Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Indy safety not off the (soft) wall

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at [email protected] or (702) 259-4089.

The new soft walls installed last week at Indianapolis Motor Speedway have undergone two real-world tests since practice opened Sunday and the consensus among drivers and Indy Racing League officials is that the energy-absorbing barriers have exceeded expectations.

Robby McGehee became the first driver to test the new barriers when he crashed in Turn 3 during Sunday's opening day of practice for this month's Indianapolis 500. P.J. Jones also crashed into the SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) wall in Turn 1 on Tuesday.

Although both drivers escaped serious injury and were able to walk away from the accidents, both suffered small spinal fractures in their respective crashes -- a fact that troubled veteran driver Arie Luyendyk.

"I've been thinking about the softer wall (and) it appears that it does reduce the impact," Luyendyk said Thursday. "When you see some of the hits that have happened in the past, guys get out. The one thing that just concerns me right now is we've had two crashes this week and both guys have minimal (injuries) but they've had cracked vertebras. I'm just a little puzzled.

"We seem to have the best headrests we've ever had in the cars. We seem to have the best seats ... now we have the softer wall. Yet guys are still sustaining small injuries. Of course, you can say the injuries would have been a lot worse. But in the past, they've hit the wall and they've hit with less protection in the cars, some of them just got out and walked away -- or most of them. So it's a little bit puzzling actually."

Still, Luyendyk said he is in favor of the new technology.

"I do believe that the wall is a great step in the right direction," he said. "It appears to help and reduce the impact, which is great. It already gives me a peace of mind here driving around that if something goes wrong, I'm not going to hit the concrete first, but I'll be saved and helped a little bit by the new wall.

"So, for me, it's a peace of mind. I think and hope this will be the case that a few years from now we'll all be saying to ourselves 'Why did we ever run without them?' Hopefully, they can keep working on the wall and make it better and better."

IRL officials said after McGehee's accident that the wall performed as they had expected and were pleased with the results.

"Based on what we've seen, the wall behaved in a very, very encouraging manner," IRL vice president of operations Brian Barnhart said. "We really like what we see. (McGehee's) car did not snag along the wall; it slid along. It didn't have a rebound angle. The wall did not become detached. The foam performed flawlessly behind.

"We think the wall behaved in a very encouraging fashion. We are really pleased for the first test, especially since the first test in a real-world atmosphere is probably on the upper level (of) extremes."

One area of concern was the time it took to repair the wall after McGehee's accident and the effect that might have if there were multiple incidents during the Indy 500. While it took more than 30 minutes to fix the damaged wall during Sunday's practice, Barnhart said that time would be reduced if the wall needed to be repaired during the race.

"I certainly think this would be a scenario where we would have a 15-minute clean up (during a race)," Barnhart said. "In other words, while they are cleaning up the wreck and the debris from the wrecked racecar, one crew is dedicated to the wall. We're not going to slow the race down any."

Las Vegas native Kurt Busch will be among the 27 drivers competing in The Winston.

"This letter is to express my heartfelt thanks for all of the cards, flowers and especially the prayers I have received since my accident on April 19. Your generous outpouring of support has made a huge impact on the success and speed of my recovery. I wish there were a way to thank each of you personally.

"I have come to realize that I am not only blessed to have survived this accident, but I am equally blessed to have so many people who care so much about my family and me. You will never know how much that means to me.

"I am anxious to get back to work, and look forward to seeing each and everyone of you again as soon as possible. Thank you again for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers through my perilous time."

Roush, 60, is undergoing physical therapy in Michigan to rehabilitate a broken leg and ankle he suffered in the crash.

"You dream about having seasons like this -- you certainly don't ever imagine it," Dixon said. "The only person who can think of having a season like this I think is (Formula 1 champion) Michael Schumacher; he is an awesome driver and he is in an awesome car. It's more than I ever could imagine."

"All of these added attractions will help enhance the visibility of our sport to the public as well as helping make the SCORE Henderson's Terrible 250 quickly impact the special events environment of Southern Nevada," SCORE president Sal Fish said.

"We are all truly excited to get out of the dirt for some wonderful opportunities to help the public learn more about SCORE International while getting to know our talented and dedicated SCORE racers even more."

A complete schedule of events surrounding the SCORE Henderson's Terrible 250 can be found at www.score-international.com.

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