Kyle Busch’s HANS device to be studied

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR on Monday tried to figure out why Kyle Busch’s HANS device cracked during a spectacular crash at Talladega Superspeedway.

The frustrated driver, meanwhile, was trying to make sense of two hard wrecks that ruined his weekend.

The Las Vegas native wrecked in Saturday’s Busch Series event, when he was hit from behind and his car ended up on its roof before rolling several times through the grass. His HANS device, a NASCAR-mandated head-and-neck restraint system, cracked in the accident.

“It performed the way it was supposed to, but it had a slight stress crack in it after the accident,” NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said.

NASCAR sent the device back to manufacturer Hubbard Downing in Georgia for examination.

Busch, who also wrecked hard in Sunday’s Nextel Cup event, has not seen the device but was told by his crew it had cracked. He said he wasn’t overly concerned about it since he wasn’t injured in the accident.

“I’ve been in some pretty bad wrecks, but that was the first time I ever got upside down,” he said. “It wasn’t fun.”