Image Source: (Motor Racing Digest)

BY TOM MARTIN

ANCHOR TOM MARTIN

Still reeling from the loss of racer Dan Wheldon, media outlets, analysts, and racers wonder-- is IndyCar safe enough?

Now five-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson is weighing in-- calling for IndyCar to abandon the oval track.

“I know how dangerous those cars are and yesterday was proof to the danger of those vehicles on ovals. There’s very little crumple zone around the driver, and then obviously it’s an open cockpit, and then you add open wheels. You’re just creating situations to get the car off the ground at a high rate of speed and you can’t control the car when it’s off the ground.”

There’s weight to Johnson’s words -- literally. Analysts say open-wheel cars are much lighter than those in NASCAR. So while oval-shaped tracks may work for NASCAR drivers like Johnson -- they pose a far greater threat for IndyCar drivers.

Johnson’s comments came days after he suffered his own accident at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Experts say safety improvements after the death of famed NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt saved Johnson’s life.

McClatchy Newspaper columnist Scott Fowler says IndyCar needs a similar change:

“[IndyCar] also looked like a sport in serious need of a safety overhaul … That's what happened when Earnhardt died, and no driver has died in NASCAR's top three series in the 10 years since. That's what must happen now IndyCar.”

So what’s the next step to safety? Fox Sports’ Robin Miller agrees with Johnson: it’s time for IndyCar to rethink the ovals.

“It really didn’t surprise a lot of us who have cringed for the past 15 years watching the madness of pack racing an Indy car at more than 210 mph … Put some inexperienced drivers on an oval that’s easy to run flat out in 34 identical cars, and you are asking for disaster.”

IndyCar purists aren’t as quick to ditch the oval. If you ask Ben Smith of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, Johnson’s comments are -quote “an overreaction.”

“IndyCar has run in relative safety on ovals for decades, and there's no reason not to continue to do so … Thirty-four [cars], at Vegas, was simply too many. But considering some of the deathtraps the sport made its bones on … a fair chunk of the ovals IndyCar runs now are like kiddie rides at the fair.”