Kevin Harvick, Danica Patrick criticize Dover’s lack of SAFER barriers

Dover International Speedway installed an additional 479 feet of SAFER barriers prior to its annual spring NASCAR races this weekend, but sections of walls around the track remain unprotected and that became an issue during Sprint Cup practice Friday.

When a mechanical failure on Danica Patrick’s car dumped oil on the surface, it caused Patrick, Tony Stewart and Jamie McMurray to hit the outside Turn 4 wall, which is not covered by an energy-absorbent barrier. Stewart and McMurray struck the wall particularly hard, as they were at-speed and couldn’t slow due to the excessive fluid.

All three drivers were uninjured, though McMurray banged his left elbow fairly hard. Stewart, who missed eight races this year with a broken back, walked gingerly to an awaiting ambulance.

“We don’t wear our helmets and (head-and-neck) devices for the impacts that we are prepared for,” Kevin Harvick said. “We wear those things for the instances where those one-off things can happen like happened today.

“There’s no excuse not to have it there in my opinion.”

NASCAR requires that every paved track that hosts a national division event have SAFER barriers mounted on walls in the turns, but does not mandate the barriers on walls elsewhere. Defending Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch broke his right leg and left foot when he hit an unprotected wall during an Xfinity Series race last year at Daytona International Speedway. He missed 11 races recovering.

Daytona has since installed SAFER barriers on every wall surrounding the 2.5-mile track. SAFER barriers cost approximately $500 per linear foot.

Patrick knows firsthand the difference between hitting a wall covered with a SAFER barrier and one that is not. She walked away from a harrowing accident that saw her go nose-first into a wall two weeks ago at Talladega Superspeedway.

“From the Talladega experience and all the experiences I’ve had hitting the wall, the ones where you hit the wall I think I saw it’s about twice the G-load impact when you hit a non-SAFER barrier,” Patrick said.

“It shouldn’t even be a question whether or not tracks have SAFER barrier all the way around. It should be mandatory. It shouldn’t be a financial decision.”

But Jimmie Johnson said some tracks, like the one-mile Dover, don’t need barriers on the outside wall because the angle of impact isn’t as severe. Still, he would rather have a SAFER barrier to cushion the impact than not.

“The outside wall doesn’t bother me too much that it doesn’t have a SAFER barrier on it,” Johnson. “It’s not like a mile-and-a-half where we have the D-shaped front straightaway and you actually get away from the wall and if something went wrong again, have a terrible angle at the wall.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, disagreed. He cited that even half-mile venues like Bristol Motor Speedway and Martinsville have barriers installed on the frontstretch walls. Thus, there is no reason Dover shouldn’t do the same.

“It would alter the line slightly here, but we go pretty fast here, especially in qualifying trim,” Earnhardt said. “I’m in the gas in the center of the corner, full-throttle, not lifting. So, it would be a hard lick.”