I keep playing it over and over, running in slow motion in my mind. Bobby Burrell, a crew member for Ricky Rudd's team, went flying into the air after being struck by Ward Burton's out-of-control car. Then, Burrell's head smacked the concrete pit wall full-force at Homestead-Miami Speedway, immediately knocking him unconscious.

Watching as Burrell's body crumpled to the ground after impact, as well as seeing two of his crew mates and a NASCAR official also struck by Burton's car, I knew this was not a simple pit road accident. How quickly the accident occurred, how Burrell and his fellow crew mates were helpless to avoid Burton's car, and how Burrell was tossed like a rag doll into the concrete barrier -- it all just happened so fast.

When Burrell was quickly whisked off by helicopter to a nearby Miami hospital, the gravity of how seriously he was injured began to segue into thoughts of how this mishap could have been avoided.

Unfortunately, with NASCAR's current structure and requirements for pit placement and the frantic pace that goes on whenever cars enter pit road, there was no way Sunday's accident could have been avoided. To many observers, it was simply an accident waiting to happen. We've seen similar accidents happen in the past, with numerous crew men being injured, and at least one horrible pit crash in 1990 that resulted in the death of Mike Ritch, a crew member on Bill Elliott's team.

Ritch's death prompted NASCAR to implement speed limits on pit road to cut down the risk to crew members. Fortunately, there have been no deaths on pit road since -- although the extent of Burrell's injuries could easily have changed that fact had it not been for quick action of paramedics at the track and doctors in emergency room.

Unfortunately, the risk to crew members is just as real today as it was the day Ritch died. In the days since Burrell's injury, there have been numerous cries imploring NASCAR to mandate helmets be worn by crew members from this point forward.

Team owner Robert Yates, who owns Rudd's team and is Burrell's boss, has already announced his team members -- and that includes Burrell when he eventually comes back to the team -- will wear helmets, effective with Sunday's race in Atlanta. Other teams are expected to follow suit.

The only team prior to Sunday's unfortunate incident to have its crew wear helmets is Cal Wells' No.32 Ford team, a throwback to Wells' days as a team owner in CART, where helmets are required of crew members.

While all those things are well and good, are helmets the only answer? Not on Burrell's life. No, a lot more is needed.

Besides requiring crew members to wear helmets every time they step into live traffic, the real answer to cut down on pit road accidents lies, quite simply, in pit road itself -- its design, as well as the layout of its pit stalls.

While all tracks on the Winston Cup circuit are different from each other, accommodations can be made to change the configuration of each pit road.

Here are some suggestions: