Derek Daly Brings Racing’s Safety Lessons to NSC 2026
The former Formula 1 and IndyCar driver told safety professionals that equipment, systems, preparation and individual responsibility can turn risk into “intelligent risk.”
- By David Kopf
- Sep 14, 2026
For former Formula 1 and IndyCar driver Derek Daly, the dramatic improvement in racing safety over the past several decades offers lessons that extend beyond the track and into the realm of workplace safety.
Speaking Monday at the 2026 NSC Safety Congress & Expo in Indianapolis, running Sept. 14-16, Daly described how motorsports has become safer by continually improving both the equipment protecting drivers and the systems designed to respond when something goes wrong.
Daly pointed to numerous equipment advances that followed lessons learned from serious crashes. Racing cars were redesigned to move drivers farther from the front of the vehicle and incorporate crush structures. Pedal assemblies were changed to reduce ankle injuries. Fuel tanks were relocated, while fire-resistant clothing, stronger visors and wheel tethers provided additional layers of protection.
"Do you see all the safety features IndyCar took responsibility for?" Daly asked.
But Daly stressed that having the right equipment is only part of the equation. Organizations also need systems capable of responding when those protections aren't enough.
He illustrated that point with IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe's devastating 2015 crash during Indianapolis 500 practice. A suspension component penetrated the cockpit and severed Hinchcliffe's femoral artery, triggering what Daly described as a Critical Response Team (CRT) response.
Track medical personnel quickly assessed the injury, an ambulance was positioned for transport, police cleared traffic between Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the hospital, and the hospital prepared for Hinchcliffe's arrival. Daly said Hinchcliffe arrived without vital signs, but doctors were able to save him. A year later, Hinchcliffe returned to qualify on the pole for the Indianapolis 500.
"What's your CRT look like?" Daly asked safety professionals in the audience, noting that racing's response system is "practiced, rehearsed, discussed, choreographed."
Combining effective equipment with effective systems, Daly said, allows organizations to transform risk into "intelligent risk," operating near the edge of what is possible while putting protections in place to provide the best possible outcome.
The Six Secrets of SAFE
Daly then shifted from equipment and systems to the people responsible for making safety work, outlining what he called his "six secrets of SAFE."
- Responsibility comes before compliance
- Don't substitute compliance for responsibility
- Don't declare war on human error
- SAFE teams do the Right Things as opposed to only doing Things Right
- Safe teams require individualistic thinkers who become team players in their actions
- Safe teams require a portfolio of people who take the lead, regardless of their authority
Daly emphasized the need to develop independent thinkers who become team players through their actions; and building a "portfolio of leaders" throughout an organization — people willing to accept responsibility and lead regardless of their formal authority.
"You don't have to have a name tag or a designation," Daly said.
Daly tied those principles to his definition of SAFE: Speed, Agility and Flawless Execution. Speed and agility are necessary in high-performance environments, he said, but they must be paired with flawless execution, which begins with preparation.
Where Are You on the Starting Grid?
To illustrate preparation, Daly asked attendees to picture the starting grid of the Indianapolis 500.
At the front, he said, are typically the fastest and best-prepared teams, with cars and crews ready for competition. Farther back, preparation can look noticeably different. Daly said the failure rate at the Indianapolis 500 also tends to begin at the back of the grid and move forward, which he connected directly to how thoroughly teams prepare before the race.
He then turned the analogy back on the safety professionals in the room.
"As regards your preparation or the preparation of the people within your sphere of influence, where do you think you are on the starting grid of the race you are now in every day?" Daly asked.
It was a question he encouraged attendees to continue asking themselves after leaving the conference.
"If you think safe, how fast can you be safe?" Daly said in closing. "The answer is as fast as you want, as long as you remain obsessed with success and safety."