NASCAR announced Tuesday night the continuation of its Mexico Series and that Peak will be the series sponsor.
The NASCAR Peak Mexico Series will make its return with an exhibition event Dec. 3-4 in Mexico City. The series will officially get underway in 2017 with a full schedule to be announced later.Ruben Garcia Jr. won the 2015 series title, the most recent season the series completed.
“The NASCAR Peak Mexico Series is a place where young drivers are honing their skills and competing for a championship against the toughest competition in Latin America,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, in a statement. “The series drives interest in stock car racing in Mexico, while cultivating talented drivers and pit crew members aspiring to compete at the NASCAR national series level.”
Xfinity Series driver Daniel Suarez, who competed in the Peak Mexico Series previously, is excited to see the series continue.
“I am extremely proud to be a Mexican driver competing against the best young drivers making a name for themselves in the NASCAR Xfinity Series,” he said in a statement. “I am lucky to have had the support of NASCAR’s developmental programs along the way – including the NASCAR Mexico Series. I am excited to see that other talented Latin American drivers will continue to have similar opportunities for many years to come.”
For fans who don’t like Sprint Cup drivers competing in Xfinity and Camping World Truck races, a NASCAR executive says “stay tuned’’ for an announcement “fairly soon’’ on the issue.
Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, uttered those words Monday on “The Morning Drive” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio when asked about limiting Cup drivers in the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series.
“It certainly is on our radar,’’ O’Donnell said. “We’ve heard the fans. It’s interesting, it’s been a balance throughout the years. We’ve always had Sprint Cup drivers come into the Xfinity Series and sometimes dominate, back in the Mark Martin days.
“As the sport has evolved one of the great things is we’ve got more of a fan following in the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series. They like seeing those drivers come up through the ranks and it’s our job to make sure that Xfinity is where names are made. We’ve got to do on that on the racetrack.
“That is something we’re taking a really hard look at for next year, I’d say stay tuned. We’re going to look at and probably have something to announce fairly soon.’’
NASCAR prohibits any Cup driver who was in last year’s Chase from competing in this year’s season finale for the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
One possibility could be for NASCAR to extend such a ban for all future Chase races in the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series.
This issue was raised after Kyle Buschwon Saturday’s Xfinity race at Kansas Speedway for his ninth victory of the season.
Since 2011, Cup regulars have won 138 of the 196 Xfinity races (70.4 percent).
Nineteen of the 30 Xfintiy races this season have been won by a driver who competes regularly in the Sprint Cup Series. While that is nearly two-thirds of the races won by a Cup regular, the total is down from recent years.
Last year, Cup regulars won 23 of 33 Xfinity races (69.7 percent)
In 2014, Cup regulars won 22 of 33 Xfintiy races (66.7 percent)
In 2013, Cup regulars won 28 of 33 Xfinity races (84.8 percent)
In 2012, Cup regulars won 18 of 33 Xfinity races (54.5 percent)
In 2011, Cup regulars won 28 of 34 Xfinity races (82.4 percent)
Here’s a look at the most wins by a Cup regular in the Xfinity Series since 2011
A NASCAR executive discounted the notion that tracks will add a substance to their racing surface to enhance grip this year
Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice
president and chief racing development officer, made the comment Monday
on “The Morning Drive” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
“We’re looking at a lot of different
options, meeting with Goodyear to see where and when we could apply it
and how that would affect the racing on the track,’’ O’Donnell said. “A
lot of different options that we hope to have on the table, maybe not
necessarily at the start of 2017.’’
A substance was used at Bristol Motor
Speedway before the August races for the Camping World Truck Series,
Xfinity Series and Sprint Cup Series. The Cup race saw 20 lead changes.
Only one other Bristol event in the track’s last eight Cup races had
more lead changes.
A substance was put on the high lane at
Martinsville Speedway last weekend on the final day of a tire test there
to unfavorable reviews.
