Kasey Kahne hits same pit road wall as Jeb Burton at Pocono Raceway in August 2015. Photo – NASCAR.com
Pocono Raceway has recently installed longer walls along pit road after Kasey Kahne and Jeb Burton spun out in the exact location off turn three and on pit road during practice and the start of the Windows 10 400 back in late August. Both Burton and Kahne had hit nearly the same area in consecutive days. It was Kahne who had the bigger hit when he not only hit the pit road wall, he also sent helmets and other equipment flying. Kahne was pretty well shook up from the incident while being interviewed.
Thankfully during both incidents, there were no injuries. But it’s for certain that the Kahne crash brought flashbacks from the Kyle Busch incident during the XFINITY Series race at Daytona in February. Busch suffered a broken foot and leg, forcing him to sit out the first 11 races of the season. Busch later came back and won not only five Sprint Cup races, but also won the Sprint Cup Championship. The only positive solution that came out of Pocono was their crew expanding the pit road wall. Where the new extended wall is now, a picture is floating where Kahne’s tire tracks are still seen since the incident, most likely to serve as a reminder.
Even with Busch’s championship comeback putting a positive end to the 2015 season, safety concerns can never be overlooked with several headlines during that season. Kahne and Burton went to Twitter and praised Pocono Raceway for not wasting any time improving safety.
@bigdalsky @kaseykahne @MikeLingerfelt @poconoraceway That wasn’t any fun. Nice work.
— Jeb Burton (@JebBurtonRacing) January 6, 2016
I like the new wall and I don’t plan on entering pit road that fast again. #outonlap3 #pissedoff #carjunk #aquafina https://t.co/LKaQtAy7CA
— Kasey Kahne (@kaseykahne) January 6, 2016
Kahne’s incident thankfully came out with no one hurt in the process. It shows from Pocono and Daytona, safety improvements always come out when someone gets hurt, although these were freak accidents that no one saw coming.
It’s true that predicting what will happen on the track is nearly impossible. But every track should check every area after season’s end to help prevent these events from happening again. Think about it when I say this:
Championship second, safety first.
Think about it.