• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / News / Newton track will feature safety wall

Newton track will feature safety wall

May 15, 2006 By admin

One thing that’s still going strong in Newton is construction on the Iowa Speedway. The racetrack that’s taking shape will include a state-of-the-art SAFER barrier. The name stands for “Steel and Foam Energy Reduction,” a design for the track’s outside wall that can cut the odds of serious injuries in a crash.

Dean Sicking is director of the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility, and is credited with devising the “SAFER Barrier.” The barrier absorbs a third to one-half the energy of an impact with the wall, holding down the amount of damage to the car body and minimizing the force of the crash upon the car and the g-load of that crash on the driver.

Sicking says the Iowa Speedway is being built with the SAFER barrier incorporated in its design. “Newton is our first guinea pig,” Sicking says. All the racetracks where the SAFER barrier’s been installed so far were already built with conventional concrete barriers and the SAFER system was added to its face. Newton will be the first built without any concrete behind the SAFER barrier.

NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt died after his racecar hit a wall while he was going 150 miles an hour during the Daytona 500 race five years ago. Sicking was asked if his SAFER barrier’s part of the reason there hasn’t been a similar race-driver death since that one. Sicking says he thinks “without a doubt there’s been a half a dozen crashes where there would have been a high probability of a serious injury or fatality, where the drivers more or less walked away.”

He says there have been a few concussions but no serious injuries in any NASCAR crashes since the SAFER barrier was added to tracks, and he’s pretty sure that without it, there would have been fatalities.

Related web sites:
More info on SAFER wall technology

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: News

Featured Stories

Governor signs Iowa Renewable Fuels Standard into law

Jury returns guilty verdict in shooting death of State Trooper

A haboob, a dust storm black out, hits northwest Iowa

Summit has easements for 20% of carbon pipeline route through Iowa

Morel mushroom hunters on hold without warmer conditions

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

Iowa Special Olympics Summer games set to open in Ames

Radio Iowa/Baseball Coaches Association High School Poll 5/16/22

Iowa assistant coach Kirk Speraw to retire

Northern Iowa prepares for Missouri Valley Conference softball tournament

T.J. Otzelberger announces staff changes at Iowa State

More Sports

eNews and Updates

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Archives

Copyright © 2022 ยท Learfield News & Ag, LLC