Among the biggest complaints was that it made both the high lane and low lane nearly equal in lap times. Martin Truex Jr., who was among those who tested there.
“I felt like with the second groove being
as fast as the first I don’t know how you would pass anyone,’’ Truex
said. “The great racing at Martinsville is the fight for the bottom. If
you can’t hold the bottom you’re going to get passed. In that case. I
don’t believe Martinsville is a place we ought to mess with.’’
That Martinsville test was done looking
ahead to 2017. Officials from the track and NASCAR told NBC Sports that
the track’s surface would not be changed for the Sprint Cup and Camping
World Truck Series races there later this month.
Also during his appearance on SiriusXM
NASCAR Radio, O’Donnell noted the type of racing in Sunday’s event at
Charlotte Motor Speedway despite the limited practice time.
Sprint Cup teams had one practice session Friday before rain canceled two practice sessions Saturday.
“One of the things we learned this
weekend, which we’ll have to see, we’ll get some pushback from the
garage, but it was nice to see teams almost just show up and have to
race,’’ O’Donnell said. “We’re looking at how much practice is too much
practice for an event. Maybe that is something we look at in the future
as well.’’
A NASCAR executive says the sanctioning body has no issues with the burnout Kyle Larson performed Sunday after scoring his first career Sprint Cup victory.
Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, said Monday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that the celebration was not viewed as excessive.
O’Donnell said earlier this month on “The Morning Drive’’ that series officials were seeing a jķ, we don’t like to see” with victory celebrations that damage the winning car. He said at the time that “you’ll probably see us sooner than later put something in place that covers us for that as you kind of head into the last quarter of the season.’’
But O’Donnell didn’t have an issue with Larson’s burnout after Sunday’s race at Michigan International Speedway.
“I think it’s something that we’re continuing to look at, but, in this case, it was the guy’s first win, it’s been three years, he was ecstatic,’’ O’Donnell said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “I think we were part of the fan group in terms of looking down and saying that was awesome to see and an awesome moment. I chalk this one up as more of that. The car passed post-race inspection. It will certainly go to the R&D Center, but I look at this one as it was a first race win and someone really out there celebrating as they should".
Bristol Motor Speedway is once again experimenting with the racing surface of the half-mile track in hopes of bringing back two-wide racing.
First reported by Motorsport.com, with consideration from the Sprint Cup Drivers Council, Bristol “polished” the lower groove of the track following the Food City 500 in April.
The changes, the first to the track surface since BMS grounded the high line in 2012, were finished last week and will be first raced on Aug. 17 by the Camping World Truck Series. Since the grinding, the preferred racing line has been up high. The track has progressive banking from 24 to 28 degrees in the turns, which came about after a 2007 resurfacing.
This has resulted in less side-by-side racing and fewer dramatic finishes and thrown helmets, which the track has become known for.
BMS released the following statement to NBC Sports from Jerry Caldwell, executive vice president and general manager of the track:
“Following the Food City 500 we evaluated the race and track surface, as we always do. During that process we made a decision to make some minor modifications to the bottom groove. Throughout this process we had great collaboration with industry stakeholders and the NASCAR Driver’s Council. We look forward to another great race weekend during the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race week August 17 -20.”
Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s executive vice president and chief racing development officer, was on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s “The Morning Drive” Tuesday and addressed the “minor” alterations to the track. O’Donnell said the track “certainly consulted” with the sanctioning body in addition to drivers.
O’Donnell described the work done to the lower lane as “just smoothing the track to get it ready really to apply what’s called VHT (Track bite), which is used in NHRA, kind of at the starting line that applies more grip,” O’Donnell said.
VHT, also known as PJ1 TrackBite, is a “custom formulated resin that provides controlled traction for competition racing” according to Jegs.com.
