A frightening crash by Jeff Gordon last spring has prompted Las Vegas Motor Speedway to install a new SAFER Barrier along the inside wall on the back straightaway of the 1.5-mile track.
During the race last March, four-time Cup champion Gordon made heavy contact with the wall in the area that is now protected by the SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) barrier. The new SAFER barrier covers 1,700 feet of the inside backstretch wall, with the energy-absorbing units now covering 7,800 feet of the retaining walls around the track.
Gordon’s crash occurred when he made contact with Matt Kenseth’s car, sending both spinning. Gordon’s car hit the inside wall so hard it ripped the transmission from under the hood. Team owner Rick Hendrick said at the time that NASCAR should not return to the track until the retaining wall that Gordon hit was improved.
“Speedway Motorsports is committed to driver safety at all of its speedways,” said track general manager Chris Powell. “Following this year’s NASCAR Sprint Cup event, we consulted with NASCAR officials and our own engineers. We all agreed that installing the barrier on the backstretch was the proper course of action.”
The final panels of the new barrier were put in place last week, with NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Brendan Gaughan on hand to see the changes firsthand.
“This speedway has made tremendous improvements to enhance both the fan experience and driver safety over the past several years,” Gaughan said.
The first event on the superspeedway with the new barrier will be a truck series race on Saturday, Sept. 20.
MORE SAFETY: Texas Motorplex, the site of next month’s NHRA Fall Nationals, is in the midst of several new safety initiatives, including extending the run-off area beyond the finish line.
The changes come in the wake of the fiery crash in June at Englishtown, N.J., in which drag racer Scott Kalitta was killed.
“Even though we have one of the longest tracks and sand trap areas in the sport, we decided after the Scott Kalitta accident that we should extend our safety area as much as possible just because you never know,” said Billy Meyer, owner and president of the Texas track.
“Right now, our sand trap is about the length of a football field, and we are extending it so it will be three times as long,” he added. “The walls are going to not only be taller than the height on the track, but the walls also are going to continue to narrow down to be able to funnel a car into a safe zone eliminating the chance that a car hits anything.”
Meyer, a former drag racer, said Kalitta’s accident taught everyone in drag racing a lesson.
“Even though we have not had a runaway car in a long, long time in this sport, it can happen,” he said. “There is no reason to spare any expense if it can spare another racer’s life. Even if the chances are one in a million that it could happen again, we can’t take that chance.”
John Force, who broke both legs and also damaged both his arms and hands in a 300-mph crash with Kenny Bernstein at Texas Motorplex in 2007, consulted with Meyer on the changes.
“NHRA is aggressively working on safety improvements, but I’ve also been talking to Force about some of the things we can do to increase safety at the track,” Meyer said. “Force’s team has been at the forefront of the quest to make the sport more safe. I spent a lot of time racing cars in my life and I know that we always need to be working on improvements.”
Force, a 14-time Funny Car champion, and his Force Racing Team started The Eric Medlen Project after Medlen, who drove for him, was killed in March 2007 in a testing accident in Gainesville, Fla. The project’s aim is to enhance race car safety in all forms of motorsports through heightened research and development.
“I’m excited Billy Meyer is making additional safety improvements to the Texas Motorplex,” Force said. “As a former Funny Car driver, Billy has always wanted what is best for the racers. He has always been an innovator and I think the changes he is making to his track, especially the longer sand pit, will give drivers a better chance to avoid serious injuries.”
GAMBLING ON FUTURE: Kansas Speedway has an awful lot riding on the possibility of a casino-hotel complex being built on its property.
The track, in partnership with the Cordish Co., has proposed building a $705 million Hard Rock Hotel &Casino above turn two on the 1.5-mile oval if it wins the casino management contract for Wyandotte County in Kansas. Three other groups have also submitted proposals to the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission.
Track officials have announced that they plan to build a road course if the contract comes through. That’s on the heels of International Speedway Corporation president Lesa France Kennedy saying that if the track and Cordish, doing business as Kansas Entertainment LLC, is awarded the casino management contract, ISC would petition NASCAR to move a second Sprint Cup Series date to Kansas Speedway from one of its other facilities.
The road course would allow the speedway to host additional races and events throughout the year, and would be only the second active road course in the state of Kansas.
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