Jeff Burton and Lowe’s Motor Speedway president Humpy Wheeler were on hand today to help install new SAFER barriers at the track.
The wall was installed along the backstretch inside retaining wall.
An additional 340 feet of SAFER wall is being installed at the track before next month’s All-Star Challenge and Coca=Cola 600.
Bruton Smith owns both Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where Jeff Gordon was in a nasty crash on the back straightaway.
Gordon was very critical of Smith and the track after his wreck and now changes are being made to both tracks owned by Smith.
They are also working on ways to change the configuration of the area of the tracks where safety vehicles exit because of the angle that Gordon hit.
“We’re working on that now. We’re going to have to configure the opening and make sure we can get an ambulance or a fire truck out there real quick and still solve that problem,” Wheeler said.
That problem is supposed to be fixed in time for the October race.
Burton is actively involved in making sure NASCAR racing is as safe as possible so it’s good to see him present at Lowe’s as they work to make the track safer.
After Gordon’s hard crash at Las Vegas it became clear that you can’t predict where the cars are going to crash and they need to have SAFER walls everywhere it is possible to install them.
For those that don’t remember Gordon’s Vegas crash:
