Team owner Rick Hendrick has called out Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the lack of safer walls lining the inside of the 1.5 mile oval. Hendrick's driver Jeff Gordon smacked the wall in the UAW 400 on Sunday, March 2. The impact literally ripped Gordon's no. 24 Dupont Impala into shreds. The impact was so violent the transmission was torn from the car.
"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 owner Bruton Smith says he is assessing the issue of the SAFER barriers and hopes to have a larger section of wall put in before the Craftsman Truck Series returns to the desert in September.
Gordon has taken hard hits in his 16 year career, but Sunday's lick was one of the hardest he's ever taken. The safety gear installed in the car by Hendrick Motorsports saved Gordon from serious injury.
Note:
SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction)barriers were developed at the University of Nebraska and implemented at tracks on the circuit to enhance safety from wall impacts at high speeds.
Rick Hendrick's quote was taken from an AP story by Jenna Fryer
-MO-
sarah
1 comment:
Haha! Stick it to the track owner!
I can't believe they spend 8 million on a car. Damn!
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