NASCAR Driver Witnesses Crash Test and Learns About Track Barriers

Photo courtesy of UNL's College of Engineering Communications & Marketing
Crash test results of a half-ton pickup truck traveling at 62 mph into a guardrail at MwRSF's Outdoor Proving Grounds.
Photo courtesy of UNL's College of Engineering Communications & Marketing
MwRSF director Dr. Ron Faller (right) explains how the SAFER barrier works to NASCAR driver Michael Annett (left).

NASCAR driver Michael Annett visited NTC's Midwest Roadside Safety Facility (MwRSF) June 5, 2018 to learn about the barriers keeping race tracks safe.

He was welcomed to the facility at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln by MwRSF's director, Dr. Ronald Faller. Research Engineer Robert Bielenberg gave him an overview of the MwRSF-developed Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) Barrier that is used by nearly every track on the IndyCar and NASCAR circuits.

The morning continued with a tour of the SAFER Barrier and motorsports exhibits at the Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed, followed by a tour and a crash test viewing at MwRSF's Outdoor Proving Grounds. During the test, a half-ton pickup truck going 62 mph crashed into the barrier. The tested barrier was a thrie-beam bull-nose guardrail, which is designed so the posts break away when they are hit to allow the metal to wrap around the vehicle and bring it to a safe stop.

The SAFER Barrier began development in 1998 and was intended to absorb and reduce kinetic energy during impact on a high speed track. The 40-inch-high barrier is composed of structural steel tubes and closed-cell polystyrene foam inserted between the tubes and the track's concrete wall. Iowa Speedway will be the first race track to install the SAFER Barrier on an alternative steel backup structure rather than in front of a traditional concrete wall.

Annett has had his fair share of crashes to test the SAFER Barrier. He bruised his sternum in a crash at Daytona International Speedway during an Xfinity Series race in February 2013. He hit the barrier going 180-190 mph at an angle similar to Dale Earnhardt's fatal crash in 2001 before the SAFER Barrier was implemented. There have been no fatalities in NASCAR or IndyCar events on professional tracks across the country since the barrier's installation.

“Speaking with the racers was extremely rewarding on several levels,” says Bielenberg, “It was really satisfying to find out that the work you are doing is helping the competitors be safe and return to their friends and family.”

The energy absorbing techniques of the SAFER Barrier are applicable to highway safety barriers the facility is now working on to improve. The RESTORE Barrier, recently developed by NTC's MwRSF from the concepts of the SAFER Barrier, reduces impact forces on vehicles ranging from small passenger cars to 22,000-pound singe unit trucks.

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