Following Saturday’s accident at Daytona International Speedway that resulted in an injured Kyle Busch, officials announced that the track would be covering each wall with SAFER barriers to protect the drivers. Since then, other tracks including Kentucky Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway have come out to share they will be adding more SAFER barriers to their tracks.
More is not enough.
The thought is there, the effort is there, but it is just not enough.
SAFER barriers, the name given to the steel-and-foam-energy reduction barriers that protect drivers from hitting solid concrete walls at speeds reaching up to almost 200 miles per hour, have saved countless drivers from injuries or death.
Over the years, as tracks have installed the barriers, many walls have been left out due to the excuse of certain walls being less likely to be hit. This is simply not the case. If there is a wall, no matter how far away or oddly placed it may be, a car will find it.
The number one reason many tracks leave parts of walls unprotected is due to the cost. The track officials will protect high-speed, high-risk areas first and follow up with the areas they believe to be less likely to be hit later as the funding comes in.
Daytona International Speedway president Joie Chitwood III says this is not an excuse.
“We really can’t look at financials as the reason for this,” he said.
Money does not outweigh safety in Chitwood’s eyes. “We’ve got to have a venue where we can put on NASCAR racing and have the competitors be safe.”
NASCAR executive vice president Steve O’Donnell agrees with these statements and says officials will have talks with tracks on making each property safer.
“We will accelerate those talks with the tracks,” O’Donnell said, “We want this sport to be as safe as possible for not only our drivers, but everyone who participates in the sport and the race fans as well.”
While we can thank tracks for putting forth the effort as they look to place ‘more’ SAFER barriers on their properties, we simply cannot commend them until one hundred percent of each track is protected by SAFER barriers, giving each driver the protection they deserve.
Before the accident on Saturday Camille, where were your posts calling for enhanced barriers at NASCAR tracks? In fact, where were posts from 100’s of other columnists on the same issue. My point should be obvious but to ‘pile on’ after an accidental incident is simple. Try bringing up situations that need changing before an accident occurs.
I’ve believed for the longest time that all tracks should be 100% covered in SAFER barriers. I relate this situation back to 2001 when Dale Earnhardt passed away and suddenly changes began to happen. In a sport that feels as “comfortable” as NASCAR has become, it seems as though it takes a major accident for changes to be made. One can also relate it to when the gate broke at Daytona in the Larson incident in NNS. Changes followed that as well. It is sad that we must wait for a major accident to occur for tracks to understand the severity of what can happen, but in a world where tracks seem to believe fancy grandstands and concourses are of upmost importance, seems as though safety takes the back burner if they feel it isn’t the number one priority on certain issues.