Eldora Speedway Will not Have SAFER Barriers for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Race

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will host its first ever dirt track race on July 24, 2013 at Eldora Speedway and will do it without SAFER barriers in place. It will be the first NASCAR race since the 2004 season that a track has not had the soft-walls in place for the Sprint Cup, Nationwide or Truck Series.

According to NASCAR director of safety Tom Gideon the 0.5 mile Eldora dirt track still meets NASCAR’s safety guidelines even without SAFER barriers.

“We looked at the track and we looked at the surface,” Gideon said earlier this month during a safety and technology conference at Indianapolis. “When you’re running on dirt, there’s really no way to make sure the SAFER barrier will act the same way it does on pavement. I think part of that problem is the dirt surface and that you really don’t know how the surface is going react and how much it will pile up against the wall.”

The decision was left up to the experts in this case and since NASCAR believes that Eldora Speedway will be safe enough without the SAFER barriers the inaugural 2013 event will go on as planned without the track having to make any additions. It is a decision that seems a little surprising considering how safety has been such a big part of NASCAR in the past decade.

With that said the Eldora race will be one that both fans and drivers alike will be waiting for in great anticipation over the next eight months.

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