Soft Walls

[Roselady3]

Posted on Thu, Jan. 24, 2002

Tracks could get soft walls in three years
By LEN HAYWARD
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH - Soft-wall technology for superspeedways could be as close as three years away, said Brian Barnhart, Indy Racing League vice president for racing operations.

For nearly two years, the Indy Racing League has financed and participated in a soft-wall project at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, and Barnhart said Tuesday that the project is progressing well.


Barnhart said the soft walls are a derivation of another layered system used on the inside of Turn 4 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1998. Barnhart said that this system, though, has evolved beyond that.


"We had our latest test on Friday at Nebraska," Barnhart said during the Texas Motor Speedway 2002 Media Day. "We have made lots of gains and lots of progress. We are in the fine-tuning stages at this point in time."


The test on Friday was "IRL-15", the 15th time an IRL car had been pulled into the test wall at various speeds and angles.


The concerns about soft walls have been extensive cleanup after a car wrecks, and a car being caught in the wall and collecting other cars. Barnhart said those concerns have been addressed.


Soft-wall technology has become a hot-button issue over the past few years, especially in major stock-car racing in the wake of five deaths over the past three years. On Tuesday, NASCAR president Mike Helton said NASCAR has become involved in the project.


"We're closer than we've ever been," Helton said of soft walls. "We've turned up the wick on those elements and turned it up even more ... that's a big deal."

[Joe Fan]

Good news. Soft walls will never come soon enough but as long as they come, all forms of motorsport should benefit.

[KC]

The only problem I see with them, and its not a safety issue, is the cost. If the tracks have to absorb the cost then they are going to raise ticket prices to cover themselves. I think if the various series that use the tracks all help to subsidize the installation and use it would make the technology more accessible to the track owner. CART, IRL, and NASCAR can all afford to chip in some to help to keep their stars alive at the tracks.

[The Beer Baron]

Though if there is a large order for the material, hopefully the price per foot should come down.

Could spark the end for a lot of tracks especially if soft walls are mandatory, I think the main tracks will be OK but the small ones which provide the bread & butter racing all over the place could suffer!

[R]

Roselady, just a quick note to tell you that I quoted your post on the IRL forum, as I think it will be of interest to the readers there as well. IMO soft walls can not be implemented soon enough.