Brad Keselowski says road courses are the most dangerous NASCAR tracks

Just days after walking away from a harrowing accident, Brad Keselowski called for changes to the first turn at Watkins Glen International. He believes it is inevitable someone will get seriously hurt or worse unless improvements are made.

Keselowski was testing Tuesday at the road course when an improperly installed brake line caused him to slam nose-first into a tire barrier while going more than 80 mph as he entered Turn 1. He impacted with such force it destroyed the front-end of the No. 2 car, even bending Keselowski’s steering wheel.

Watkins Glen uses tire barriers in place of energy-absorbing walls because SAFER barriers need to be installed to concrete walls, not steel barriers such as the ones that surround the Upstate New York track.

“I don’t know that I have all the answers, the answers I do have is that there’s only so many of those hits you’re gonna take before someone gets killed,” Keselowski said Friday at Pocono Raceway. “It’s just the way it is. I know that. It’s not something I’m comfortable with, but I think as a sport there’s a lot of different ways to look at it.

“At the end of the day I am still standing here. Odds are that if 100 people take that hit, one or two are not gonna be standing here anymore.”

The first corner at Watkins Glen is the fastest section of the 2.45-mile road course, as drivers enter the sharp right-hander after traveling down the front straightaway at speeds in excess of 160 mph. In recent years the corner has been the site of quite a few serious crashes, including Jimmie Johnson in 2000 and Denny Hamlin in 2011.

Miraculously neither Johnson nor Hamlin were injured, despite the savageness of their respective accidents. Johnson’s car was going so fast all four wheels lifted off the ground when he hit a dip and he skipped right over a sand trap positioned to stop cars from hitting the wall, which was covered by a foam barrier.

Watkins Glen hosts its annual Sprint Cup race Aug. 7.

“Since a half-dozen have taken pretty similar hits in that same part of the race track, I would say that it begs to reason that maybe a change should be made in that area,” Keselowski said. “But I can’t say that I have a specific idea at this time because more people are gonna take that hit and eventually one of us ain’t gonna come back. That’s something that the smart guys that work on that stuff are gonna have to figure out some time.”

Keselowski is familiar with the risks road courses present and considers them more dangerous than restrictor-plate tracks Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The former Sprint Cup champion suffered a broken ankle while testing at Road Atlanta in 2011.

Since Keselowski’s accident five years ago, Team Penske made numerous changes to the construction of the car including designing a new seat to better protect the driver. These modifications Keselowski credited with helping him escape injury on Tuesday.

“In general, I’m not comfortable with tracks that have run offs that lead to very harsh angles, and that’s certainly the situation that that track has, and always has had it,” Keselowski said. “Road courses remain the most dangerous tracks in motorsports for a good reason because of that, but we know that going in.

“To some point we’ve signed up for a certain level of risk and that’s right on the edge of what’s acceptable risk. I think every driver has their own line and if you’re looking at it from that perspective, I think every driver is saying that that’s the acceptable risk they’ve signed up for and it falls within those parameters.”