After #55-Mark Martin’s scary crash into an opening on pit road two weeks ago at Michigan, Atlanta Motor Speedway has beefed up its safety barriers in similar pit road openings for this weekend’s races. 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.(Atlanta Motor Speedway)
AND: Beginning this weekend, NASCAR is restricting the area around pit road openings to provide more of a buffer between pit road and where media members and track safety and security stand while the race is ongoing. ‘Evaluating safety issues on pit road has been on ongoing process,’ said NASCAR spokesperson Kristi King. King said the areas affected would differ from track to track since each track has a unique pit road layout.(Charlotte Observer)(9-2-2012)
