyed your most productive car.
I'm not saying this is normal; I'm just saying this is how a driver thinks.
My wife's explanation, drawing on years of frustrated experience, is that race car drivers lack that little voice most people apparently have in their heads that warns them of danger and tells them they need to be cautious. For many years, she would get angry with me and ask, "At what point are you going to listen to that little voice telling you to slow down?" Only recently did she realize that it's not that I ignore the little voice. Rather, it isn't there.
I don't ever recall hearing it, and I guess it could explain why us race car drivers aren't afraid of wrecking or getting back into the car after The Big One, and why most fans don't understand our reaction to the question, "How can you get back in the car?"
For the three drivers most affected by Monday's wreck – Sam Hornish, Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton – there will be little effect from the crash as they move to Michigan for the next event. I know this because they unstrapped and exited their cars. I know this because I understand drivers. And I know this because mentally, after the first few laps of practice this Friday, their attention will be on Sunday's race and how to make their cars just a little faster for it.
But I left some wiggle room in saying "little effect," because you cannot subject yourself to that kind of abuse and not have it affect you physically. If it happens often enough and becomes exaggerated, it ultimately affects others aspects of your life that help mold you as an athlete or competitor.
In the case of Gordon, if he exacerbated the problems with his back, that won't necessarily affect how deep he can drive into the corner and it won't impair his ability to mash the gas pedal in the middle of a turn. But it will have an impact in his daily life, concerning things he takes for granted like quality of sleep, which can be aggravating and disruptive.
After my wreck at Talladega, the biggest problem I had wasn't inside the car, but outside of it. I lost sleep because of the pain and discomfort. The injury changed my routine without me even realizing it.
Any driver on any given Sunday understands that to beat the best, you need to be at your best. While I claim drivers don't spend much time thinking about the possibility of being in a wreck and are quick to dismiss ones they've walked away from, it doesn't necessarily mean they are not affected by them.
I can assure you that over the past few days, all of these three drivers gave consideration to how lucky they where. They appreciate the safety improvements that NASCAR has made to the cars and the gains made in the quality of their seats, helmets and HANS device. They appreciate being healthy, which leads to perhaps the greatest appreciation: Despite experiencing a violent wreck just a few days ago, they are healthy enough to compete this weekend. Because that's how drivers think.
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