Death in NASCAR

You likely never heard of Steve Peterson until now. To fans he was one of many nameless NASCAR officials. If you paid close attention, you might have seen him at times in video of officials going over wrecked race cars. Other than that, he was not somebody fans would have known.

But fans owed him much gratiude. NASCAR's technical director was among the series officials who did the most with safety in recent years.

Tuesday, NASCAR announced that Peterson, 58, was found dead in his Concord, N.C., home from what appeared to be natural causes.

“Steve’s accomplishments to increase driver safety will continue to be a benefit to every NASCAR driver that gets behind the wheel for generations to come,” said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to Steve’s family and friends; he will certainly be missed throughout the NASCAR community.”

France is right. While Dale Earnhardt's death at Daytona spurred NASCAR's safety effort into overdrive, Steve Peterson was among those doing that work, finding ways to protect the drivers you cheer today. After Gary Nelson left NASCAR, Peterson took over as one of the series' top safety officials. A few years ago, Nelson told me this about Peterson: "He may already be ... the world's racing safety expert. He's a tremendous asset to all of racing.''

Safety will continue to be a key element for NASCAR, but Peterson's loss will be felt.

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