Filed under: Elliott Sadler, Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, NASCAR Crashes, Sprint Cup, NASCARWhen a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver slides sideways off a straightaway like Elliott Sadler did Sunday at Pocono Raceway, how is it possible that he can hit anything directly head-on, as Sadler did?
It's possible because Pocono has a earthen berm at that section of the track that juts out from the regular inside wall, sticking into the runoff area. The berm is fronted by an old steel guardrail, and it was into that guardrail that Sadler's No. 19 Ford hit dead head-on in the most violent crash of the year and the most needlessly violent crash in quite some time.
It was the second horrific crash of the summer at Pocono, and several drivers, including Sunday's winner, Greg Biffle, and points leader Kevin Harvick, harshly criticized the lack of modern safety standards at the Pennsylvania track after the first crash, which saw Kasey Kahne's car nearly sail over the outside wall in the June race.
As detailed by FanHouse last week, Pocono has promised changes, explaining that they couldn't be made after the June race because there simply wasn't enough time before Sunday's event.
The criticism focused on the lack of enough SAFER barriers at Pocono, the lack of enough catch fencing, the use of old steel guardrails, the presence of earthen berms and the existence of grass runoff areas.
The latter three were factors in Sadler's crash, but the thing that made it so bad was the fact that the berm Sadler hit just out into the runoff area.David Stern
Cliff Lee
Shaun Rogers
Michael Vick
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment