Talladega track officials still evaluating performance of catch fence

By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Roush Fenway Racing's Carl Edwards bounces off the fence during the Aaron's 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. (David Griffin / NASCAR Scene)

Roush Fenway Racing's Carl Edwards bounces off the fence during the Aaron's 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.

David Griffin
NASCAR Scene

Talladega Superspeedway officials are still investigating whether any improvements should be made to the track’s fencing after Carl Edwards flew into the catch fence during the Aaron’s 499 Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.

Edwards was trying to block Phoenix Racing’s Brad Keselowski coming toward the finish line and ended up getting slightly into the air while spinning before being rammed by Stewart-Haas Racing’s Ryan Newman, which sent Edwards’ Roush Fenway car flying into the catch fence. The car landed back on the track, and seven spectators were injured from debris. One spectator, whom track doctors said suffered a possible fractured jaw and face laceration, remained in the hospital in fair condition Wednesday.

Track engineers from both Talladega and sister track Daytona International Speedway, the two high-banked tracks where NASCAR requires the use of restrictor plates to limit speeds, have spent the last few days looking at the fence trying to determine if any improvements could be made.

“As far as everything working, we can say the fencing and the cabling and everything did what it was designed to do – and that was to save the race car and put it back on the race track and keep it out of the stands,” track President Rick Humphrey said Wednesday. “From that standpoint, it appears to have worked well. Is there anything that we can do to eliminate some of those injuries that did occur? That we haven’t landed on yet, and we will continue to look at that.

“We’re only a couple of days past the event, but it certainly is something that we will look at all options to see what, if anything, can be or needs to be done to prevent the injuries that we did have.”

Humphrey said it is still unclear what hit the fans – debris from the car or debris from the fence.

“We still do not know that, and I don’t know that we ever will unless someone comes forward and says they saw it,” Humphrey said. “I don’t know that we’ll ever know that.”

Daytona International Speedway President Robin Braig said his engineers didn’t recommend any changes to the Daytona fencing after examining the Talladega scene. Both tracks are owned by International Speedway Corp., which has its own track construction company that handles improvements to the tracks.

“We sent a crew up there to learn what happened, what held, what the incident was all about,” Braig said. “They report the SAFER barrier held up, the mesh, the catch fence and the poles, and everything worked as designed.

“Unfortunately some of the debris got through. We feel confident that we’re in great shape and do not need any changes in Daytona in advance of the Coke Zero 400.”

The Talladega fences are 14 feet high from the top of the banking, and Humphrey said the fence height will be evaluated as part of the accident-review process. NASCAR could ask the tracks to increase the height of the fences. NASCAR Vice President for Competition Robin Pemberton said Monday that while everything will be re-evaluated, he believes the fence is high enough.

“To date, NASCAR has not made any request to Rick or myself for any changes,” Braig said. “I think an awful lot of stars had to line up for this incident to happen the way it did. As we reviewed the video, the [car] flaps worked, and it was on its way back down to the ground until the 39 car [of Newman] came and punted it back up in the air.

“It was clearly a very rare incident. We’re comfortable with what NASCAR has done with the restrictor plates and being able to keep the cars on the track and out of the stands. We don’t plan any changes.”

Before every race weekend, track engineers check the steel cables and bolts in the fence and the cables that go into the blocks of concrete, Braig said.

Crews have already made some repairs. With the crash happening at the end of the race, there was no need to get the fence repaired for more racing. But ISC officials thought it would make for a good exercise, and the fence was repaired well enough in two hours to meet the track’s safety standards for racing.

Humphrey said it took a couple of hours to fix to be race ready.

“Posts were bent, so it created some challenges we don’t typically see during our practice runs,” Humphrey said.

Humphrey and Braig said they have not gotten any requests from fans who hold tickets in the lower rows for future races to be moved to higher seats. The seats closest to the track are typically the lowest-priced tickets for that part of the track.

“It’s amazing because I have stood down there at the end of several races at the start-finish line, and the folks sitting down [close], they’re just passionate about their sport,” Humphrey said. “There are fans who do enjoy sitting down there and as the cars go by, feeling the air as they go. It can be quite a rush.”

