Rey Dekker’s Reviews > Against Death and Time: One Fatal Season in Racing's Glory Years > Status Update

...these guys were borderline nuts, suicidal and/or just fall-out from WWII...PTSD had not been diagnosed (they called it "...shell shock..." back then and Patton slapped your face if you showed it) and a whole generation of talented drivers, too macho to admit these vehicles were death-traps just jumped in them and tore off...no seat belts, no roll bars, flimsy leather helmets motorcycle riders used, cotton teeshirt

This book outlines a year in the sport, approximately 1954-55...almost zero safety regulations meant multiple deaths and it was just sort of taken for granted..."There are only three real sports---bullfighting, mountain-climbing and automobile racing. The rest are children's games played by grown ups."
Ernest Hemingway