August 3, 2010
By Allen Madding
Since 2001, NASCAR has made significant headway in addressing numerous safety concerns in stock car racing from the cars themselves to retaining walls surround the racetrack surface.
The SAFER Barrier System was designed by Dr. Dean Sicking and his team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Indianapolis Motor Speedway installed the system at the Brickyard prior to the 2002 Indianapolis 500. Talladega Superspeedway installed it on the track’s inside walls in 2002. Homestead-Miami Speedway, Richmond International Raceway, and New Hampshire Speedway installed the system at their tracks late in 2003. In 2004, SAFER Barrier walls were installed on Talladega’s outside walls as well as at Darlington Raceway, California Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Daytona International Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the inside walls at Dover International Speedway, and in the turns at Pocono Raceway.
Prior to the 2005 season, NASCAR mandated that the SAFER Barrier System be installed at all tracks hosting the NASCAR Nextel/Sprint Cup Series events. Nashville Superspeedway installed the system prior to its opening event in 2005 at the cost of $875,000.
In October 2001, NASCAR announced it would require all drivers to utilize a head and neck restraint system in its top three series. In 2002, it updated the seatbelt requirements as well.
In May of 2007, NASCAR introduced the Car of Tomorrow which was a new design for the cars competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series implementing a significant amount of new safety features.
All of these moves by the sanctioning body have made great strides in making stock car racing safer for the competitors, the teams on pit road, and the fans in the grandstands.
When Elliott Sadler stuck the inside wall at Pocono, head-on, all of the safety features of the Car of Tomorrow and the HANS device were put to test. The damage to the front of the No. 19 U.S. Air Force Ford was devastating. The complete right side frame rail was ripped out of the front end of the car along with all of the right front suspension components, and the engine was tossed out onto the racetrack.
Fortunately all of the safety systems performed as designed and Sadler, while extremely sore from bruising from the safety harness holding him into the seat, was cleared for release from the infield care center after initial evaluation.
But the wreck brought attention to the infield landscape and the infield retaining wall at Pocono. For years, the dirt wall in the infield at Pocono has had an almost 90 degree point sticking out. While surrounded by a steel boiler plate wall, the 90 degree projection represents a huge danger in the event of a crash in the area approaching it. Why the 90 degree projection exists may have been in the original design of the track for a opening in the inside wall, but it should seriously be redesigned and/or removed.
In fairness to the fine folks at Pocono, the track had scheduled to have the SAFER Barrier System installed on the inside walls at the track after this year’s two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events.
NASCAR officials need to carefully inspect all of the tracks that currently host its top three series – Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Camping World Truck, and the new tracks that will be included in the 2011 schedule. Areas such as the 90 degree projection at Pocono, grass areas between the racetrack surface and the inside retaining wall, inside retaining wall construction, catch fence height between the grandstands and racetrack, catch fence height between the racetrack and infield areas utilized by fans, and any other items that have not received attention at the various tracks over the last 15 or more years. And, require the tracks to address those concerns prior to the 2011 season.
NASCAR has the proper influence to be able to require track safety upgrades that it deems needed at all of the tracks hosting its top three racing series. Doing so simply seems the responsible thing to do and will ensure the stars of the sport’s ability to physically compete in all of the season’s events.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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