“So they applied that and then really used the tires to drag the track, so if you get up there you will see what already looks like kind of an asphalt track on the first groove that was concrete,” O’Donnell said, referencing a machine that was also used by Kentucky Speedway following its repave to help improve tire traction. “A lot of work has been done to really bring the lower groove back in. We’ll see how it plays out, but we’re certainly excited heading into this weekend.”
After the Truck race on Aug. 17, the Xfinity Series competes in the Food City 300 on Friday, Aug. 19 before the Sprint Cup Series’ Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race the following evening.
All NASCAR executive said series officials will “reiterate” this week the rule that drivers cannot pass to the inside on pit road after penalizing Martin Truex Jr. for that Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway.
Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, made the comments Monday on “The Morning Drive” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Truex was penalized on Lap 196 for passing leader Kevin Harvick on the inside on pit road before heading to his stall. Truex was upset with the penalty.
“You get to your timing line, you step on the gas and you head straight toward your pit,’’ he told NBCSN after the race. “Obviously, I turned left and came up next to (Harvick) and passed him … as I was driving to my pit, guys do it every week. I don’t know why it was different today.
“I would think that if they didn’t want us doing that anymore, they would tell us in the drivers meeting. Hell, it’s every week. I’ve been passed on pit road 15 times this year that same exact way and I didn’t see guys get penalized. So I guess when you’re doing it for a win it’s different circumstances or something.’’
Truex was the first Sprint Cup driver penalized this season for that specific violation.
O’Donnell said series officials saw this issue happening more often this season and described what Truex did as “blatant,’’ leading to the penalty.
“It is clear in the rule book that you can’t pass to the left,’’ O’Donnell said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “It’s also brought up in every drivers meeting. If you look at drivers pulling off just as they pull into their pits and kind of pull up alongside a car, sure, that’s happened.
“I would probably relate this to other sports. If you look at the three-second rule (in the NBA), it’s always there but it’s rarely called because you don’t see it blatantly, and then you’ll see a coach or some teams say, ‘Hey, you’ve got to focus on this rule, it’s getting out of hand.’
“That was the case certainly for us. We saw a trend that was getting bigger and bigger. For us, that was a blatant pass to the left. We felt we had to make that call. We’ll certainly address it with the industry prior to New Hampshire again to reiterate what the rule is as well, and if there’s any questions where we have to make it more clear, we’ll certainly do so.’’
On the pit road penalty card issued to all teams, Section 20 states that entering pit road: “Vehicles must enter the pit road in single file. After a vehicle commits to their assigned pit box, the vehicle behind may pass to the outside.’’
Truex was cited for a safety violation for passing on entry to pit road. Safety violations are defined in the pit road penalty card as: “Violation of NASCAR safety precautions or careless acts during a NASCAR Event.’’
Crew chiefs are reminded by the rules video that plays during each drivers meeting to “have the current crew chief handout and pit road penalty card with you for the race.”
Section 10.11.4.c of the Sprint Cup Rule Book states: “After a vehicle commits to their assigned pit box, the vehicle behind may pass to the outside.”
Austin Dillon’s airborne crash that left a gaping 60-foot hole in the catchfence at Daytona International Speedway last July spawned a dozen safety projects at NASCAR’s R&D Center.
president Steve O’Donnell said in a recent interview with NBC Sports. “But it’s led us to some initiatives with the race teams, through the floorboards, through different protection areas, through some anti-intrusion in the car. We’re working with the teams now to implement as early as 2017, if not earlier, depending on as they develop new cars.”
Two of the most significant wrecks in NASCAR since last year occurred at Daytona: Dillon’s wreck on the last lap in the rain-delayed Coke Zero 400 resulted in five fans being treated for injuries caused by debris from his No. 3 Chevrolet, but the Richard Childress Racing driver walked away.
In the Xfinity Series opener on Feb. 21, 2015, Kyle Busch slammed into an unprotected interior wall in Turn 1 after skidding through fronstretch grass that since has been paved over. Busch missed nearly three months with a broken right leg and fractured left foot.
