Yesterday, Sprint Cup driver Matt DiBenedetto crashed hard during the O’Reilly Auto Sports Challenge Xfinity race at Texas Motor Speedway. Later that day, DiBenedetto was put into concussion protocol and doctors have ruled him out for today’s AAA Texas 500 Sprint Cup race. Jeffrey Earnhardt (grandson of Dale and nephew of Dale Jr.) will take over in the #83 Toyota.
As you can see, DiBenedetto appeared to have blown a tire and the car shot straight up the track and into the wall. While there’s a SAFER barrier that absorbs some of the impact, it’s still a hard hit.
This comes at a rather critical time on two issues NASCAR has faced. One, fans have complained for years about Sprint Cup drivers coming down to the lower series just to dominate and thus the races are boring. It would be like if LeBron James decided to play in the D-League just because he likes to play basketball and then averages 80 ppg.
NASCAR has passed a rule saying Sprint Cup drivers with more than five seasons experience in Sprint Cup can only race in 10 regular season races in the two lower series per year. For DiBendetto, in only his second season, he is trying to get experience and this rule won’t apply to him for a few more years.
Two, and the most serious issue, is about concussions in NASCAR. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been out since July with a concussion suffered in a crash. DiBendetto revealed last night that he felt good but was still being held out.
I'm feeling totally fine…just having to follow the concussion protocol. Hate I can't drive tomorrow but I'm looking forward to Phoenix.
— Matt DiBenedetto (@mattdracing) November 6, 2016
Former Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski, on the side of the athlete, responded that if he feels fine, he should be able to race.
@dustinlong sorry to read this. Glad you are ok. If you feel fine I do t understand why being held out
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) November 6, 2016
Keselowski is an athlete, a racer. And whether it’s NASCAR, the NFL or any other sport, in most cases the athlete wants to get back out there regardless of how they feel. I don’t know if DiBenedetto is actually okay or he’s just saying it to get back in the car but I know Keselowski doesn’t know either.
Also, the reason why Dale Jr. has been out for the past four months and counting is because of a concussion in a crash that was a few weeks before he was ruled out. Now, Dale Jr. has had a history of concussions so it’s not like that’s a common occurrence but concussions are a serious and still a rather unknown thing. Let’s leave it to the doctors to make the decision to clear or not clear drivers to race cars at 180 mph.
