OK, off the top of my head for the last 15 years:
Winston Cup:
1984 - Terry Schoonover
1987 - Bruce Jacobi (in coma since 1983)
1989 - Grant Adcox
1990 - J.D. McDuffie
1994 - Neil Bonnett
1994 - Rodney Orr
1997 - Rick Baldwin (in coma since 1987)
Busch Grand National:
some extremely obscure driver was killed at one of the short tracks
(Hickory?) about 4 years ago.
1993 - Clifford Allison
Goody's Dash:
1995 - Russell Phillips
You might as well throw in ARCA (years approximate):
1987 - Tracy Read
1990 - Joe Young
1991 - Slick Johnson
1992 - Joe Booher
1994 - Chris Gherke
Also, Jim Robinson died about a year or so after a Winston West crash in
the late 1980's, and Butch Lindley also lingered in a coma for about 2
years after a (Slim Jim All Pro?) crash around 1987.
Compare this to the major/minor open wheel series:
CART/IndyCar:
1982 - Gordon Smiley, Jim Hickman
1992 - Jovy Marcelo
1996 - Jeff Krosnoff
IRL:
1996 - Scott Brayton
F1:
1982 - Gilles Villeneuve, Riccardo Paletti
1986 - Elio de Angelis
1994 - Roland Ratzenberger, Ayrton Senna
F3(?):
The names of Marco Campos and Paul Warwick come to mind, circa 1993-94.
Also, I'm overlooking a Japanese driver whose name eludes me (an overall
Daytona 24 Hrs. winner) killed in a Japanese F3000 crash around 1995.
In other words, fenders and closed***pits do NOT necessarily equal more
safety!
Earl