MIS Poses Real Risk

By Dan Proudfoot
©1997 Canada Online and SpeedCenter Internet Publishing

Ask a driver about safety at the Molson Indy and the conversation almost automatically turns to the dangers of Michigan International Speedway. The risk inherent in this coming Sunday's race at MIS outweighs anything faced this past weekend at Exhibition Place. Speeds of 240 miles per hour aren't in themselves frightening, but the consequences of crashing against the concrete walls at that velocity haunt the racers.

Emerson Fittipaldi's career ended there last year, Danny Sullivan's in 1993. Ernie Irvan's return from his 1994 encounter has been difficult, to say the least.

Many CART racers say, privately, they'd remove MIS from the schedule if they could, but, of course, Roger Penske's superspeedway approaches perfection for fans, if not racers themselves.

In the wake of Fittipaldi's accident, the top-three finishers called for measures to reduce speeds - measures which this year should keep cars close to 230 mph.

But many would like to see the walls themselves made less threatening. "You just hold your breath," Michael Andretti said. "(The drivers) keep pushing. If MIS can spend all those millions improving the facility, can't they spend $2 million on the walls?"

The concept of shock-absorbing walls is under-developed, but not new. Flemington Speedway, a five-eighths mile track in New Jersey, lines the usual points of impact with blocks of styrofoam. The late Mickey Thomson devised water-filled bumpers for walls in his indoor truck races.

CART vice-president Kirk Russell introduced a grid of tires held within laminated conveyer belting at the Rio de Janeiro oval. Crashes at sharp angles are common at Rio, so the huge rubber pillows were appropriate, although they wouldn't work at Michigan.

"Each track presents certain unique circumstances," Russell said at the Molson Indy. "At Michigan, most crashes (into the walls) are at very shallow angles. You essentially want the wall to absorb energy, but you want it to take place over a distance

. "What causes damage is a sudden change of direction or stop. For Michigan you therefore look for materials that absorb energy, that are compliant, but stable and remain smooth."

The laminated conveyer belting of Rio could be dangerous at MIS, Russell explained. "If you had a situation where the belting latched on to the car, I'd have a real concern over the ability of the car to continue losing speed as it rolled along the barrier."

The search for appropriate materials continues, but when the CART circus rolls into Penske's palace in the cornfields on Thursday, the walls will remain cold, unyielding concrete.

Source: Canada Online, used by permission