Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney said after a crash at Nashville Superspeedway that the lack of a SAFER Barrier was “unacceptable.” Now NASCAR has weighed in with support for the comments.
Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s SVP of Competition, appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on June 27 and faced questions about Blaney’s head-on collision with a concrete wall. He acknowledged that motorsports are inherently dangerous, but he also said that NASCAR is examining fixes for the future given the importance of protecting the athletes.
🗣️”I echo Ryan’s thoughts: it’s unacceptable.”
#NASCAR SVP of Competition Elton Sawyer told #TMDNASCAR the sanctioning body is looking deeper into @Blaney‘s accident on Sunday at @NashvilleSuperS when he hit a concrete wall head on.
💥 “Something should have been there.”
“I echo Ryan’s thoughts — it’s unacceptable,” Sawyer said on June 27. “I’ll start there. Why it wasn’t protected, I don’t have a great answer for you. There are some areas that basically are not designed or are not… positions around the facility where it’s conducive to put SAFER.
“And in this case — just in the way SAFER’s designed — what I’ve been told is that you need a 100-foot span to be able to use SAFER. Now, this is less than that.”
As Sawyer continued to explain, there are some other options that NASCAR can examine to prevent such hard collisions. Sand barrels and tire barriers are two examples of what NASCAR could do at Nashville and other venues.
Safety Remains a ‘Journey’ for NASCAR
GettyRyan Blaney races at Nashville Superspeedway.
Sawyer noted during his appearance that the pursuit of safety remains a journey for NASCAR. It is not something with an end date. There are constant changes that must be made with advancements in the cars, tracks, and technology.
NASCAR and its tracks have taken steps to protect the competitors and fans over the years. However, there are still multiple examples of cars crashing in the one spot where there isn’t the expected SAFER Barrier.
Blaney’s crash at Nashville Superspeedway was only the latest example. There was also a crash in 2008 where Jeff Gordon hit an opening in the wall at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He missed the SAFER Barrier and destroyed the front of the No. 24.
Another example was Cody Ware’s crash at Texas Motor Speedway in 2022. He hit the outside wall and then slid down pit road. The No. 51 Ford Mustang barely missed hitting an opening in the pit road wall, but it slammed into the concrete wall that separates the pit stalls from the pit boxes.
Sand Barrels Protected Another Driver in 2022
“Why do you guys put barrels filled with sand at the beginning of pit road?”
Because this (red flag is out, Brandon is okay):
As Sawyer said, sand barrels are one of the options available to NASCAR as it examines ways to prevent direct collisions with the concrete wall. These barrels may not be the preferred option when compared to a SAFER Barrier, but they have protected other drivers in the past.
One prominent example occurred at Auto Club Speedway during the 2022 season. A three-car incident led to Brandon Jones sliding broadside into sand barrels, which destroyed his Toyota GR Supra and ended his day.
The incident occurred at the end of the Xfinity Series race. Stefan Parsons slid up and pinched Sheldon Creed into the outside wall. Jones had to suddenly turn left to avoid the No. 2 and No. 99, but he lost control of the No. 19 Toyota and began sliding toward the entrance of pit road.
Jones recognized that he was on a collision course with the sand barrels, so he tried accelerating. However, the rear wheels spun on the infield grass as he continued sliding toward pit road.
The No. 19 ultimately slammed into the sand barrels, which destroyed them and led to an extensive cleanup. This was not an ideal situation, but these same barrels kept him from slamming into a piece of concrete that sits at the entrance of pit road.
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NASCAR Examining Changes After ‘Unacceptable’ Nashville Crash