Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: SAFER walls to be installed at LVMS

Friday, March 5, 2004 | 9:28 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway will install the SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) wall system at its 1.5-mile oval in time for next year's NASCAR Nextel Cup race, Speedway Motorsports president H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler said Thursday.

The SAFER wall system was designed by Dean Sicking at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and first installed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2002. The energy-absorbing barrier consists of rectangular steel tubes and pads of hard foam, which are affixed to the existing concrete walls on either the inside or outside of the track.

Wheeler said the SAFER system, which is designed to reduce forces incurred by a car in an accident and increase driver safety, likely would be installed on the outside walls, through the turns, at LVMS.

"We've had them on the inside walls at Lowe's (Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C.) for several years," Wheeler said. "Our biggest impacts at Texas, Charlotte and Atlanta have come on the inside (walls) and we've been more sensitive to that than we have been outside walls.

"That's probably not going to be the case in Vegas because it's a little flatter track. The safety record there has been very, very good."

Wheeler said the SAFER system likely would be installed at LVMS later this year and that all SMI oval tracks -- with the exception of Bristol Motor Speedway -- by next year. In addition to LVMS, SMI owns Lowe's Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Infineon Raceway -- a road course -- in Sonoma, Calif.

"I don't think we need them at Bristol because of the slow speeds they're running there, but I would anticipate we probably will have them everywhere (else) in 2005," Wheeler said. "The whole thing revolves around the 25- to 30-degree-angle hits, which is something that Vegas has not had a lot of, but I anticipate we'll have them anyway and maybe they'll be improved over what Indianapolis has come up with.

"We've got our engineers working on it right now. I'm waiting for a report back from my engineers first, which we should have in a few weeks, and we're hoping that maybe we can even see something that will improve what already has been done. I don't know if we can improve it or not, but that's what we're going to try to do."

Las Vegas Motor Speedway will join a growing list of tracks that already has the SAFER system in place or is in the process of installing it. Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Richmond International Raceway, New Hampshire International Speedway, Homestead-Miami Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway already have the SAFER barrier in place.

Daytona International Speedway, Darlington Raceway and California Speedway have announced plans to install the system this year.

Long's plight -- he wrecked his only Nextel Cup car in the incident -- has captured the imagination of racing fans across the country and helped land a sponsor for the No. 02 SCORE Motorsports Pontiac, which Long will drive this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Raceway Media, LLC has signed a one-race sponsorship agreement with SCORE Motorsports and will promote its www.racingjunk.com website on the car. In addition, Long said he has received about $4,000 in donations from fans trying to help him get back on the track.

Hermie Sadler, who co-owns the No 2 Pontiac with former NBA player Bryant Stith, signed Long during the Rockingham race weekend to drive his car this weekend in Las Vegas.

"I have never experienced this type of reaction to something I was involved in -- and I am not even driving," Sadler said. "The way this deal has taken off this week is a great feeling. There are a lot of people out there that want to help the underdogs out, and it is fun.

"We will be representing a lot of people this weekend in addition to Raceway Media. We are proud to have them as a part of this effort this weekend."

RacingJunk.com is a free online classified service where racers, racing fans and enthusiasts can find everything from racing parts and engines to complete racecars.

"We had been following this story with Hermie Sadler and Carl Long since Rockingham and I really wanted to get involved," said Ryan Maturski, co-owner of Raceway Media. "This is a great opportunity for us to help Hermie and Carl have a successful weekend, while creating awareness for www.racingjunk.com at the same time. We are proud to be on the car and look forward to a great race on Sunday."

Sadler will be driving the No. 02 Treasure Island-sponsored Chevrolet in Saturday's Sam's Town 300 NASCAR Busch Series race at LVMS.

"I'm not sure that Vegas will be the first true test because tire performance has always fallen off at Vegas," Stewart said. "But the race will certainly have a different set of circumstances from last year with the reduced spoiler height.

"We'll still be able to learn form it (but) I think Atlanta will be the first true test of how this new package works for us -- especially in traffic."

Either way, Stewart said he was glad to see NASCAR introduce the new tire, which features a softer sidewall.

"The performance of the tires has always fallen off at Vegas but the new tire is falling off a little bit more, obviously," Stewart said. "But that's a good thing. It's what a lot of us drivers have wanted for a long time because the fuel mileage and track position games we saw played last year have been taken out of the equation this year."

Starr, who will be making his 2004 Busch Series debut in the No. 50 Enzyte Chevrolet for Holigan Racing, won the 2002 Las Vegas truck race from the pole in 2002 and finished seventh here in 2001.

"This will be the first time I have run this course in a car," Starr said. "But I don't see that as any problem. It is a track I really like and I'm very excited about the performance of our Enzyte Chevy.

"Las Vegas is very much a driver's track; it's wide, multi-grooved, fast, smooth and great for passing. It's definitely one of the most fun tracks on the circuit and I'm certainly looking forward to this race."

The No. 50 Holigan Racing team is the subject of the reality series "The Reality of Speed," which airs Saturday mornings on Spike TV (Cox Cable channel 29).

In addition to driving in 15 Busch Series races this season with Holigan Racing, Starr is running the full Truck Series schedule in the No. 75 Spears Manufacturing Chevrolet. He opened the 2004 NCTS season with a 12th-place finish at Daytona.