Are comments from NASCAR officials truthful, or are they simply rhetoric to back up a smoke-and-mirrors show? The answer is simple: NASCAR has grown so fearful since Earnhardt's death that the pendulum of safety enhancement has swung from NASCAR doing virtually nothing to going far and beyond what most people would ever expect it to do.

Evolution of safety
If the changes that have been implemented for 2002 continue to evolve and bring about even more safety improvements in coming years, NASCAR will not only remain the most popular form of motorsports in the U.S., it will soon also be the safest.

To help achieve that goal, NASCAR has committed millions of dollars into its new research and development center, which is expected to be fully operational by mid-season, if not sooner.

"At that facility you can expect we'll be assembling chassis, we'll be building cars, there'll be a machine shop, we'll have the latest engineering equipment, we'll have modeling and design software, and from the Earnhardt investigation we'll use computer simulation models to try and predict on-track performance, both from a safety and competition standpoint," Pyne said.

The operative word in NASCAR's safety gameplan is "committed."

"All these resources will be committed to support the people that we've hired to make sure NASCAR racing is safe and as competitive as it can be," Pyne said. "But we won't stop there. We're committed to bringing in the best minds in the world to work with us and help get the best results and best solutions.

"We're committed to making things the best they can possibly be in these areas. We want to maintain is a day in and day out focus on safety. We've committed the infrastructure and resources to make that happen."

For an organization that has been known for dragging its feet when it comes to most controversial issues, NASCAR has been working at lightning speed since late last season in approving several new additions to its safety retinue.

	“	The cars are safer than they were a year ago, and they'll be safer a year from now than they are today, based on the efforts and the manpower and money that all the companies, NASCAR and teams are throwing into it. ”
		— Mark Martin

"Towards the end of 2001, we can point to the mandating of head and neck restraint devices, mandating helmets and fire protection (for pit crew members), age requirements (for drivers aspiring to compete in Busch and Winston Cup races) and the approval of the PPI seat, are just a few of the advances that were made last year and the quick response we made in trying to do the best that we can do," Pyne said. But NASCAR won't focus on safety devices alone. Equally as important will be cars themselves.

"First will be the design of the car, to see if there's any design elements we can find to help cars absorb energy (from the impact of a crash)," Pyne said. "The second thing we'll be looking at is materials to help absorb energy, as well. We're committed to it, working on it every day and we're looking for solutions."

Perhaps the most unique element of NASCAR's emphasis on safety is in the area of crash investigation. Not only has the sanctioning body hired a full-time investigation team, but all crashes, no matter how minor, will be recorded.

"Now we're taking things to a whole other level with an accident investigation team on-site at the different racetracks," Nelson said. "I don't think there's an accident that they won't some data from. With the impact data recorders on the cars, we're going to get information that we're going to put into our database.

"That database, then, will grow. And as it grows, then we'll decide on what areas to really concentrate on. But, the best thing we can do early on is put all the data we can in, take it from there, learn from it and zero in as we go. Our priorities are going to be in the order of safety first, close competition second and cost to the car owner third."

If drivers balk at or attempt to skirt new safety mandates -- like Tony Stewart's celebrated refusal to wear a head and neck restraint device late last season before finally capitulating -- Nelson is ready to drop the hammer with penalties and fines.

"We have ways of inspecting to make sure our rules are adhered to," Nelson said. "We're very serious that our rules are adhered to, and we have inspectors that are very well trained to make sure that happens.

"For example, when we mandated head and neck restraints, our officials were trained on how they looked when they're hooked up properly. We had officials on pit road that when we told the drivers to start their engines, get buckled in and get ready to go, we had inspectors who were trained to inspect for that, looking in each window -- and we didn't roll off until every driver was hooked up properly and ready to go.

"Those same officials also looked in the cars during every pit stop during a race. There's a lot of stories that guys can get away with things, but I know very well that guys can try to get away with things, but I'll challenge anybody to go up against our officials week after week and try to get away with something on a consistent basis. We'll catch you, it'll happen, and then you'll wish you hadn't done it."

Safer than ever?
Earnhardt's death was a wake-up call for NASCAR as a sanctioning and ruling body. It also served to show drivers that no one was invincible from harm. If it could happen to Earnhardt, it could happen to anyone.

"It's definitely going to be different this year," said Joe Nemechek. "But at the same time, it's also definitely going to be a lot better and safer for the drivers, crew guys and everyone else. You can't argue with wanting your sport to be as safe as it possibly can."

Nemechek has been struck by on-track tragedy twice in the last five years. His younger brother John was killed at Homestead, Fla., in March 1997 during a Craftsman Truck Series event. Then, last February, Nemechek lost one of his closest friends, namely Earnhardt.

"Dale was one of the first people that I looked up to, and he was a good buddy of mine," Nemechek said. "I used to go over and hang out at his shop, go fishing with him and do all kinds of things. I hate that he's gone, but we just have to learn by what happened there and keep making (safety) improvements."

"We definitely miss him, but we'll put a good show on and I know that's what he'd want us to keep on doing."

One of the most vocal critics of NASCAR over the years when it came to safety has been Mark Martin. The veteran was skeptical when he began hearing the plans NASCAR had to improve safety. But after seeing what has already been implemented -- and what is still to come -- Martin feels NASCAR is on the right track.

"Twenty-four months ago, (progress on improving safety) was very slow," Martin said. "It was like a real slow evolution. Now you have teams, manufacturers, NASCAR, all spending time, effort and money and coming up with a lot more definite answers on things, ways to make these cars safer and what equipment is the best kind to use or how to use each and every piece so that it works and functions properly.

"The cars are safer than they were a year ago, and they'll be safer a year from now than they are today, based on the efforts and the manpower and money that all the companies, NASCAR and teams are throwing into it."

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com.