Braig believes his ticket sales have received a boost from the Talladega race in general and the Edwards crash. Daytona has not had fans injured by debris during a race since a 1999 Truck Series race when Geoffrey Bodine was in a horrific accident in the first race for that series at the track.

“We always get a [sales] lift after a Talladega race, and we had a much bigger lift than usual following this past race,” he said. “It was the entire [race], the 57 lead changes and that finish. There are some that are very hard-core superspeedway fans, and they called Monday morning.”
 

Comments

14 responses to "Talladega track officials still evaluating performance of catch fence". Post a Comment.
  1. 1
    funktronic said:
    Apr 30, 2009 at 10:31 AM

    Ummmm.....correct me if im wrong...but.... don't we know the fence did its job!! nobody was seriously hurt!! the drivers know they could die at any instant in the race, just as a lineman puts his life on the line.... literally..an electrical line!! The fans should also know that they could get hurt from the action on the track...or at least they should!! If you don't want to get hurt sit far away...or better yet stay at home and watch. Maybe they could make the fence a little higher and enforce it more, but what else can you do? its DEGA baby!! when Alison had a similar but much worse crash, a bunch of earnhardt fans, dressed in all black, were in the front rows were debris was thrown. you know what they said....they didn't complain or say nascar had to change things......they simply said " dale puts his life on the line for us so we will support him by being as close as we can as he goes by, even if it means getting hurt" (not verbatim) thats a true hardcore fan!! what happened to those kinds of people.

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  2. 2
    Rosanne Masters said:
    Apr 30, 2009 at 10:36 AM

    It's really quite obvious that the fence did it's job since the car didn't enter the seats. I've seen hoods go over the fence without touching the fence, and go into the seats and hit spectators. No one ever mention raising the fence. Yes a hood is different from the entire car, but the fence did it's job, as did the harness and roll cage system. Everyone talkes about the "big" one at 'Dega--it happened and will happen again. Isn't that why most of the fans go to the races anyway???

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  3. 3
    PB said:
    Apr 30, 2009 at 11:19 AM

    Rosanne, Unfortunately you are correct that alot of people go for the wrecks. As a racer I would rather see people come for the racing but I am also a realist. Take a look at this video and after this night alot of people not only decided that they were coming for the wrong reason but some never came back. I will tell you that the Driver escaped with sever burns but it was even more horrible in person than the video shows but it should teach us all something about safety.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzoY2YgORGs

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  4. 4
    Larry Brooks said:
    Apr 30, 2009 at 3:06 PM

    This became a big deal mostly because of Carl Edwards' comment about doing this until somebody gets killed. But we all know from Carl's past actions, he said that because he was mad since he lost the race. If he had crashed going across the finish line with the lead and had won, he would have said, "that's racing." Carl, man up for once and set the record straight at Richmond. There are enough boring races as it is now. We don't need Talladega to become one of them.

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  5. 5
    Timberline said:
    Apr 30, 2009 at 3:26 PM

    I've yet to hear exactly what kind of debris came through the fence. Or did it go over?

    It seems as if the cables held and kept the car from going through. Maybe they need a double fence, the existing and a second one with a finer mesh to keep small pieces from going through.

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  6. 6
    Sheila Hawley said:
    Apr 30, 2009 at 3:53 PM

    That's right. Everything did what it was supposed to do. The fans go to Dega and sit where they do so they can see just such a spectacle. If Carl had used his head, that wouldn't have happened. You'd think he would have remembered last year. He stayed behind all race and took his team mates and others out on the last lap doing what he did this year. It just wasn't as spectacular. There's no sense blocking just before the Finish Line. Chances are you will cause a wreck. Just race to the finish. There's nothing wrong with the track or the cars. Blocking kills. Isn't that what happened to the driver of the 3 car? He was blocking. They now have all those safety features because of that wreck. Now we need to stop the last second-block.

