Lives saved on NASCAR tracks with SAFER barriers
Adam Templeton
Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: News
On April 4, rookie NASCAR driver Michael McDowell lost control of his No. 00 stock car and slammed into the outside wall of Texas Motor Speedway.
He was going more than 160 mph. His vehicle rolled eight times.
Half a minute later, McDowell walked away from the crash with no injuries except for a slight limp. He went on to participate in a race the following Sunday.
McDowell may owe his life to the revolutionary safety system surrounding the track at Texas Motor Speedway. The Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) barrier was developed at the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility, part of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's college of engineering.
Dean Sicking, a UNL professor of civil engineering and leader of the team that developed the barrier, said the crash was another demonstration of the SAFER barrier's effectiveness.
"It did its job," Sicking said. "We've had a number of these over the years, real serious hits where the drivers were able to walk away."
The SAFER barrier, which debuted last year at the start of the NASCAR season, turns every crash into two separate collisions. This lessens the severity of each wreck by extending the time of impact.
The barrier is made of five steel tubes stacked on top of one another and welded together. Behind the wall of tubes is a layer of insulating foam. Upon impact, the wall recedes into the foam to absorb the energy from the crash.
Because the pipes are welded together, the barrier won't wrap around a vehicle that slams into it. The barrier's design also prevents the damaged car from bouncing back onto the track.
SAFER barriers are placed in front of the concrete retaining walls installed at most NASCAR raceways.
Between six and eight iterations of the SAFER barrier were developed before a final design was settled upon, said Jim Holloway, MRSF facility operations manager.
The tubes were made from plastic in some of the early prototypes, and other designs used cables as energy absorbing mechanisms. A few changes were as small as tweaking the spacing and thickness of the foam cartridges, Holloway said.
"It's absolutely one of the most successful safety products in the history of motor sports," Holloway said of the finished product. "It's awesome."
Since installing a SAFER barrier the outside wall of every NASCAR racetrack in 2004, the sport hasn't had a single driver fatality.
Some tracks are using the barrier on the inside walls of the track as well, to protect drivers who accidentally crash into the wall by the pit.
"There are even brand new tracks that use no (concrete) retaining walls, just SAFER barriers," Holloway said. "It saves the track the cost of installing a concrete wall."
The development of the SAFER barrier also provided vital data for improving vehicle safety in NASCAR races. Instruments attached to a crash-test dummy let safety experts see how wrecks affect drivers.
"We were able to see for the first time what an occupant actually goes through during an impact with the concrete wall," Holloway said. "No one's ever ran crash tests like this in the history of the sport."
adamtempleton@hotmail.com
He was going more than 160 mph. His vehicle rolled eight times.
Half a minute later, McDowell walked away from the crash with no injuries except for a slight limp. He went on to participate in a race the following Sunday.
McDowell may owe his life to the revolutionary safety system surrounding the track at Texas Motor Speedway. The Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) barrier was developed at the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility, part of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's college of engineering.
Dean Sicking, a UNL professor of civil engineering and leader of the team that developed the barrier, said the crash was another demonstration of the SAFER barrier's effectiveness.
"It did its job," Sicking said. "We've had a number of these over the years, real serious hits where the drivers were able to walk away."
The SAFER barrier, which debuted last year at the start of the NASCAR season, turns every crash into two separate collisions. This lessens the severity of each wreck by extending the time of impact.
The barrier is made of five steel tubes stacked on top of one another and welded together. Behind the wall of tubes is a layer of insulating foam. Upon impact, the wall recedes into the foam to absorb the energy from the crash.
Because the pipes are welded together, the barrier won't wrap around a vehicle that slams into it. The barrier's design also prevents the damaged car from bouncing back onto the track.
SAFER barriers are placed in front of the concrete retaining walls installed at most NASCAR raceways.
Between six and eight iterations of the SAFER barrier were developed before a final design was settled upon, said Jim Holloway, MRSF facility operations manager.
The tubes were made from plastic in some of the early prototypes, and other designs used cables as energy absorbing mechanisms. A few changes were as small as tweaking the spacing and thickness of the foam cartridges, Holloway said.
"It's absolutely one of the most successful safety products in the history of motor sports," Holloway said of the finished product. "It's awesome."
Since installing a SAFER barrier the outside wall of every NASCAR racetrack in 2004, the sport hasn't had a single driver fatality.
Some tracks are using the barrier on the inside walls of the track as well, to protect drivers who accidentally crash into the wall by the pit.
"There are even brand new tracks that use no (concrete) retaining walls, just SAFER barriers," Holloway said. "It saves the track the cost of installing a concrete wall."
The development of the SAFER barrier also provided vital data for improving vehicle safety in NASCAR races. Instruments attached to a crash-test dummy let safety experts see how wrecks affect drivers.
"We were able to see for the first time what an occupant actually goes through during an impact with the concrete wall," Holloway said. "No one's ever ran crash tests like this in the history of the sport."
adamtempleton@hotmail.com
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