My husband and I owned a factory stock race car and ran it for a couple of years down at Tucson. One of the first races we were at, a local guy hit the wall head on in his Camaro and broke a collarbone. That’s when I looked at my husband and said, “Oh. This is serious stuff.” He just nodded back at me.
I had a husband who raced for 4 years. He actually made it to Sportsman class in 73 and 74. When we had kids he said it was harder because he couldn’t think about needing to live through the race and still do well. He raced off and on at local dirt tracks till late in life but never did try the big time again after having family.