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  7. 7
    Debi Watts said:
    Apr 30, 2009 at 4:15 PM

    Heck of a video PB!
    I'm a racing fan. Yes, I love NASCAR but I go to local tracks when I can. I'm disabled, so sitting up high on bleachers for any length of time is hard. I prefer middle bleachers because... I want to watch the racing around the entire track.
    Unlike most of the thinking here - I don't go to watch the 'big one' it shakes things up, definitely. Maybe some people don't understand the nuance of racing... positioning, manuevers, etc that can give you the edge. Those are now the 'boring races' that fans want to see gone.
    Can't have it both ways!
    Even with the drivers that everyone loves to hate - when they have a bad accident, I'm not cheering... I'm sitting holding my breath until net comes down or they are out of the car. This applies even if they took out the favorites.
    As far as the fans sitting in the seats - I know my tickets had a disclaimer. I read it, I understood it.
    I'm pretty sure fans are going to be upset with the double fence idea and using a finer mesh - because it will elimiate photo ops during the race!
    I do believe that NASCAR should look into making the fence a few feet higher. Edwards car was almost over the top of it. It hit at the top. Another couple of feet and the car would have been in the stands.

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  8. 8
    Jim Bayliss said:
    Apr 30, 2009 at 5:08 PM

    I agree with your posts, #3 and #7 for the most part. - - It is unfortunate we have the blood thirsty "fanatics" who watch JUST for the crashes and think "racing" is boring. Sad but true. But I guess they will just always be a part of this sport as long as it is around, and as long as the money they pull in is more imporant that "quality racing". - - - As far as stuff from the car getting through the fence, it sure didn't LOOK like any did. But all they have to do is inspect all the pieces of debris, and see IF any came off the car itself. I am sure they took plenty of photos of the car itself, so all they have to do is match things up. But it did NOT look like anything came THROUGH the fence in the videos "I" saw of it. But a GOOD detective sure could find that out. Course maybe, just maybe the track and NASCAR don't WANT to find out!?!?!?!

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  9. 9
    Paul Hamor said:
    Apr 30, 2009 at 7:36 PM

    ThE ROOF FLAPS WORKED??? They worked in so much as they helped lift the car off the ground. I have watched that video dozens of times now and the wheels do not leave the ground until AFTER the first flap comes up. The flaps need to somehow be on the bottom of the car not the top. It is simple physics, you need the air flow going over the flaps to push down. In their current configuration the air pushes up once they deploy. Look at the flaps on an airplane, they put them down to catch air and hold the plane up at slower speeds. While I commend Jack Roush for their creation, NASCAR needs to re-evalute their location on the car.

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  10. 10
    Michael Huff said:
    May 1, 2009 at 12:01 AM

    Paul H. From what I've read and understand the roof flaps and cowl flaps deploy as soon as the car starts to lift up,you are looking at it wrong, when a car turns it does act like a wing, and starts to lift, the flaps open and this allows the air under the car lifting it to escape out the top of the car creating a pressure difference which makes the car drop back down.

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  11. 11
    Davin Jaggard said:
    May 1, 2009 at 7:45 AM

    The only improvement that I can think of would be to raise the fence another few feet. This "might" prevent some parts from entering the stands. I know that the fence needs to be there but I hate it. Most races I attend, I sit up as high as I can and still the fence is in my view. It needs to be there and it is working. I watch this race for the WRECKS and even though Carl is my driver, it was a great wreck. It causes debate, talk, and keeps the sport alive until the next race.

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  12. 12
    lori anderson said:
    May 1, 2009 at 1:00 PM

    Just a few comments. I don't ever remember going to a race for the wrecks. I personally prefer side by side racing and drivers actually able to pass without being pushed to the win. A car going into the fence or 10 to 14 car pileups is not my idea of good racing. It would be nice on super speed ways to actually see a car have the ability to sling shot around someone to avoid a wreck or get a win which we have seen in the past.

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  13. 13
    Jim Bayliss said:
    May 1, 2009 at 3:47 PM

    I agree Lori. Whenever I went to races to watch, and there were more than one class of cars, I could hardly wait for some of the lower class cars to get done, as the drivers were very inexperienced and always crashing. I preferred a good green flag race from start to finish. What is boring is yellow laps and all the clean up or even worse the red flag laps to clean up.

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  14. 14
    bill thompson said:
    May 2, 2009 at 11:53 PM

    no plates ,let them race. 10 car packs would be fine. quit trying to keep 35 together

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