IF 50 years of supposed safe practice and "almost" issues is to be the standard to follow consider:
The sport would have:
No driver fire suits.
No pit crew fire suits,
No drivers side safety nets,
No tubular frames,
No full body harness's,
No full face helmets,
No helmets on pit crew members,
No Hans,
No fuel cells,
No soft walls,
Then consider:
That open gate coming out of turn 4 at Bristol would still be open.
What do all of these have in common?
Every one of these and many, many more I haven't listed was the result of injury or death at the track.
Should NASCAR have waited until the inevitable ACTUAL "T-bone" on the track to stop racing to the caution flag?
Consider TV ratings and attendance:
Most sports have seen a decline in both Attendance and TV Ratings.
While the Mighty NFL is certainly enjoying good TV ratings, they have shown a decline in recent years.
Event attendance is another matter.
There were 26 home market blackouts this past season. Overall attendance is down 5%. The Jacksonville Jaguars have permanently closed seating sections during NFL games in order to avoid a blackout by needing to sell fewer tickets. How'd that work out?
How much $$ do you have to drop in order to go to an NFL game, NBA, MLB NASCAR etc?
In my case here in Milwaukee, When they STILL had a NW race I dropped over $300 in tickets, parking and a little food. Travel was not a part of the cost. I live a mile from the track.
With a 52" HD display, 5.1 surround sound, comfy chair, homebrew beer, why would I drop that kind of cash on a sporting event?