In the wake of Blaise Alexander's death, NASCAR chief Mike Helton says the league might be closer to mandating use of a HANS-like restraint system in its divisions. Though Alexander died in an ARCA race, the effects of this latest on-track tragedy were evident among NASCAR drivers.

But in Sunday's UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, just one driver of 43 (Tony Stewart) opted not to wear some sort of head restraint system.

So mandating HANS in Winston Cup will do what? Get one more driver to use it?

Should it be mandated? Sure. But at this point, such a mandate is little more than a PR move, allowing NASCAR to take the public position that driver safety is indeed a priority. But mandating something that 98 percent of drivers already use doesn't amount to real change.

It seems a sport which routinely risks the lives of its product should be at the cutting edge of safety technology -- in research and in practice and implementation.

Lowe's Motor Speedway president Humpy Wheeler has been developing what has become known as the Humpy Bumper. It's an energy-absorbing bumper for stock cars designed to reduce the impact of a crash. But NASCAR has yet to approve it's use.

"I have lost patience with the people in this industry who are dragging their feet," Wheeler said. "I'm sick of it, I'm tired of it, the gloves are off. We have a moral and ethical responsibility, at the highest levels, to solve this problem now."

While Helton agrees that the rigidity of the cars is an issue, he says there likely won't be changes for 2002.

All this time, Helton has maintained his stance that NASCAR would not "react for the sake of reacting." But it seems NASCAR is not reacting at all.

The results of the Dale Earnhardt investigation were met with mixed reviews. Some praised the comprehensive nature of the tests that were performed while others declared the findings to be old news. And while there were some specific actions planned, including the hiring of a permanent medical official who will travel with the league, no measurable changes have been made to improve driver safety.

This is an organization which routinely grabs a Ford, Pontiac, Chevy and Dodge and tosses 'em into a wind tunnel to make sure the manufacturers are on an even playing field. Rules changes are made throughout the season, such as modifications to the front air dams and spoiler dimensions.

These changes are made routinely. And very quickly.

If NASCAR needs a priority check -- and it's truly appalling to even consider that necessary at this point -- it's now.

Wearing a HANS-like device is a step individual drivers can take, so it should not be surprising that most drivers have indeed taken that precaution. But implementing changes to cars and tracks are the responsibility of NASCAR.

Helton says there are still concerns about the HANS device. There are also concerns about proposed soft foam walls, which could potentially save lives but would take a large amount of time to clean up after a crash.

Just weeks before dying when he hit the wall at Daytona, Dale Earnhardt addressed that concern thusly: "I'd rather they spend 20 minutes cleaning up that mess than cleaning me off the wall."