If any driver in the NASCAR garage has reason to pay close attention to safety issues, Kyle Busch is at the top of the list.
Busch was sidelined for 11 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races after breaking his right leg and left foot in an accident during the XFINITY Series race on Feb. 21 at Daytona International Speedway.
And though Busch participated in Thursday night’s UNOH 225 Camping World Truck Series race at Kentucky Speedway as a truck owner and not a driver, Ben Kennedy’s contact with the catchfence and SAFER barrier in the closing laps of the event gave him cause to reflect.
Fortunately, the fence prevented Kennedy’s truck from reaching the grandstand, just as the fencing had done early Monday morning, when Austin Dillon’s Chevrolet was launched into the containment barrier on the final lap of the Coke Zero 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona.
Busch took note of both incidents.
“As far as the catch fence and everything, I’m glad they’re there, and I’m glad they’re doing their job keeping the race cars or trucks on the race track,” Busch said on Friday at Kentucky Speedway. “It’s a dangerous sport – we live it every day. Sometimes we take it for granted because of all the safety advancements we’ve gotten over the years that we feel invincible, but certainly it’s a rare inopportune times that you can put yourself in a situation to get hurt.
“We saw it in Daytona with myself, and saw it in Daytona again with Austin Dillon and we probably saw it again last night, among other times. Those times just seem to be the most severe or scary crashes we see.”
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