NASCAR has always been all-in about driver safety and less chaotic races, but they might have taken it to the extreme heading towards Watkins Glen this year. There have been some huge physical changes on the track, but as one of Brad Keselowski’s drivers mentioned, they might be good for overall racing.

Brad Keselowski’s driver reflects on Watkins Glen’s changes

“It was creating these massive accidents, right? Will this fix that, or will it have a massive accident because of a tire pack? I don’t know,” said Chris Buescher, driver of the #17 RFK Racing car. He spends enough time in the simulator to practice the upcoming races, and he did the same with the new changes around Watkins Glen.

The runoff areas, a feature on road courses, have been a bit of an issue for the NASCAR drivers. The cars sometimes go a lot wide and then return to the track aggressively, making contact with other drivers, which can be a bit too unsafe. To battle with this, the authorities installed tire walls, which will act as new track limits, and the drivers are expected to stay on the track a lot more. Although Buescher sounds a bit confused about this, he understands the purpose behind it.

“If we’re going to put a wall there, then might as well put a wall there and say that’s it,” he added. “Not saying it won’t work, and it’s kept us exactly where they want us to be in the simulator, right? So the idea behind it is least working right now. We’ll just have to see how it works in practice once we get everybody on track. But no, I like what we’re doing.”

This isn’t the first time that the safety at Watkins Glen has been in question. Back in 2024, NASCAR, analyzing the data recorded through the drivers’ mouthpieces, realized that there had been over a thousand impact events at the ‘Bus Stop’ section of the track during the ’23 season. This was rather concerning, and the work on the track started soon enough to improve the corner.

While this seems to be a positive change for the drivers with the new physical barriers around the track, some of the drivers seem worried.

NASCAR’s road course expert is not in favor of The Glen’s new track limits

Shane van Gisbergen has spent years piloting in the Supercars Series, and so he has a great idea of how cars react on the road courses. And he seems a bit too worried about the changes that NASCAR has come up with heading into Watkins Glen.

“The way that wall is angled, it’s going to grab cars and spit them out back into the middle of the track,” he said.

Although the tire wall is placed there to absorb the impact from the drivers who might run wide while making the corner, the angle is a bit worrying to Van Gisbergen. That is, in fact, the last thing that NASCAR would want. The whole purpose of the wall is not to have the cars rushing into the traffic, but if what Van Gisbergen claims happens, the cars will be heading into the traffic even faster.

“In road racing, you want a barrier that either absorbs the impact or guides the car along it. This setup, especially how close it gets to the racing line, feels like a trap,” he added.

There are several track limits introduced throughout the track. On Turn 1, there will be four tire ‘packs’ or walls. The first set will be 11 feet away from the asphalt, and the second will be 9 feet away. There will be a 180-foot gap between each pack.

Heading towards the Carousel, the drivers will be greeted by a huge tire wall in the runoff area. Initially, it will be 20 feet away from the track, but as the drivers drive away from the corner, it will shrink to just 5 feet.

As Brad Keselowski’s driver, Chris Buescher mentioned, the real-world application of these walls will only be observed during the first practice session of the packed weekend NASCAR is prepared for. Although safety is the sport’s priority, it could go the other way around if Shane van Gisbergen is right.