Photo Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR
The Geico 500 race at Talladega Superspeedway this past weekend was unmistakably wild, which it has been known for over the years.
Over the years there have been frequent cars that have went airborne and flipped over. NASCAR has always tried to take data from these and make the cars safer. Even Richard Childress driver Ryan Newman, who also has an engineering degree has spoke out previously about trying to find a way to keep the cars from being catapulting into the air.
On Sunday, once again, two cars were lifted off the ground when wrecked and twisted in air.
Chris Buescher would unfortunately go for the wild ride when a seven-car accident was caused because of contact between Austin Dillon and Jamie McMuarry on Lap 96.
“I just saw the relay,” he said. “It was so quick I never had anytime to react. We got clipped in the right rear and as soon as it turned it went up on its lid. “I thought we were clear of the wreck. I saw it happening in front of us and checked up and the next thing I knew I was upside down. I am pretty sick and tired of speedway racing at this point. It has been a rough year for that.
“We felt we were decent this race. We were holding our own and waiting but here we are. It is unfortunate. I really hate it for the guys.”
Matt Kenseth also had a wild flip late in the race when Danica Patrick got hit by Michael McDowell caused her to get out of line and hit him, sending him in the air. He had been running further up the line before the incident but had to drop back after contact with Joey Logano sent him down below the yellow line, which put him in the position he was in when the incident happen.
“We got behind a little it there and I went to pass the 22(Joey Logano) and he ran me of the race track and lost four or five spots and then we got back there where we didn’t want to be,” he said. “I don’t know, somebody must have gotten turned out of the top lane and just collected me. I was just going straight and saw a car come from the right side and clean our clock.”
So once again NASCAR will exam all the data from the accidents to see what can be done to help to keep the race cars from going airborne.
“Some really intense racing all throughout the day, and some things we didn’t like the cars getting up in the air and we’re already fast at work at the R&D Center, looking at all the video we have,” Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “You never want to see that. So (what) you immediately work on is everybody safe, did the safety equipment do its job and what we can learn from that? The immediate steps are to review all the media shots that we have of those incidents, work with the race teams and then look at what may or may not be different from when we’ve been not only at Talladega but any other race track.
“Safety is first and foremost or all of us. We’ll start that process. It’s not something that we’ve just started. We always look at that. It’s always something in our DNA.”
