Every one of us has an opinion as to how we would do things different if we ran NASCAR. All drivers, myself included, complain about this and that. But overall, NASCAR does an excellent job. I don't know of any sport-or any race sanctioning body- run better.
But there is one rule I would like to change just a little. The deal sticks with me through the years, so it must be worthwhile. This one has to do with safety, and I certainly believe I qualify as an expert when I say there are times when drivers should not race. Injured one week, there are times when the pain is too great to drive the next week, but they do it.
Believe me, I know. What I'm not exactly sure about is how many times I raced when I should not have. It's hard for me to remember exactly how many bones I broke during my career.
I know I broke my neck twice-in two accidents, of course. I broke one shoulder and then broke the other. I broke my sternum twice. I broke a leg and both feet, all in separate wrecks. I broke ribs, or pulled them loose, in 12 or 14 accidents. I broke my finger once, and I've suffered from cuts and bruises as well as a couple of concussions.
I missed three or four races after I broke my left shoulder in 1970, but I didn't miss a race later on when I broke my right shoulder. In 1979 I had surgery and they removed half or more of my stomach. The doctor told me to rest for eight weeks. Four weeks after the surgery I won the Daytona 500.
And please don't think I'm trying to be tough. I'm not, but I do know an injured driver on the track is a serious threat to everyone. Here is the point I am trying to make: After a wreck, only a doctor should determine if a driver is able to race. There should be rules to require a driver to sit out races when the injury is great enough.
We run 36 events a year. Why not let only 30 of those races count in the Winston Cup point standings. That way an injured driver would not feel that making every race is necessary. In other words, at the end of the year each driver could throw out his six worst finishes. His best 30 finishes would determine how he stacks up in the point standings.
Doctors check drivers after every wreck, and if a doctor checks a driver and says he shouldn't race the next week, then the driver should wait it out and heal. It's as simple as that. When the doctor says he can drive again, then hand him the steering wheel. Drivers are not going to get out of a race car on their own. No way.
While I'm on the subject, I will pass along a couple of stories about myself. Again, I'm not trying to convince you that I was tough, just how determined drivers are to race. This can be dangerous for everyone, but I didn't think so when I was driving. Every driver who races today feels the same way.
In 1969, we were racing at the Asheville-Weaverville track in western North Carolina. A tire on my car blew and I hit a concrete wall hard. It felt as if it broke every rib in my body.
The Southern 500 at Darlington was the next week. No driver in his right mind wants to miss the Southern 500, so we went. The first practice lap at Darlington took my breath. I had separated my ribs and with every sudden move I nearly screamed. We didn't know what we were going to do. Dale Inman, my crew chief, taped me up but it didn't help a great deal.
Finally, the morning of the race, Dale took pasteboard and wrapped it around me from under my arms down to my waist. Then he took duct tape and wrapped it just as tight as I could stand it. Before the race a doctor gave me three shots to kill the pain, but in the first 100 laps I sweated the medicine out of my body.