It’s always struck me as odd that crumple zones help absorb impacts which makes cars safer. Yet race cars have roll cages which make them safer.
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In addition to the other comments, there are a few differences.
In any car racing sport, the driver is VERY firmly attached to the seat with multipoint seatbelts. These seats are also tightly secured to the floor and, sometimes, the roll cage directly. In high speed impacts, this arrangement doesn’t allow ejection from the cage and, in many cases, it is hoped that the design of the track allow for a lot of sliding and rolling to dissipate the excess energy on the relatively light vehicle.
Typical cars and their occupants are seldom as well attached and are much heavier. The crumple zones and air bags “take up” the additional movement and reduce the energy transmitted to the occupants (who might be flying around). The purpose here is practical protection over a much wider variety of collisions. A properly designed roll cage and safety seats would be VERY inconvenient for normal car occupants (who also don’t wear helmets as well as head and neck protection equipment) as ingress and egress are very badly compromised.
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