Daytona crash could trigger track changes to protect NASCAR spectators

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. A wreck that injured more than two dozen race fans at Daytona Saturday could trigger fresh scrutiny of measures to protect spectators.

The violent, 12-car wreck on the last lap of Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway tore a hole in the safety fence and sent debris – including a wheel – careening into the frontstretch grandstand.

H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler, former president of Charlotte Motor Speedway, predicts Saturday’s accident may prompt track owners to raise safety fences or move fans further from the most dangerous areas.

“If you put the first row about 30 feet back, and about 14 feet up in the air, that would solve almost every problem you’ve got,” Wheeler said.

Now, the first row of seats at Daytona is about 10 feet from the track fence.

Twenty-eight fans were treated for injuries, 14 at the track’s care center and 14 at local hospitals, Daytona President Joie Chitwood III said Saturday. Seven fans remained hospitalized Sunday, and all were in stable condition.

The fan injuries happened after rookie Kyle Larson got knocked airborne into the catch fence, a 22-foot barrier of steel posts and reinforced wire that separates the track from the grandstand seats.

The fencing caught the front of Larson’s car and ripped it away, leaving the car’s engine and one wheel tangled in the fence.

Another wheel went sailing into the grandstand, as did large parts of the car.

That wheel landed in the stands, nine rows from the fence.

Chitwood said Sunday he did not know if the wheel went over the fence, or through it.

Wheeler said his review of the video suggests the wheel went over the fence. If that’s found to be the case, he predicted many track owners will have to spend millions to raise the heights of their fences.

And that, he said, could “disrupt the sport completely.”

“The worst thing that anyone can think about is a wheel going over the fence,” he said.

If it’s determined that the wheel went through the fence, track owners could face a different set of headaches.

It’s possible to build a fence that could withstand the forces of an airborne race car, but doing that would require a thorough engineering study, said Samuel Gualardo, past president of the American Society of Safety Engineers, a group that has examined ways to make racing safer.

“Was it engineered to withstand these forces?” Gualardo asked. “And if it was, was it engineered correctly?”

Gualardo agreed that the easiest way to protect fans may be to move them away from the danger.

“Obviously it will be a revenue decision by track owners because you’ll be eliminating that set of rows,” he said. “That’s probably why they haven’t done it.”

That move could also make the sport less appealing to fans who love to be close to the action, Gualardo and others say.

History of fan deaths

Saturday’s incident was one of the worst involving fans in recent memory.

On April 27, 2009, seven fans at Talladega Superspeedway were treated for injuries when Carl Edwards’ car went airborne and struck the frontstretch fence.

From 1990 to 2010, at least 46 spectators died at U.S. race tracks, an Observer analysis found.

Nine were hit and killed by flying tires, including a 52-year-old woman who died in 2010 at a drag race at the Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix.

The spectator deaths took place at all levels of U.S. racing, from big ovals and short tracks to drag strips and off-road courses.

In 1999, three fans were killed when a wreck caused a tire to fly into the grandstand at an Indy Racing League race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

That accident prompted track officials to raise the catch fence from 15 to 21 feet. It also led to a rule that “tethers” tires to the body of the race car in the IndyCar series.

Starting in the 1990s, NASCAR also began mandating that wheels, hoods and other parts be tethered to the car frames so they’re less likely to fly into the stands.

In Saturday’s wreck, the wheel tethers apparently worked, NASCAR officials said.

But a tether alone could not prevent the wheel from becoming airborne. That’s because the wheel was still attached to other parts of the car when it flew into the stands.

After the Talladega accident, Daytona brought in a structural engineer to review the track fencing, Chitwood said. Afterward, the track reviewed the engineer’s recommendations and installed new fencing, he said.

“So we felt like we had done everything … in making sure we were prepared for (Saturday’s) event,” he said. “Incidents do happen and I think those are the exception. If you look at our 55 years in the business, we have a pretty good safety track record.”

Full review promised

Saturday’s wreck began as the field was exiting Turn 4 and approaching the checkered flag.

Regan Smith, who was leading the race, attempted to block a pass from Brad Keselowski and instead got turned nose-first into the wall.

“I tried to throw a block – it’s Daytona, you want to go for the win here,” Smith said. “I don’t know how you can play it any different other than concede second place, and I wasn’t willing to do that today.”

Larson’s car appeared to strike near the crossover gate – a section that can be removed for access to the infield.

The wreck sent debris flying long distances. Chitwood confirmed that fans on the upper deck grandstands were among those injured.

NASCAR promised a full review of the accident, and said it would make any improvements found to be needed.

In the hours after the wreck was cleared, the scene on the frontstretch of the speedway was surreal. Participants in Sunday’s pre-race show were practicing as workers busily removed car debris from the stands and repaired the fence.

Tony Stewart won Saturday’s race, but NASCAR called off post-race media obligations out of respect for the injured.

“I’ve never seen drivers as shook up after a race as Saturday,” Wheeler said. “Tony Stewart’s eyes were about to blow out of his head. He’s a track operator, too. People didn’t know if fans were alive or dead at that point.”

Stewart, who has won seven of the last nine season-opening Nationwide races at Daytona, spoke briefly in Victory Lane.

“We’ve always known, and since racing started, this is a dangerous sport,” Stewart said. “But it’s hard. We assume that risk, but it’s hard when the fans get caught up in it.”

Long list of injuries

One of the injured fans was an unidentified child who, on Saturday, was reported to have life-threatening injuries. By Sunday, that child’s condition had improved to stable.

Eddie Huckaby, one of the injured fans, reportedly suffered a severe cut from his hip to his knee when he was struck by a long piece of flying metal.

His brother, Terry, a plumber from Hendersonville, Tenn., controlled the bleeding by turning his belt into a makeshift tourniquet.

Sunday’s Daytona 500 featured former IndyCar driver Danica Patrick starting from the pole – the first woman to accomplish that feat in the Cup series.

Jimmie Johnson won the race, with no incidents involving spectators.

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