NASCAR officials answered some questions relating to Sunday’s Auto Club 400.
The most pressing question involves the lack of a SAFER barrier where Denny Hamlin’s car impacted the wall after a collision with Joey Logano.
Although race tracks have been adopting these “soft walls;” there is not total coverage as was the case with Jeff Gordon hitting an unprotected inside wall at Las Vegas in 2008.
“The part of the wall that Denny his in California, obviously that wall has been there since the racetrack was built,” explained John Darby, Managing Director of Competition and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Director. "But one of the points that they look at is frequency of impacts are, and where the more prevalent points of impact are, and those are addressed first.
"Now, as we go to each racetrack and that same evaluation happens, there's a constant growth of SAFER barriers and closing gates and redesigning gates and wheel fences and the whole project.
"But it's, like I said, it's an evolution. In light of Denny's accident, I'm sure that there will be more investigations done in that area of the racetrack. I also feel very positive about the fact that if a recommendation is made, that the Speedway will be very proactive in helping getting that resolved.”
Next up why was the incident on the last lap, between Logano and Hamlin, viewed as just a racing incident in light of the trouble between the drivers the previous week in Bristol?
“Probably the simple fact that it was the last lap of the race and the last time they were both going to see turns three and four. They were side‑by‑side. And everything that great competitors do; if somebody was of the mind‑set to retaliate, they probably would have been lined up nose to tail to start with and somebody would have drove into the other car and spun them around. But in this case, that is so far from the opposite that it never even crossed anybody's mind that I'm aware of that paid attention to the race, that that was part of it."
Explaining why there was no penalty against Tony Stewart for confronting Logano after the race due to Stewart’s claim of blocking Darby said "Yeah, all of the post‑race incidents, a few years ago, we backed away from micromanaging drivers' emotions. You would hope in today's world that if somebody didn't win a race, they would be upset about it for whatever reason. That's what our drivers do is they try to win races.
"So the emotions that follow a race sometime, as long as stuff ‑‑ and keep in mind, there's the checks and the balances, but a couple of drivers at the end of the race arguing a little bit doesn't create a foul in our world today. The crews did a great job of managing their drivers to make sure that it didn't cross the line to where there was physical violence or anything likethat, and that's what you would hope.
"That's just another example of the state of competition in NASCAR racing, and the disappointments that come sometimes when you don't win the race. I don't see any foul there at all."
And Darby also confirmed that there is no plan for NASCAR to make a rule against blocking.
The most pressing question involves the lack of a SAFER barrier where Denny Hamlin’s car impacted the wall after a collision with Joey Logano.
Although race tracks have been adopting these “soft walls;” there is not total coverage as was the case with Jeff Gordon hitting an unprotected inside wall at Las Vegas in 2008.
“The part of the wall that Denny his in California, obviously that wall has been there since the racetrack was built,” explained John Darby, Managing Director of Competition and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Director. "But one of the points that they look at is frequency of impacts are, and where the more prevalent points of impact are, and those are addressed first.
"Now, as we go to each racetrack and that same evaluation happens, there's a constant growth of SAFER barriers and closing gates and redesigning gates and wheel fences and the whole project.
"But it's, like I said, it's an evolution. In light of Denny's accident, I'm sure that there will be more investigations done in that area of the racetrack. I also feel very positive about the fact that if a recommendation is made, that the Speedway will be very proactive in helping getting that resolved.”
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| Photo: NASCAR |
Next up why was the incident on the last lap, between Logano and Hamlin, viewed as just a racing incident in light of the trouble between the drivers the previous week in Bristol?
“Probably the simple fact that it was the last lap of the race and the last time they were both going to see turns three and four. They were side‑by‑side. And everything that great competitors do; if somebody was of the mind‑set to retaliate, they probably would have been lined up nose to tail to start with and somebody would have drove into the other car and spun them around. But in this case, that is so far from the opposite that it never even crossed anybody's mind that I'm aware of that paid attention to the race, that that was part of it."
Explaining why there was no penalty against Tony Stewart for confronting Logano after the race due to Stewart’s claim of blocking Darby said "Yeah, all of the post‑race incidents, a few years ago, we backed away from micromanaging drivers' emotions. You would hope in today's world that if somebody didn't win a race, they would be upset about it for whatever reason. That's what our drivers do is they try to win races.
"So the emotions that follow a race sometime, as long as stuff ‑‑ and keep in mind, there's the checks and the balances, but a couple of drivers at the end of the race arguing a little bit doesn't create a foul in our world today. The crews did a great job of managing their drivers to make sure that it didn't cross the line to where there was physical violence or anything likethat, and that's what you would hope.
"That's just another example of the state of competition in NASCAR racing, and the disappointments that come sometimes when you don't win the race. I don't see any foul there at all."
And Darby also confirmed that there is no plan for NASCAR to make a rule against blocking.