Last weekend at Sonoma Raceway, Busch was critical of NASCAR for keeping the rules static for Daytona after three cars got airborne May 1 at Talladega Superspeedway. Danica Patrick also was involved in a heavy wreck similar to Busch’s at Daytona.
“As far as rule changes in Daytona, I was certainly hoping that we would see something coming off the race that we saw at Talladega,” Busch said. “No rule changes is not a welcoming sight for me, but it is what it is. We’ll go and crash some more.”
O’Donnell defended NASCAR’s deliberate approach to safety advances, noting that a 2015 initiative in which safety harnesses/belts were mounted to seats instead of the chassis “certainly allowed (Dillon) to walk away” from the Daytona crash.
“If we can see something, we’re going to implement it as quickly as we can, but you’ve got to make sure it works,” O’Donnell said. “To do that, you’ve got to study it, test it and validate it. You’ve got to make sure you get the correct results, and it’ll hold up at high speeds at the track. That’s not just something we can say we think it works. It has to work when we put it in place.
“That’s one of the things that you look at with Austin prior to the crash. The belts adjustment worked. And we’re proud of the fact that worked, and he was able to get up and walk away.”
O’Donnell said NASCAR always was evaluating liftoff speeds but also was focused on the incident involving Matt Kenseth’s No. 20 Toyota, which got airborne during a spin at Talladega.
In the case of the other airborne wrecks at Talladega, and Dillon’s crash at Daytona, the cars took flight after contact with another vehicle.
“Where we’re most concerned is where a car gets airborne on its own,” O’Donnell said. “That’s very rare. If you look at Talladega and the 20 car, that happened. The others are really a result of what we call “ramping up” in terms of Austin Dillon getting into another car and getting airborne, which happened twice at Talladega as well.
“It’s inherent in racing, and it can happen really at any racetrack we’re at, it’s not something we like to see, but where we’re really focused is a car on its own getting sideways, getting up in the air. Still a rare occurrence, but any occurrence is more than we’d like to see, so we’re constantly focused on that.”
Another focus is catchfence technology. O’Donnell hinted in the wake of Dillon’s crash last year that a future iteration “may not be a fence.”
O’Donnell said last week there “still is a lot of ongoing studying with the fencing” but indicated there weren’t any imminent changes. As part of the Daytona Rising overhaul that made its debut in February, Daytona removed the first few rows of grandstands and prevented fans from the “rim road” encircling the track (changes that were planned before Dillon’s crash after airborne wrecks that injured fans in 2012 and ’13).
“First and foremost, the fence did its job” in Dillon’s crash, O’Donnell said. “Its job is to keep that vehicle back on the racetrack side, which it did. Certainly the seating area was adjusted in Daytona, we learned to keep some of the fans off the rim road. As we go forward, we’ll be studying some more aspects with our track safety experts to look at what if anything we can do in addition to the fencing and cabling.”
NASCAR conducts exhaustive internal studies after major crashes similar to Busch’s and Dillon’s. An incident data recorder provides information on rates of acceleration and deceleration, as well as the G forces sustained by a driver at impact. NASCAR also consults with the driver, team members who built the car and sometimes outside experts to consider potential improvements.
After Dillon’s crash, his No. 3 Chevrolet was brought to the R&D Center for a complete teardown (before being returned to the team), and photos and videos gathered at the track also were studied.
“You combine that with the incident data recorder and then you’re able to, when you test and try new things, you can reenact that incident almost in its entirety, and it’s as exact as possible,” O’Donnell said. “You can reconstruct the speeds and angles to see if the new things you’ve put in place did work and are something you want to take the next step with.”
Advancements showing the most promise from the dozen projects launched by Dillon’s crash are in anti-intrusion areas, and O’Donnell said some of the developments involve plates within the cockpit that help protect drivers’ feet. NASCAR also has studied floorboard designs after Busch’s crash and has shared data with teams to develop directions on safety features.
