Sprint Cup director John Darby says it is reviewing incident with experts


When NASCAR returns to Auto Club Speedway, there likely will be a SAFER barrier on the interior wall smacked by Denny Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota in Sunday's Sprint Cup race.

The crash on the last lap after a battle with Joey Logano sent Hamlin to a nearby hospital with a fractured vertebra in his lower back.

In a conference call with news media Tuesday, Sprint Cup director John Darby said the area would be reviewed by NASCAR and its coalition of independent safety experts who are employed to make suggestions on track improvements.

"If the folks make a recommendation that they think will help ensure the safety there, then I'm sure the speedway follows it," Darby said.

Though they are recommendations, which Darby said are from outside experts and not NASCAR, there could be consequences if they aren't completed. Sanctioning agreements hold that tracks risk losing races if they aren't in compliance with NASCAR directives.

Because he hadn't seen prior reports for Fontana, Darby said he wasn't sure if a recommendation previously had been made to address the wall hit by Hamlin. He also noted the wall had been in place since the 2-mile oval's 1997 opening and hadn't been identified as a high-risk impact spot, or "it would have probably been different."

PHOTOS: Denny Hamlin crash at Auto Club Speedway

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Auto Club Speedway spokesman David Talley told USA TODAY Sports via phone Monday that NASCAR was reviewing the incident, and the track would follow any recommendations made by the review.

The Sprint Cup series will be back in 2014. The Izod IndyCar Series will hold its season finale there Oct. 19.

Darby noted that SAFER barriers were added at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to an interior wall after a heavy impact by Jeff Gordon in 2008, and that a backstretch area at Kentucky Speedway was addressed after a Nationwide race several years ago.

"We receive the same (safety) reports (as tracks), but they actually come from the folks that are the best suited to make those recommendations and understand what they are recommending," Darby said. "Nobody's reluctant to do the things that need to be done. But with the same token, it needs to be reviewed by the expert people who know what the heck they are talking about, and the proper directives and follow-ups (are) made."

Any additions have been estimated by experts at about $500 per foot, but that aries according to market prices for labor and materials.

On Monday night after his release from Loma Linda University Medical Center, Hamlin said he hoped tracks would realize "there's just no safe place that a SAFER barrier shouldn't be.

"I'm sure when we go back there will be one there, and it's just unfortunate it takes wrecks like here and what we saw at Watkins Glen (2011) for them to kind of reconfigure these tracks where they need to be safety-wise."

Asked why tracks don't have their walls lined completely by the SAFER barrier, Darby said, "all of the venues are evaluated and looked at, at least annually. And if there's trouble areas in a particular venue, then a recommendation is made to see if it can be addressed or a better situation evolved into.

"The part of the wall that Denny hit in California, obviously that wall has been there since the racetrack was built. But one of the points that they look at is frequency of impacts, and where the more prevalent points of impact are, and those are addressed first. There's a constant growth of SAFER barriers and closing gates and redesigning gates. It's an evolution."

Fox analyst Darrell Waltrip said Hamlin's crash proves, "there is no excuse for not having SAFER barriers all the way around every track. It would have made all the difference in the world for Hamlin at Fontana. That boy wouldn't have a hurt back now if there were SAFER barriers in place there.

"We need a SAFER barrier anywhere a car can hit a wall because at 200 mph, cars can go places you never dreamed of, so why take that chance? With Jeff Gordon hitting the wall at Las Vegas, who would have thought a car could hit there? But cars can and will go anywhere, and we keep learning that lesson the hard way."

While there should be improvements coming to Fontana, there might not be imminent changes for the Gen 6 car. After five races, Darby said NASCAR only had "scratched the surface" with its new model, which was designed to produce better racing at larger speedways such as Fontana.

The next test will be in three weeks at Texas Motor Speedway's 1.5-mile oval, and Darby doesn't seem to be anticipating any changes to the car before that 500-mile race.

"Texas is our second look at that style of racetrack," Darby said. "Las Vegas Motor Speedway was the first, and that proved to be a very good race, as well, shattering all kinds of records for lead changes and passes on the racetrack. So Texas, it will be another check in the box. The biggest difference between Las Vegas and Texas is a 500-mile race instead of a 400-mile race, so we'll see how that turns out.

"I don't know if I could be much happier right now with the first five races that we've rolled out. The competition has been phenomenal. The races are just fun to watch."

Follow Nate Ryan on Twitter @nateryan