Associated Press
BROOKLYN, Mich. ó Denny Hamlin is feeling better after Monday’s crash at Watkins Glen, and he’s hesitant to call for changes at the track without giving it a bit of thought first.
Hamlin zoomed at high speed straight through a turn and slammed head-on into a tire barrier that bordered a paved runout area. He said Friday his back and tailbone had been bothering him but he’s improved since the middle of the week. There was another big wreck at the end of Monday’s race. David Ragan slammed head-on into a guard rail, and David Reutimann’s car bounced hard off the barrier and slid upside down across the track.
Drivers were asked Friday if some of the walls at Watkins Glen should be altered.
“I’m so torn on it because we all did walk away pretty much unscathed,” Hamlin said. “So, it’s like, what’s better? That guard rail with tires where I hit? Or would it be harder if I hit a soft wall because there’s concrete behind that soft wall?”
Jeff Gordon said it might be time to take another look at the track.
“The experts look at it and there’s not enough data to tell them that there needs to be a SAFER barrier there. I know it’s easy for us to say there should be one everywhere, but we’re not making those decisions,” Gordon said. “They need to be re-evaluated. We’ve seen now more than one or more than two occasions where cars have gotten into that outside wall and while the wall did its job in absorbing the impact, to me the way it shot the car back out there is absolutely something that this day and age, we’re smart enough to know that we can’t have that.”
SAFER barriers ó or Steel and Foam Energy Reduction barriers ó were one of the many safety initiatives that came about after Dale Earnhardt’s death in 2001.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he believes tracks and NASCAR are committed to providing safe facilities, and will make adjustments as needed.
“I go to sleep at night believing that those guys are always looking out in the best interests of our safety,” he said. “Sometimes some things aren’t very clear until you have the accidents that bring certain things to the surface. I’m sure there’s going to be some things done to that area of the racetrack at the Glen to make it safer. It’s unfortunate that sometimes you have to have the accident to bring it to light.”