No new safety measures for NASCAR

NASCAR will not make radical changes to the design of its stock cars, such as aluminum honeycomb crush boxes in the front and rear of the cars to help decelerate impact or the addition of crushable bumpers. Although NASCAR urges drivers to wear some type of head and neck restraint systems similar to the HANS device, it also fell short of making them mandatory.

NASCAR officials believe sudden change could have created unintended consequences.

"Nothing we do can bring back those that we've lost as part of our sport," said NASCAR president Mike Helton. "We can, however, learn from those losses and honor them in what we do moving forward. As this sport has evolved, so have safety improvements. One can look at the cars and equipment used 50 years ago, 25 years ago, 10 years ago or two years ago for that matter and compare today's cars and equipment and see clear examples of safety enhancement evolution.

"Through the collaborative efforts of many in this sport, many improvements have taken place. Three excellent examples are the implementation of fuel cells and the roof flaps and the development and continuous improvement of the roll cage. We're committed to accelerating the evolution of safety within this great sport through continued collaborative efforts using the best minds and the best technology we can find whenever and wherever we can find it."

What was widely speculated as an announcement that would force NASCAR to make major changes in how it approaches safety, but Tuesday's Official Accident Report - No. 3 Car only reiterated what NASCAR officials had announced back in February, that black box crash recorders would be used in cars beginning next season, there would be more research into restraint devices and the organisation will hire a full-time medical liaison that will work with safety crews at individual tracks on the schedule.

NASCAR did not say it would create a full-time safety team that would travel the circuit with medical experts, such as that used in the Indy Racing League and CART Champ Car Series.