Pocky's Paddock
by Bob Pockrass
Taking a look at a wall
March 30, 2008
More blog postings from Bob Pockrass
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – With Jeff Gordon’s hard crash in an opening at Las Vegas still well in the memory of the NASCAR community, NASCAR is now racing at another track with an opening in the backstretch walls.
The backstretch inside retaining wall at Martinsville Speedway is complete with a SAFER barrier. It ends and a few yards down, near the entrance to Turn 3, pit road begins. Like most pit roads, there is a wall to separate the equipment from the pit stall.
Between the end of the backstretch inside retaining wall and the pit road wall, there is an opening. It allows emergency vehicles to get on and off the track.
That pit road wall has no barrels or anything on the end – just a blunt wall.
Yes, it looks like it would be difficult for a car to hit that wall head on. But all it takes is one car spinning another as he slows down
to enter the pits to make it a dangerous situation.
NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton says short tracks present challenges.
He said the wall is so far to the inside, and with speeds reaching only 100 mph and the angle a car would have to go to hit that makes
NASCAR not overly concerned with the blunt wall. Also, the only time the drivers would actually be going toward that wall on purpose would be when they’re entering the pits.
“We’re also limited by space and all these things,” Pemberton said. “The short tracks have different issues because of how you get on and off of pit road.”
Could a SAFER barrier be put there, even though it is the entrance to pit road?
“We have never had a hit there,” Pemberton said. “The SAFER barriers are recommended from statistical data. So we all have a goal of putting them in as many places as much as we can.
“With the statistical data, you start with the most probable places to hit and then when you get those positions filled, you continually
every year upgrade your recommendations.”
If anything, NASCAR needs to at least watch this area of the track closely and evaluate whether any changes need to be made. For those of us who aren’t safety experts, it looks like a potential accident waiting to happen.
The backstretch inside retaining wall at Martinsville Speedway is complete with a SAFER barrier. It ends and a few yards down, near the entrance to Turn 3, pit road begins. Like most pit roads, there is a wall to separate the equipment from the pit stall.
Between the end of the backstretch inside retaining wall and the pit road wall, there is an opening. It allows emergency vehicles to get on and off the track.
That pit road wall has no barrels or anything on the end – just a blunt wall.
Yes, it looks like it would be difficult for a car to hit that wall head on. But all it takes is one car spinning another as he slows down
to enter the pits to make it a dangerous situation.
NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton says short tracks present challenges.
He said the wall is so far to the inside, and with speeds reaching only 100 mph and the angle a car would have to go to hit that makes
NASCAR not overly concerned with the blunt wall. Also, the only time the drivers would actually be going toward that wall on purpose would be when they’re entering the pits.
“We’re also limited by space and all these things,” Pemberton said. “The short tracks have different issues because of how you get on and off of pit road.”
Could a SAFER barrier be put there, even though it is the entrance to pit road?
“We have never had a hit there,” Pemberton said. “The SAFER barriers are recommended from statistical data. So we all have a goal of putting them in as many places as much as we can.
“With the statistical data, you start with the most probable places to hit and then when you get those positions filled, you continually
every year upgrade your recommendations.”
If anything, NASCAR needs to at least watch this area of the track closely and evaluate whether any changes need to be made. For those of us who aren’t safety experts, it looks like a potential accident waiting to happen.
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