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The cars have as much crumple zone as possible considering they are front-engine design. The mass of the engine block and transmission will not absorb as much energy as a car with only a footbox in its place as in F1 or CART. Earnhardt's crash resulted in his death because of severe internal neck injuries. No airbag can deploy fast enough when the car goes from 180+mph to zero in less than one second. The HANS device would probably not been enough to save his life becasue of the force of the impact. In 1995, Mansell struck the wall at Phoenix at 170mph going backwards. It too was a freak incident, he impacted perpendicular to the wall and pulled 43 g's of force. It ruptured his kidney and gave him internal bruising over his whole body. All of this while being driven back into the seat, with his full back and helmet being supported by the seat and monocoque. Imagine doing it going forward, with only a 5 point harness trapping your body. The harnesses do not have enough surface area to absorb that much force and the organ trauma is severe. The brain itself will crash forward into the skull while still travelling at race speed even if the head is held still.
Speedway racing is a very dangerous business. The outer wall must be thick enough to stop a 3500 pound missile going near 200mph from passing thorugh it and killing and destroying everything in its path outside the track. Unfortunately this risk must be borne by the racer and while most escape with only injuries, some will pay the ultimate price.
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