# Characterizing Head Impact Exposure, Tissue-level Brain Response, and Clinical Outcomes in Grassroots Dirt Track Racing

> **NIH NIH F31** · WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2024 · $32,487

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Motorsports drivers have an inherent risk of injury due to racing at high speeds and risk of collisions. Pilot studies
have shown stock car drivers and grassroots dirt racing drivers are exposed to low magnitude head acceleration
events during green flag racing. At the grassroots level of dirt racing, another pilot study showed that drivers can
experience medium to high magnitude head accelerations during crashes within a short time period, unlike stock
car crashes. Recent studies have shown exposure to subconcussive head impacts, or head impacts that do not
result in clinically diagnosed concussion, can result in microstructural and functional changes to the brain in
contact and collision sports. However, there is a paucity of research examining brain injury biomechanics and
neurological effects of crashes in motorsport. Additionally, there are numerous disparities in the implementation
of safety interventions between the grassroots level and professional levels of motorsport, such as the
requirement of head and neck restraints. As a result, there are significantly more injuries and deaths reported
for drivers participating in grassroots dirt racing than there are at the highest professional levels of motorsport.
By identifying factors influencing kinematic loads and tissue-level brain response of a crash and evaluating acute
clinical outcomes of drivers post-crash, future safety interventions could be made to target the disparities seen
at the grassroots level. The objective of this study is to use an instrumented mouthpiece sensor to measure head
impact exposure in drivers participating in a grassroots dirt racing crashes to identify potential factors that
influence kinematic loads and tissue-level brain response and evaluate the neurological effects of crashes. The
study team identified in this proposal has extensive history in quantifying head impact exposure, finite element
modeling for evaluation of tissue response, and assessing clinical outcomes. A well-developed research and
mentoring plan has been prepared fro the successful completion of the following aims. In Aim 1, factors that
influence kinematic loads will be identified by outfitting drivers with custom mouthpiece sensors. We will quantify
peak head kinematic metrics and compute kinematic-based head injury risk. Relationships between metrics and
potential factors will be evaluated. In Aim 2, we will use the mouthpiece sensor data as inputs to an anatomically
accurate finite element brain model to assess the tissue-level biomechanical response of the brain to head impact
events during crashes. We will quantify various strain and stress-based injury metrics and examine their
relationship with the potential factors that were evaluated in Aim 1. Finally, in Aim 3, we will evaluate the effect
of crashes on changes in acute clinical outcomes. This study will provide accurate characterization of head
motion experienced by drivers during crashes while dirt racing ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10997724
- **Project number:** 1F31NS139624-01
- **Recipient organization:** WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Sophia Ruth Zoch
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $32,487
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-12-01 → 2025-05-23

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10997724

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10997724, Characterizing Head Impact Exposure, Tissue-level Brain Response, and Clinical Outcomes in Grassroots Dirt Track Racing (1F31NS139624-01). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-24 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/10997724. Licensed CC0.

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