“There are a lot of different things that we’re looking at and also studying what is unique in Austin’s crash,” O’Donnell said. “We’re looking at the floorboards and protecting the foot box area. Those are some of the things if you look specifically at Kyle’s incident that we’ve worked with the teams to try to implement going forward.”
In a buzzword that’s been sounded throughout the industry this year, the research also has become more collaborative this season with the formation of a safety council (one of several new committees introduced with the team charter system).
“I’ve said many times we have some of the smartest people in the industry working on our race teams,” O’Donnell said. “So we’ve worked hand in hand with them as well to look at different safety initiatives. It’s tough to pinpoint a number, but I’d say it’s in the hundreds of folks who are daily focused on safety. Again, it’s safer than it’s ever been, but we’re in a dangerous sport, and we’ve got to learn each and every day and apply those (lessons) as quickly as we can.”
Executive vice president Steve O’Donnell said Martin Truex Jr.’s dominant victory in the Coca-Cola 600 has NASCAR heading “back to the drawing board” to improve its 1.5-mile racing.
O’Donnell, the chief racing development officer for NASCAR, credited Truex and Furniture Row Racing for its “blowout” victory in which the No. 78 Toyota led a record 392 of 400 laps at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“Certainly great for Martin Truex Jr. and the race team and Furniture Row and (owner) Barney Visser,” O’Donnell told SiriusXM NASCAR’s “The Morning Drive” in his weekly appearance. “But also certainly a challenging race for us and things we’ve already learned and going to back to the drawing board, and one of our stated goals is passing up front. That was not what we saw (Sunday) night.
“Not to take anything away from Martin. He had the car to beat, and he didn’t give it up all night long.”
The quality of racing was in contrast to the Sprint All-Star Race the previous week on the same track. NASCAR changed its rear-toe alignment rules for the All-Star Race, restricting the amount of “skew” teams can employ to improve handling and stability. As a result, there hardly were any spins in the longest race of the season as several drivers said their cars felt more comfortable on the 1.5-mile oval.
O’Donnell said NASCAR used different rules in successive weekends at Charlotte to prove out whether the changes had a significant impact. Nearly four hours of mostly lackluster racing Sunday affirmed that.
“That’s one of the reasons we ran two different things to have some comparative data,” O’Donnell said. “We saw some really good things with the skew we had for the All-Star Race. It’s something we can immediately pull the lever on.”
NASCAR already announced last week that the skew rules from the All-Star Race would be used for the June 12 race at Michigan International Speedway and the July 9 event at Kentucky Speedway.
O’Donnell also said NASCAR would look at finding ways to improve tire wear in night races, which typically have cooler track conditions.
“More so than anything, you immediately look at the partnership with Goodyear and what we need to do to really look at how we wear tires as much as possible, particularly at night races,” he said. “We can go to work on that.
“Goodyear has been a great partner this year from the rules package and matching that up. We’ve seen some really strong results, particularly in the day races. Obviously, we’ve got some things to look at as we look at some of the future night races and see what we can do with that tire combination and the rules package.”
O’Donnell also conceded when a driver has a car as good as Truex’s was, there only is so much that can be done to improve passing at the front of the pack. There were nine lead changes across 600 miles Sunday, mostly during green-flag pit sequences.
“It’s one of those things,” O’Donnell said. “(NASCAR Chairman) Brian (France) said this. We only have one race to compare against vs. 14 to 15 NFL games, or 10 NBA games. But if you do look at, and we do compare ourselves in terms of being a playoff sport each and every week, and you’ll have those blowouts from time to time.
“I don’t want to by any means take anything away from what Martin, (crew chief) Cole Pearn and that team has done because they are more deserving of that win. He is a great story. When you look at it, he’s a guy who you expect could win a championship now. That is just great to see.”
