AVONDALE, Ariz. — Drivers on hand for NASCAR testing this week at Phoenix International Raceway were greeted not only with searing desert heat, but newly installed SAFER barrier.
The energy-absorbing barrier system now completely encircles the outside wall, providing an extra layer of safety protection at the 1-mile track ahead of its Nov. 15 race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs. The longest stretch of new barrier completes the outside retaining wall on the frontstretch, which still had portions of brick wall from when the track opened in 1964.
The raceway, which coordinated with NASCAR officials before taking the safety measures, also added SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) barrier along sections of the inside wall — at pit entry near Turn 4 and at pit exit near Turn 1. It’s already blended in with the surroundings, painted in the track’s familiar Southwestern light blue hue.
“I think the plan is to have that around every single race track, everywhere that a car can get, before next year,” said Jamie McMurray, participating in the test for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. “So I think some of the tracks are just getting ahead of the curve.”
Since the system sticks out roughly 30 inches from the existing wall at most tracks, the SAFER barrier sometimes alters the racing line. McMurray said after logging plenty of laps at Phoenix during testing, he hadn’t observed a difference.
“I hadn’t even noticed it,” McMurray said. “Honestly, I knew that they were going to put that and until you said it just now, I didn’t even notice it when I got out there. It didn’t bother me at all.”