Bristol becomes SAFER

The barriers have become commonplace on ovals around the United States, and NASCAR has been heavily promoting its use at tracks on which the series runs.

"NASCAR wants the SAFER barriers at every track, and we're putting them in," Lori Worley, BMS's senior manager of media and public relations, commented yesterday. "We want the best we can possibly offer in terms of safety."

Bristol, a half mile oval, doesn't generate the sort of speeds now common on superspeedway tracks, but has seen a number of heavy shunts in its history, including the then heaviest impact ever for the series when Kyle Petty hit the wall in 2003.

A total of 2,668 feet of the new barrier, which is constructed of steel tubes and pads of hard foam attached to the existing concrete walls, will be installed on the exterior walls of both ends of the circuit, as well as the inside retaining wall on the back straight.

Construction began on Wednesday, and is expected to take two weeks. NASCAR's first visit to the track for the year will be on April 2.