NASCAR’s Steve O’Donnell said that one driver shouldn’t be blamed for the Sprint All-Star Race format, admitted that “we learned some lessons” from last weekend’s race but was encouraged by the racing.
O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, made his comments Monday on “The Morning Drive” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Brad Keselowski was given credit for some of the ideas when the format was introduced — and then blamed for what resulted Saturday night — but O’Donnell said the format changes included input from several drivers, NASCAR and Charlotte Motor Speedway, among others.
“I’ve seen some of the blame, some of the tweets that are cast upon one driver, let me dispel that myth,’’ O’Donnell said. “This was an inclusive effort. Were there some folks that maybe didn’t like the concept going in? Sure, but that’s any part of a format. I’m proud of what we put together in working with folks, working with the track and the industry. When you saw it play out in the race, I don’t want to say it was a perfect storm, but it was.’’
Problems occurred late in the first 50-lap segment. All teams were required to make a green-flag pit stop during that segment. Matt Kenseth was the only driver who hadn’t when Jamie McMurray’s spin brought out the caution on Lap 47. The caution period went to the end of the segment.
Kenseth had no chance at that point to fulfill the green-flag pit stop requirement before the segment ended.
NASCAR held Kenseth for a lap on pit road. Still, eight cars were a lap down and had no chance of getting their lap back. In a typical race, they could have stayed on the track for the wave around to get back on the lead lap while those ahead pitted. Problem was that NASCAR required all teams to pit after the first segment for at least two tires.
“In hindsight, we didn’t have the wave-around rule,’’ O’Donnell said. “Once you mandate that teams come down to change tires together, that prevented us from having a wave around and that created where we trapped cars a lap down.
“Do we wish we would have had that in place? Absolutely. Could we have made a call to maybe just wave them around anyway? We probably could have. The guys who had a lap up on everybody, what would they say? It was an unfortunate circumstance. We thought we had anticipated everything, but this one snuck up on us.’’
O’Donnell also was asked if the event would remain at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It has been run there every year but once since debuting in 1985.
“We’re happy with the event at Charlotte,’’ he said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “Our intent is that it will be at Charlotte.’’
O’Donnell said that Tony Stewart would not be fined for his comments on FS1’s broadcast. O’Donnell said he talked to Stewart after the race.
O’Donnell also said that he felt good about the racing. Joey Logano chased leader Kyle Larson and passed him with two laps to go to win.
“We put some tweaks into the rules package, certainly minor, but wanted to see directionally if it would continue to have a positive influence on a track, especially at Charlotte, that has been one of the more challenging tracks for us both from tire wear and the leader getting kind of a big separation from second place,’’ O’Donnell said.
“What you saw really throughout the night, especially with some of our up-and-coming talent battling door-to-door for wins was really encouraging to see. The ability to pass certainly improved for the weekend and expect to see that continue for the (Coca-Cola) 600. Directionally, from a race product, (it’s) really continuing on what we’ve seen all year long, which is absolutely encouraging.’’
A NASCAR executive explained Monday why there was no SAFER barrier along the outside frontstretch wall at Dover International Speedway after multiple cars struck the concrete wall this past weekend.
Jamie McMurray and Tony Stewart each slammed into an unprotected concrete wall off Turn 4 after they ran through oil from Danica Patrick’s car during Friday’s Sprint Cup practice. Justin Marks hit the outside wall during his Xfinity heat race Saturday.
McMurray, who was sore from his hit, said it was “unacceptable” the outside wall at Dover did not have a SAFER barrier. He was not alone in speaking out. Patrick and Kevin Harvick each called for the SAFER barrier to be added in that location at Dover.
Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio why there wasn’t a SAFER barrier along the frontstretch wall.
“When we looked at SAFER barriers all being in place for this racing season, the plan had always been at both Dover and Indianapolis on the frontstretch wall to not have that covered,’’ O’Donnell said. “There was some logistics and reasoning behind that in terms of really narrowing the frontstretch lane. SAFER barriers were potentially going to dump some of the cars back out into the frontstretch and have the potential of a T-bone of a driver and then there were some challenges in going into Turn 1.
