Teammates Todd Bodine and Joe Nemechek both know the precious value of family and the unexpected horrors that sometimes creep into racing.

As a result, they can speak about the significance of enhanced safety in NASCAR as well as anybody because they've lived through tragedy and near-tragedy in their own lives.

	Todd Bodine, pictured, nearly lost his older brother, Geoffrey, in a fiery crash at Daytona in 2000.

That's why both men applaud the new safety measures implemented by NASCAR for this season and beyond. In both drivers' minds, any edge that can cut the wide gap between life and death due to a crash is an edge worth exploring and adopting.

Of the two friends, Nemechek has suffered the bigger loss. March 16 will mark the fifth anniversary of the hard crash which killed Nemechek's younger brother, John, during a truck event at Homestead, Fla. John, 27 at the time, never emerged from a coma and died five days later on March 21.

To this day, it's still hard for Nemechek not to be get too emotional talking about his brother's accident. Last November, Nemechek won a Busch event on the same track where his brother died. After the race, tears welled up in Nemechek's eyes for the umpteenth time as he recalled his brother's memory and legacy. He still remembers the accident as if it happened minutes ago -- and that recollection was in his mind every time he passed the corner where John crashed.

"You can't forget something like that," Nemechek said. "John is with me and on my mind all the time. To this day I ask 'Why did it happen to him?' He was such a young kid and had a whole big life and racing career ahead of him."

Bodine was much more fortunate. Older brother Geoffrey barely survived a fiery roll-over crash while also racing in a truck event at Daytona in 2000. It was one of the most horrific crashes in recent memory.

It took three months for Geoffrey to recuperate and rehabilitate. When he finally returned to racing, he received a hero's welcome from his fellow drivers who knew that it easily could have been them instead of Bodine.

While his injuries from that wreck have long since healed, the elder Bodine still hasn't fully recovered in terms of his career. He was fired later in the 2000 season by car owner Joe Bessey, and has struggled to find a quality ride since then.

ESPN.com sat down with Nemechek and Todd Bodine recently to get their views on the new safety measures in place this season. Here are some excerpts from those interviews:

Joe Nemechek
ESPN.com: Talk about the progress NASCAR has made in improving safety over the last several months and how it will affect cars and drivers heading into the new season?

Nemechek: "I think NASCAR has made tremendous progress. First off, to get NASCAR to approve a carbon fiber seat, one of composite material and NASCAR has approved it, is a major step. I think that everything they've been doing, including their safety and research development facility and the way they've been testing things like seats, all the sled crashing they've been doing, it's all never been done before.

"And to see NASCAR doing that, it makes me feel good. It's too expensive for one individual person or team to do it. Now that information is out there and available to everyone. We've made leaps and bounds in terms of adjustments to our cars, fixing them and making them better and safer."

ESPN.com: How is the attitude or atmosphere about safety different among drivers this year than last year?

Nemechek: "If you look back a year ago, there was maybe one guy wearing a HANS device. No one was really doing anything on the safety issue because it wasn't an issue. Then, all of a sudden, boom-boom-boom, a bunch of people were getting hurt or dying and no one knew why. It's pretty simple: if you move around in the car, you're going to end up hitting something. So, you need to be secure."

ESPN.com: Personally, how much safer do you feel this year?

Nemechek: "I feel 100 percent safer this year. After the wreck I had at Dover (Del.) a while ago, I know how far my neck got stretched out and all the things I hit in that car and what hurt me. Since then, we've changed seats, strengthened our seats, changed the head braces, started wearing the HANS -- just improved all the aspects of safety and where I sit in that car, and it makes me feel a lot safer.

"We've got Randy LaJoie seats right now, we've very much improved our head restraint system as far as the padding, the foam, how they're mounted on both right and left, we're wearing the HANS, we're making sure the seatbelts are run straight, we've done away with the (seatbelt) adjustors on the left side and we're trying to do away with the adjustors on both sides. There's no use cinching seatbelts.

"We've also run leg supports. One of the things we brought up in a recent safety meeting is that now, since we've made the seats better and stronger, we need to make all the things that are holding our legs just as strong so they don't give. If your leg brace gives and your thigh bone doesn't, something is going to break. We saw that with Kyle Petty when he got hurt at Talladega a few years back."

ESPN.com: What do you think about things like data recorders in the cars?

Nemechek: "That's a big step. I wish they would have done it a long time ago because we'd have more information. You see them in the cars now, and that's a big, big step. We're decided to also purchase our own recorders, so that when we go and test and it's not a NASCAR test, we have something if something ever does happen. I hope all the teams are going to do that, that there's information everyone can learn from."

ESPN.com: What do you see on the horizon as far as further safety improvements?

Nemechek: "I think the next big thing is when we hit the walls, they're soft and something moves. They're still working on that, plus they're working on trying to get some sort of material between the door bars and the sheet metal on the sides, and also working on the front ends so they can absorb more energy. We just have to keep working. I know it makes me feel safer and it makes my family feel safer. Anything we can do to make these cars better makes me feel better when I'm out on the race track."

ESPN.com: Has NASCAR done all that it should in terms of improving safety?

Nemechek: "They've made a lot of adjustments and they have to. Times change every year, teams are getting more technically advanced, there's more engineering going into these race cars so they could make them go faster. That's just another part of it. Indy cars have been doing it for so long, they knew what was killing their drivers, so it's time we did it and it's time we learned from it."

ESPN.com: Do you think your brother John would have survived his crash at Homestead, Fla., nearly five years ago if some of the new safety enhancements we see today were mandated back then?

Nemechek: "If some of the things they have put in for this year were around back when John was driving, yes, I think they would have helped him. With all the things they've done, I wish they would have done them years ago because they definitely would have saved lives. It's just tough making decisions without knowing a lot about what you're doing. NASCAR is conservative -- they can't make one change, have it be good in three ways and bad in another. They always have to look at all the areas and make the best possible decision they can. If they don't know enough, they've got to learn more."

Todd Bodine
ESPN.com: Can you give your thoughts about the new safety enhancements we'll see this season?

Bodine: "It's like anything, whether it be the cars themselves, the seats or helmets, technology will improve everything -- and there's going to be even more technology next year than this year. It's an ongoing process where you do the best with what you've got.

"As far as the cars and seats and stuff, that's just a learning process. I've always taken the initiative on my own, to try and go one step further than the next guy, trying to figure out ways to be safe. For myself, it's just nice to see everybody trying to keep up."

ESPN.com: What do you see as the most single most significant thing that will help improve safety?

Bodine: "Data boxes are going to really help the process of getting better and knowing what happens in the race. The next big investment? I really don't know where it's going to come from. I'm not going to say we've maximized on the safety thing, because there's always room for improvement. But I know in my cars that we've done everything possible that we know of to make them as safe as possible. The only way I can get any safer in my car is for something new to come along that we haven't thought about before."

ESPN.com: Safety isn't just an issue in the cars, it's also evident with new measures put in place for pit crews this season, too, isn't it?

Bodine: "I forget which crew chief said it, but they need to be outfitted like a hockey player or football player, and I totally agree with that. There's no reason that we couldn't go that one step further, and after that, I don't see much more you can do to keep the guys safe on pit road."

ESPN.com: What do you see as the next big thing on the horizon in terms of improving safety?

Bodine: "I don't think you're going to see these leaps and bounds and gains. I think you're going to see small gains, whether it's the material that seat belts are made out of, whether it's a different style or type of helmet, something like that. The two biggest things have been the seats and the head-and-neck devices."

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com.