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Daytona Announces SAFER Barrier Additions, Other Safety Improvements

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Daytona International Speedway announced Wednesday it will make changes to the track to ensure the safety of competitors.

The announcement comes just a few weeks removed from a Speedweeks that made headlines for a handful of vicious crashes, including one in the XFINITY Series’ Alert Florida Today 300 that led to a broken right leg and mid-left foot fracture for driver Kyle Busch.

According to a DIS press release, Daytona International Speedway and NASCAR “performed an extensive review of the facility and developed a significant plan for additional safety initiatives.”

The changes, outlined in the release, are as follows:

  • Additional 20,000 square feet of asphalt in turn 1
  • Realignment of a portion of the inside retaining wall from infield road course exit to turn 1
  • Installation of SAFER barrier (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) on realigned retaining wall and
  • existing retaining wall in turn 1
  • Installation of SAFER barrier on retaining wall at pit road exit
  • Installation of SAFER barrier between the exit of turn 4 to pit road entry

The changes are scheduled to be completed in time for the speedway’s July NASCAR race weekend.

DIS President Joie Chitwood, III also announced in the release that the speedway will work to install SAFER barrier along the outside of the backstretch wall. What isn’t completed by July in that project will be finished following the XFINITY and Cup races.

In addition, Chitwood said that the speedway will “continue to install SAFER barrier on the remaining areas of the property [following the July races].”

Additional information will be announced as the projects progress.

Busch is still out indefinitely following the accident in the XFINITY Series event at Daytona.

About the author

Sean returns as a ringer in 2017, contributing once a month because he (gasp!) is living it up in the big city without internet. While he's not consuming race news on the Twitter app and reddit he's writing a ton of short stories and paying the bills by working in marketing.

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