“Obviously after we went through this weekend, we’ve got to look at what tweaks we can make and be able to install those and maybe look at how the frontstretch could work those in. It wasn’t something that the track or anyone said, ‘Hey we’re not going to do this,’ there was some reasoning behind it. Obviously, after what happened all throughout the weekend, that’s something that we’ve got to address and we’ll do that and very confident the track will work with us as well.’’
NASCAR and tracks have made a concentrated effort to add SAFER barriers after Kyle Busch was injured in an Xfinity race at Daytona International Speedway at the beginning of last season when he struck an unprotected concrete wall. Dover added 479 feet of SAFER barrier before this weekend along the inside wall at the backstretch and inside Turn 3.
NASCAR is looking into what led cars to get airborne Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway and will investigate what caused Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s steering wheel to detach after his second wreck, a NASCAR executive told “The Morning Drive” on Monday.
“Some really intense racing all throughout the day, and some things we didn’t like with cars getting up in the air and we’re already fast at work at the R&D Center, looking at all the video we have,’’ Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “We’ll reach out to the teams to see what we can do to immediately take some action to work towards correcting that.’’
Chris Buescher’s car tumbled down the backstretch after being hit by another car, and Matt Kenseth’s car was sent airborne after contact turned his car sideways and the air picked his vehicle up. Neither driver was injured in the separate incidents.
“You never want to see that,’’ O’Donnell told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio about those incidents. “So (what) you immediately work on is everybody safe, did the safety equipment do its job and what we can learn from that? The immediate steps are to review all the media shots that we have of those incidents, work with the race teams and then look at what may or may not be different from when we’ve been not only at Talladega but any other race track.
“We’ve had a car get in the air at other tracks as well. We’ll look at that. We’ll study the cars as well. We’ll work with the industry. I’ve said many times, not particularly related to a car getting in the air, but in all instances where we can learn and work with the best engineers in the world that are part of our race industry, we’ll do that.
“Safety is first and foremost for all of us. We’ll start that process. It’s not something that we’ve just started. We always look at that. It’s always something in our DNA. We’ll work with the race teams and see what we can learn and then from that apply that to the race cars and the track.’’
O’Donnell said every accident is unique because of the speed, angle of the car, the position of the car and more.
“That will be all of our process in sitting down and reviewing that,’’ O’Donnell told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
That also will include looking at what happened to Earnhardt’s steering wheel. Earnhardt’s teammate, Jimmie Johnson, had a steering wheel come off at Phoenix, leading to his crash in qualifying there.
O’Donnell was asked if Earnhardt’s issue was isolated or something more.
“Even if it is an isolated incident, we’ll look at it,’’ O’Donnell said. “It could be something that could cause issues down the road if it was a trend. We’ll talk to (Earnhardt) and his team and make sure hopefully that was just what you said initially an isolated incident and go from there, but if there is anything we can take from that, we will certainly communicate that to all the teams. It’s not something you want to see, especially potentially at speed.’’
O’Donnell also discussed NASCAR’s review of the finish of Saturday’s Xfinity race. Series officials needed about five minutes to review various video angles to determine who won. Elliott Sadler was declared the winner even though Brennan Poole crossed the line first. NASCAR ruled that Sadler was in the lead when the caution waved for Joey Logano’s accident after he had contact with Sadler racing for the win.
“We can always learn as we go,’’ O’Donnell told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “It was so intense there wanting to get the decision made as quickly as possible. In our recap of what happened Saturday, we could have done a better job, particularly with the television partners, MRN, and the PA announcer for the track explaining what was happening.
“Moving forward I think that’s on us to communicate that a little better in terms of what we are doing and what the process is to determine a winner if that were to occur again.’’
