NASCAR in a safety scramble to protect drivers from catastrophe with additional soft-wall technology at 23 tracks.
DAYTONA BEACH Kyle Busch was at a nearby hospital, still withering in pain, when Daytona International Speedway president Joie Chitwood offered up a powerful mea culpa in February:
“We’re going to fix this. And it starts right now.”
Daytona had messed up. Busch went spiraling nosefirst into an unprotected infield wall, suffering a compound fracture of his lower right leg and a mid-foot fracture of his left foot competing in an Xfinity race the day before the Daytona 500.
The incident would trigger the loudest conversation regarding safety at NASCAR tracks since the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr. on the last lap of the Daytona 500 in 2001. After that tragedy, NASCAR acted decisively to implement safety measures, most notably the mandatory use of a head-and-neck-restraint device (HANS) and energy-dissipating “soft walls.”
This time, the topic is entirely focused on those soft walls, known in the industry as Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) barriers. The first SAFER barrier was installed at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2002. More than a decade later, those barriers remain a work in progress for the industry. How much is enough? Do you cover every inch of track space with some form of protective device? There is also a cost factor. The cost per linear foot of a SAFER barrier runs between $500 and $600.
Busch’s accident accelerated the push for safety once again after he slid into an area of the track that was unprotected. In a sport with a limited number of stars — just 43 compete on a weekly basis in a Sprint Cup race — NASCAR, once again, had to scramble to protect its assets.
Chitwood announced Fri- day that safety improvements for today’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona will include a total of 4,100 feet of SAFER barriers.
“With this being a highspeed property and with all the cars traveling close together, the feeling is we want to [be] safer every-where,” Chitwood said.
That same day, Chitwood took Busch for a spin around the track in a van showing him the improvements where the crash occurred and in other areas. They got out of the van, allowing Busch to make more suggestions.
“These race tracks know what needs to happen,” Busch said Saturday. “It’s not a secret. ... It’s not rocket science. It just needs to happen.”
Chitwood’s accountability sets a high bar for all other tracks. It remains the gold standard. The transparency of safety improvements since the Busch incident has the feel of a Picasso painting, a tad on the abstract side. Some of it has been proactive, some reactive, some of it remains a mystery.
An Orlando Sentinel inquiry sent to all 23 NASCAR tracks that host a Sprint Cup race this season asked four pertinent questions after safety initiatives, including “are there any plans to add SAFER barriers in the future, and is there a timetable?” Five tracks did not respond to an email inquiry and subsequent follow-up.
On Saturday, International Speedway Corporation, which owns and operates 12 facilities, including Daytona, offered a little more clarity. It issued a statement to all media indicating it will install approximately 54,000 linear feet of additional SAFER barriers at its facilities.
“From now through the end of 2016, ISC will work with Cheaha Construction, Smith Fence Company, and North Industrial Machine, all certified organizations with the University of Nebraska, on this installation,” ISC president John Saunders said in a statement. “As safety remains at the forefront, ISC will continue to work with NASCAR to evaluate specific locations inside the turns for future safety enhancements.”
The shades of gray in transparency reflect an industry that has been in a bit of a scramble mode ever since Busch’s accident in February. The following week in Atlanta, another of NASCAR’s stars, Jeff Gordon, crashed into a wall that was not covered by a SAFER barrier.
“I am very frustrated with the fact there are no SAFER barriers down there,” Gordon said after the crash. “I knew it was a hard hit. I was like, ‘Man, I can’t believe ...’ I didn’t expect it to be that hard. Then I got out and I looked and I saw, ‘Oh, wow, big surprise! I found the one wall here on the back straight-away that doesn’t have a SAFER barrier.’ “
Atlanta officials announced that 130 additional feet of tire barriers had been added prior to the race, but it obviously wasn’t enough.
Busch, among others, took to Twitter to criticize the track.
“Total BS,” tweeted Ray Evernham, Gordon’s former crew chief.
Hence, the combination of proactive and piecemeal responses as the season chugs along to its final race in Homestead in late November.
“NASCAR and its track partners remain steadfastly committed to safety,” Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR EVP & chief racing development officer, said in a statement. “We’re pleased with the progress made to date, as well as the current plans each national series track has presented to NASCAR. We will continue to work with experts and collectively make recommendations to race tracks for courses of action, both in the short term and in the long term.”
Busch’s advice: Step on it. His next bit of advice came on Saturday when he suggested that tracks should eliminate as many patches of grass as possible. Although aesthetically pleasing, grass clunks up cars during a spin, making them go airborne when air gets underneath them.
“You’ve always got to plan for the worst,” he said. “We all need to take a step and pour every effort into everywhere around the race tracks.”