Saturday, February 28, 2015

Marcus Smith: Safety changes possible next week to Las Vegas

   Speedway Motorsports Inc. CEO Marcus Smith told the Observer on Saturday that he expects more safety enhancements will be made to SMI's tracks, including the possibility of changes to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, site of next weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup and Xfinity series races.

   "I don't know if NASCAR officials have been out there to review it, they've been pretty busy between Daytona and Atlanta," Smith said. "I wouldn't be surprised that come Monday we have some additions."

   Before Kyle Busch's wreck at Daytona last weekend, SMI had already planned additions to energy-absorbing SAFER barriers at three of its tracks - Charlotte, New Hampshire and Kentucky. 

   Upon a recommendation from NASCAR, SMI sent 1,100 tires this week to Atlanta Motor Speedway to cover some areas of the track with tire packs that are not protected by SAFER barriers.

   "With Kyle's accident in Daytona, it's caused us to look twice at everything and we're working with NASCAR to see what else there is out there and I expect there will be more additions to SAFER barriers," Smith said.

    "We rely on NASCAR's guidance on that. We have installed SAFER barriers wherever they have asked us to put it."