Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) have beefed-up their safety barriers in similar areas of their pit road after the scary crash Mark Martin, driver of the No.55 Aaron’s Toyota had a few weeks ago at Michigan International Speedway.
Martin slammed sideways impaling his car into the pit road infield entrance side wall. He fortunately walked away from the accident with no serious injuries. After the crash, NASCAR said they would look into fixing the entrances to make them safer for drivers and media/track members that stand around that area.
AMS President and General Manager Ed Clark said the track had added concrete barriers and barrels filled with river sand in X pit-road openings. “It’s simple, but it will do the job,” Clark said. “I don’t know if that’s the long-term solution, but it will work for this weekend.” The barriers not only need to protect the driver in the event of another unlikely hit, but also keep the pit crews and officials behind the wall safe, and at the same time allow enough room for wreckers to pull in and out.
NASCAR is also restricting the area around pit road openings to have a buffer as to where track safety and media usually stand.
“Evaluating safety issues on pit road has been on ongoing process,” said Kristi King, a spokes person for NASCAR. She said the areas affected would differ from track to track since each track has a unique pit road layout.