Haven't paid much attention to it in a while - except for when I Googled "race car drivers and life insurance" when I went looking for actual facts - but for the last life insurance policy I applied for, one of the first questions was "Do you participate in hazardous activities like sky diving, or driving race cars?". Policies are not all the same. The more you're worth dead, the more they pay attention. Read the fine print.

My suggestion to anyone questioning the value and/or motivation for the emphasis on being as up to date as possible on safety equipment - message Alan Prusiensky, John or Brittany Force (or any of the people who leveled one in a Funny Car this year), John Medlin, Stevie "Fast", Steve Torrance, Sidnei Frigo or any of the other people who have had real experience with ferocious crashes recently and walked away with minor or no injuries. Ask them their opinion, based on their first hand knowledge.

Or not.