Super safety
With stakes, tensions high, changes intended to benefit drivers, fans
SAFER barriers surround Talladega, plus one GWC,
This weekend finds NASCAR at a difficult crossroads — the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup ends at Talladega Superspeedway, one of motor sports’ most unpredictable and dangerous tracks.
With several drivers virtually in need of a win to avoid being one of four excused from the championship run and this season’s restrictor-plate races pockmarked by violence of a particularly wicked variety, Talladega opens its gates looking like a black monolith of sorts.
Although Daytona International Speedway and Talladega often produce spectacular multiple-car wrecks — such as the one at Daytona in July that saw Austin Dillon’s car sail into the catchfence on the final lap — most drivers say they usually run with more confidence at Talladega because the track is wider.
“I’m sure we’re going to find a way to run into each other, for sure, but hopefully we all just — it all stays on the ground,” Denny Hamlin said.
The usual Talladega tension will be heightened, particularly if Chase contenders are bunched in the lead pack in the closing laps. Only Joey Logano — with wins at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway — is guaranteed a slot in the next round.
“It’s going to be a crazy deal at the end,” said Martin Truex Jr., one of 11 drivers vying for the remaining seven slots. “We’re going to race hard and not worry about where we’re at throughout the day, because we know how it can be there. There are chances you have to be willing to take sometimes. Obviously, there’s a few guys that seem to be always able to make the right decision. A lot of it depends on what the guys around you do.” SAFEGUARDS IN PLACE The uniqueness of this Chase stop — the sixth of 10 in the title run — can be seen in official actions that came before teams rolled into eastern Alabama.
First, drivers will see a speedway racing corridor completely cloaked in SAFER barriers. Track officials say they have added 8,000 linear feet of the so-called soft walls, putting the barriers in front of every foot of outside and inside wall in the facility.
In addition, NASCAR announced Tuesday that a significant procedural change for its weekend races at the 2.66-mile, high-speed track. Although standard procedure calls for up to three green-white-checkered restarts to end a race if caution flags slow the field, this weekend’s races will be lengthened by only one attempt if necessary.
It’s is a nod toward safety; twolap green-flag race-ending runs at Talladega and Daytona are filled with potential for mayhem. It’s an admission by NASCAR that repeated attempts at GWC finishes at the tracks can lead to huge crashes and increase the odds of drivers or fans being injured. Dillon and five fans in the frontstretch grandstand near where his car went into the catchfence suffered minor injuries.
“We take very seriously the responsibility of balancing exciting finishes and safety,” NASCAR executive vice president Steve O’Donnell said. “We’re confident that this is a positive direction for both.”
Drivers generally favor the change, though it’s curious that the sanctioning body, in citing safety, chose to leave one GWC finish in place. The addition of SAFER barriers since the track’s May NASCAR weekend came against a background of anxiety.
Kyle Busch suffered a broken leg and foot in February when he crashed into a Daytona concrete wall not protected by a SAFER barrier. Then came Dillon’s crash, an accident that, at least in part, led to NASCAR’s decision to limit GWC finishes this weekend.
“There’s been a lot of talk about the slowness of getting this done,” Talladega track President Grant Lynch told USA TODAY Sports. “When you put up as much as we’ve put up in the last six months, getting it fabricated is tough. Once you get into the turns, you have to fabricate the turn into the SAFER barrier. That’s really tricky, because if you get the radius wrong, you can’t attach it to the wall. In Turns 1 and 2, we had to send some stuff back and have it bent more.
“The track is dramatically different than it was in May, and May was better than it had been before.”