Outside the Las Vegas Motor Speedway care center on a windy, raw evening he (Jeff Gordon) scolded track management for not having a Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) barrier on the part of the inside backstretch wall that his Chevrolet had plowed into moments earlier. The four-time champion said that he was “very disappointed” in the racetrack—simple, measured, emotionless words that carried the weight of a sledgehammer.
“If the teams are asked to spend $8 million a piece for a car that is a little bit safer, then we need to fix the damn walls at the track, ” Hendrick told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “That ought to be priority No. 1, and if the tracks don’t have the walls, then we shouldn’t race there. ” Track officials said owner Bruton Smith was assessing the walls and anticipated SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) barriers installed along the inside before the Truck Series race there in september.
The absolute reality facing NASCAR track owners when it comes to their walls is simple. If a driver gets seriously injured by hitting anything that isn’t covered by a SAFER barrier or some other form of protective, energy-absorbing barrier, the race track will be pilloried in the court of public opinion. It may cost a lot of money to make all of the improvements that could be necessary at some tracks, but as long as people have the money to spend on things like the Neon Garage at Las Vegas Motor Speedway nobody’s going to be buying the poverty excuse.
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