By Jim Utter, McClatchy Newspapers –
NASCAR on Sunday announced safety changes to help protect safety vehicles on the track and the workers in them.
NASCAR will have an extra pace car with flashing lights behind the last jet dryer on the track in all races in all three national series — Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Trucks. The change was implemented in Sunday’s Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway.
In addition, NASCAR tracks have agreed to have drivers of jet dryers wear helmets and fire suits during each race.
The changes, made in the wake of an accident last week in the Daytona 500 in which driver Juan Pablo Montoya wrecked into a jet dryer filled with jet kerosene, were told to teams in Sunday’s pre-race drivers’ meeting at Phoenix.
The changes put NASCAR’s policy more in line with that of the IndyCar Series, which has all of its safety workers outfitted in helmets and fire suits.
Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president of competition, also reminded drivers during Sunday’s meeting to watch their speed around safety vehicles. NASCAR, however, has insisted Montoya did nothing wrong in the incident last week.
Montoya had exited pit road in Turn 2 on Lap 160 when his car suddenly veered to the right, went up the track and slammed into a jet dryer causing a huge explosion. No one was seriously injured in the incident.
On Friday, four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon said he was surprised to see the driver of the jet dryer was not wearing any safety gear.
“I couldn’t believe that guy got out of the truck without a helmet and a fire suit on,” Gordon said.
“Don’t know what kind of harness he had on, but trying to take measures to make that aspect of it safer will be a good thing.”
Beaux Barfield, president of competition and race director of the IndyCar Series, said it would be extremely rare in his series to have jet dryers on the track at the same time as cars.
“Typically, the only reason we use jet dryers is to dry a track that’s wet and we wouldn’t be racing,” he said. “I can’t say we would never have dryers on the track the same time as cars because you can’t account for every possibility.”
During the Daytona 500, NASCAR had directed jet dryers to Turn 3 to blow debris from the track following an accident.
In response to a Charlotte Observer inquiry last week, NASCAR officials said they would evaluate the accident and if they determined they could do something better, they would.
