Thrill of the chase is big draw for Blundell

The results of NASCAR's extensive inquiry into the accident - one of the scientists offering evidence was also involved in examining the wreckage of PanAm flight 103 which exploded over Lockerbie in 1988 - were published this week. A report running to 293 pages and costing £700,000 to compile, plus death threats issued to one senior figure, make you wonder what Blundell could be letting himself in for.

Earnhardt, a seven-times winner of NASCAR's Winston Cup, enjoyed stature and acclaim within American motor sport similar to that afforded globally to the great Ayrton Senna, who died in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix in Imola, Italy.

Just as Senna's death placed F1 under intense scrutiny, so NASCAR found themselves having to come up with a response to the clamour from spectators, the media and sponsors for new safety initiatives.

But while the F1 authorities, who conduct much of their business in public, swiftly imposed a programme of mandatory rule changes on teams and race promoters in an attempt to lessen the dangers inherent in a high-speed sport, NASCAR have struggled to come to terms with their responsibilities.

As an organisation NASCAR, whose racing was inspired by the chases involving moonshine runners and the police during the prohibition era, are in control of every competitive and commercial aspect of the sport. They are not beholding to any governing body and much of their business is conducted in secret.

Thus it was hardly surprising that NASCAR felt uncomfortable with their operating methods being in the spotlight following Earnhardt's crash, or that their report mainly offers observations and recommendations rather than a plan for immediate and drastic reform in the area of driver safety. The cause of Earnhardt's death was given as a skull fracture, an injury that led to the fatalities of three other NASCAR drivers last year. Of significant interest was the confirmation that a seat belt tore during the course of a violent accident witnessed by millions on television.

The report stresses that Earnhardt died as a result of a combination of factors, from the seat belt ripping apart to a collision with another car just seconds before the fatal impact with the wall.

Yet such was the extent of his fanatical following that death threats were sent to Bill Simpson, founder in 1959 of the company that manufactured the seat belt. Fearing for his safety, Simpson subsequently resigned even though he claims that Earnhardt had mounted the seat belt incorrectly, thus greatly reducing its effectiveness.

As for the future, NASCAR have refused to make mandatory the use of a new head restraint system that would almost certainly have saved Earnhardt's life. Neither are teams immediately required to fit their cars with energy- absorbing bumpers.

Blundell is well aware of the risks. After being a part of the McLaren F1 team and winning the Le Mans 24 Hour Race with Nissan, he spent five years competing in the American CART championship, a formula for 230mph, single-seater cars that race on the same super-speedways as NASCAR.

He won one of the top 500-mile races at Fontana in California, and he still holds the record for the narrowest margin of victory in CART - just 27 thousandths of a second - in Portland, Oregon.

But the 35-year-old from Hertfordshire was also involved in wallcrunching accidents from which he was saved by the safety initiatives instigated by CART, which far exceed those in NASCAR.

Blundell admitted: "I've had my fair share of whacks, but so has every race driver down the pit road. Oval racing has got a very high-risk factor attached to it, much more than F1 has on race circuits and street courses.

"Driving round at those kind of speeds, if something goes wrong you are going to know about it. NASCAR is not the pinnacle of technology - it doesn't have the same regulations to allow it to be the same level as CART or F1 - so there are a lot of factors to take on board.

"But it produces great racing and it would be great to be a part of it."