Worldwide Barrier Race Tracks
Worldwide Barrier Race Tracks
The most common type of barrier protection used on public roads, private highways and at race tracks is barricade protection - concrete walls, tire walls or Armco barriers. These barriers protect those behind them, including track-side personnel and spectators; but they also have a more specific mission: to save lives by reducing the risk of injury to drivers in crash situations.
Several high-profile racing accidents – such as Dale Earnhardt’s death at Talladega in 1999 – led to intense and extensive research on track safety devices. After five years of studies and 26 full-scale crash tests, the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility (MRSF) team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln invented the Steel and Foam Energy Reduction Barrier System — commonly known as the SAFER barrier.
In a nutshell, the SAFER barrier consists of tubular steel skins that distribute the impact load to energy-absorbing foam cartridges. The foam absorbs kinetic energy and slows the speed of a driver’s car, allowing them to brake more quickly and safely.
After the initial SAFER barrier installation at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2002, all oval tracks in NASCAR’s top three circuits – including all of the IRL IndyCar Series races – and many of the most popular road courses utilized by INDYCAR and NASCAR tracks incorporated the system into critical areas on their oval racing facilities.
Despite the fact that the SAFER barrier is a relatively new safety technology, it has already made an enormous difference in the number and severity of racing-related injuries. As a result, the race track industry has come to recognize it as one of the most significant inventions in the history of automobile racing.