Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Gordon hits out at Las Vegas safety

Jeff Gordon slammed the standard of safety at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway after describing his crash during yesterday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race as "the hardest hit I've ever had."

The four-time champion is angry that the SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) barriers that are mandatory on the outside walls of ovals, were not in place on the inside wall where he struck after clipping the back of Matt Kenseth with four laps to go.

Gordon struck a stretch of the wall near an opening that was angled towards the oncoming cars, increasing the force of the impact.

"That type of hit shouldn't happen," he said. "I'm really disappointed in this speedway for not having a soft wall back there, and even being able to get to that part of the wall shouldn't happen."

The force of the shunt completely destroyed Gordon's car. The radiator and transmission were torn from the car and left lying in the road, a hundred meters down the track.

"That's the hardest hit I've ever had," Gordon added. "It couldn't have hit the wall at a worse angle, it really tore things up. It took me a while to catch my breath and get out.

"Several years ago I wouldn't be standing here after that type of hit."

NASCAR officials will examine the issue to decide whether changes to the inside walls need to be made.

"This is a pretty rare area [to have a crash], but if there are steps we can take to improve safety, we will always err on the side of greater safety," said NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston.

The circuit has vowed to review the situation and make any changes recommended by NASCAR.

"Ever since the SAFER barrier project went into play we've worked with NASCAR and done whatever they wanted us to do," said Las Vegas Motor Speedway spokesman Jeff Motley. "We will do that again in this case."

Gordon also admitted blame for the incident, after he drifted up from the bottom of track and tapped Kenseth into a spin.

"It was my fault," he said. "I had the momentum, I went down to the inside and I thought it was going stick. But I got a little bit tight underneath Matt and I turned up into him. I tried to avoid hitting him after he spun and it just turned me sideways.

Kenseth said: "I knew he was going to get a run on me so I laid back a little bit. We came off turn two and I was up as high as I thought I could go, and Jeff just came across. Whether it was on purpose or not, it just wiped us out."

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Edwards car fails inspection
Next article Skinner to replace Allmendinger

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe