As a spectator of the sport don't be fooled into a false sense of security that the drivers we cheer for each and every week are safe from severe injuries and maybe even death due to a crash into the race track wall. Unfortunately danger is still very real.
The need for better use of SAFER Barrier is still very real in NASCAR
While watching the Nationwide race on Saturday I witnessed Brad Keselowski cut a right front tire coming out of turn four and head directly into the outside retaining wall - no problem right? There is SAFER Barrier there right? Nope, not where he hit.
He hit just past the point where the SAFER Barrier ends coming out of the corner going on to the straight away. Fortunately he wasn't hurt, but man he took a lick. He also then bounced off the wall back into the center of the track pretty fast too, but he was able to quickly get the car back up towards the wall so no one else would be collected by his Goodyear turning bad.
Isolated incident right? Sure, maybe ... but when it happens again the very next day to David Ragan you have to question why there is no SAFER Barrier on the straightaway too.
David's hit even looked harder than The Kez's and he almost collected another car with him as he came back into the middle of the track. Another thing I noticed once I saw the replay was when David came off of the outside retaining wall he started heading straight for the inside retaining wall which does not have any SAFER Barrier on it either.
Just watch the video of David's wreck (35 seconds) to see what I'm talking about:
Now
You would think that after Jeff Gordon's wreck in Vegas a few years back when he hit an unprotected inside retaining wall head on that the individual tracks or even NASCAR would look into installing SAFER Barrier on to all wall surfaces enclosing the race track but they haven't. Although to the credit of track officials in Vegas they did take care of the area in which Gordon did crash.
Why don't all race tracks install the impact absorbing SAFER Barrier on all of their walls? Two reasons; NASCAR hasn't told them to and it's expensive to do so. I mean why spend money when you don't have too?
I've been a longtime fan of the sport and have watched a lot of drivers come and go over the last thirty or so years. I've seen a lot, including Booby Allison almost losing his life in the Tunnel Turn at Pocono to the death of Dale Earnhardt at Daytona and everything in between and I'm left shaking my head wondering why?
Why? If we have the technology to lessen possible injury to drivers when they hit a race track wall then why don't we use it?
SAFER Barrier needs to be on every square inch of every wall at every race track NASCAR races at. Period.
Until that happens the potential to lose a driver due to injury or worse because of a collision with an unprotected wall will still be too great.
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