Talledega to install ‘soft walls’ after Kyle Busch crash
Talledega Superspeedway will invest in “soft walls” for NASCAR’s largest oval track before the first of two Sprint Cup series events in May.
Before this weekend’s races, Atlanta Motor Speedway plans to have its own safety improvements, including 130 linear feet of protective barrier — primarily exiting pit road and near Turn 4.
In light of what NASCAR and Dayton International Speedway officials described as a safety “failure” last week, Talledega plans to use SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) barriers to help protect drivers in the event of a crash.
Kyle Busch was injured Saturday in the Xfinity Series race — the Alert Today Florida 300 — at Daytona. Busch is out indefinitely recovering from leg and foot injuries. He hit an unprotected wall head-on at Daytona, and NASCAR said changes would be made to that track immediately.
“I’m really disappointed that we didn’t get that right and obviously disappointed for Kyle,” NASCAR chairman Brian France said on Sirius XM radio. “But we will. That’s a cornerstone of what we do. (If) we don’t get safety right then nothing else really matters.”
Talledega isn’t the only track reacting to the incident with major structural changes to the protective walls. The track hosts the Geico 500 on May 3 and a second race Oct. 23-25.
Kentucky Speedway and others immediately responded to blunt criticism from drivers Saturday night in saying they would address barrier coverage with urgency.
“It’s beyond me why we don’t have soft walls everywhere,” said six-time champion Jimmie Johnson via Twitter.
Xfinity driver Ty Dillon, who was third in Saturday’s race, said the sport must consider universal SAFER systems.
“We should have SAFER barriers at a place like this – we’re going so fast (and) I think we could probably afford it,” he said. “I hate to hear anybody in our sport getting hurt. We’ve advanced so far in safety. We shouldn’t be having any crazy bad injuries.”
