New car did its job as Sadler OK after violent crash (cont'd)

NASCAR said the car would go back to RPM's shop in Concord, N.C., where it would be examined by NASCAR officials, who would determine if further analysis at the NASCAR R&D facility would be necessary.

Sadler, who's been mired in what amounts to a career slump of several seasons in Cup, was on Cloud Nine Saturday. Sunday afternoon was a lot more difficult as, early in the race Sadler spun and ended up in the entrance to pit road. No caution flew and Sadler ended up in a big hole.

“

I'm fine. I'm OK. I'm a little sore, I think, from where the belts grabbed me. It knocked the breath out of me pretty good, but it's definitely the hardest hit I've ever had in a race car. These new cars are built to be safer and if I can get out of that and walk [away], I think it did its job.

”

- ELLIOTT SADLER

"[Saturday] was a great day and it's still a great weekend," Sadler said. "[Winning] was so cool. All my guys on my No. 19 car and everybody at the U.S. Air Force and Stanley and Coca-Cola and everybody called me and congratulated me. That was a great win for us.

"I messed up [Sunday]. I spun out on the frontstretch, but my team didn't give up. We were fighting our way back through it and just didn't make it to the end. I'm just glad I'm OK. I'm glad my team at home does a good job of building safe race cars. I'm still in one piece so it did its job [but] the way it hit the guardrail back there was pretty tough."

Parrott was at the care center and quickly consoled his disconsolate driver.

"I told him we were coming back," Parrott said. "We were racing for the [free pass] to get our lap back and to get back in the race. We were two laps down and almost three laps down and there we were, fighting to get back on the lead lap with 30-something laps to go, maybe. And anything can happen with 30 to go. We had a great car."

It all went for naught as Sadler became the latest victim of a facility that came under some scrutiny again this weekend. Ironically, Sadler's teammates, Kasey Kahne and A.J. Allmendinger triggered an accident here in June -- virtually in the same spot -- that involved nearly 10 cars, with Kahne nearly flying over the backstretch wall and out of the track.

"Unfortunately this place has a history of that," Parrott said. "When you hit that guard rail, with the dirt bank behind it, it just catches it and it just rips the car apart," Parrott said. "Obviously it's a sad thing because the Mattiolis [Doctors Joe and Rose Mattioli, track owners] have a great facility here and they had a great crowd -- and a great race.

"They just need to do some work on the SAFER barriers and all that stuff. I love coming to Pocono. It's a fun race track and obviously Elliott likes it -- he won the race [Saturday] in the Truck Series."

Pocono announced after the June event it would line the inside of the race track with SAFER barriers. The track said it would look at additional safety measures but with only five weeks between its two annual Cup dates, the track had no time to make any of the improvements until 2011.

NASCAR said it would continue to communicate with the track about its concerns.

"The track has a good plan in place that was announced last month and will be completed for the 2011 season," NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said. "As it is our practice, we continue to work with the tracks and the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to make any recommendations as they may pertain to making improvements at a particular facility."

Race winner Greg Biffle was asked his opinion of Sadler's crash and wasn't sure of all the details. Biffle didn't back off his opinion that changes needed to be made at the track, but he did say he wished he hadn't been so graphic as when he said in a Sports Illustrated story, "they're going to kill somebody [at Pocono]."

"It's dangerous to have grass next to where you're running 200 miles an hour -- that's all there is to it," Biffle said. "It's just the way it is, the way these race tracks have been built forever. This is a great race track. It's so much fun to drive, and Talladega and Daytona had that same issue '[large grass areas inside the track] and they added pavement, like a skid pad or whatever you want to call it, so when the car does get out of control or gets going that direction, you still have some control -- because once you hit the grass, especially with it wet, you're along for the ride [and] it feels like you pick up speed when you get in the wet grass.

"They'll have to look at it. I understand times are tough and we might go a half-dozen races and nobody ever gets in that grass, ever. But this is two races in a row somebody has been over there playing around."

Biffle said putting a wall right inside the track -- not on the other side of a wide grass verge -- was a better solution. He said his experience in June, when Kasey Kahne was forced into the grass on the inside, lost control and came across the track in front of the field, forced him to make his comments (watch video).

"Mark Martin and I hit [Kahne] head on and my neck is still sore from that crash -- that's a dangerous spot on this race track," Biffle said. "They need to [pave the grass] or put a wall up, on the edge of the pavement. It's the only spot on the race track that needs attention, and I'm glad they're going to do it.

"Look at the frontstretch -- it's got a wall on the inside. You need a wall on the edge of the pavement, or like Daytona did -- just pave [over the grass]. You wouldn't have to do a lot of [preparation] because you're not going to be racing on it -- just make a skid pad."

Biffle said he appreciated every positive step race tracks make.

"We applaud the race tracks for doing safety stuff for us and we understand that the times are tough -- and they need to do fan items," Biffle said. "We need to cater to the fans in the infield, whether it's concessions or bathrooms, and accommodate them and all that. But, certainly, we all appreciate, 100 percent of them thinking of us on the race track and the safety of the drivers out there. We can never do too much for safety and we're blessed to have the things that have gone on in our sport [that] have probably saved a lot of lives because of what we've done since then."

Related:
• Pocono planning improvements, safety upgrades