Controversies and wrecks are typical in NASCAR. 2023 saw two big nail-biters. Foremost, Ryan Blaney hit the Nashville wall hard, and then Ryan Preece had a hair-raising barrel-roll accident at Daytona. Apparently, the drivers walked away with just a few scrapes, although Blaney did have a scare. The close calls were wake-ups for NASCAR, nudging them to tighten up safety. And well, the latest updates suggest that they’re on it.

The Nashville accident caused concussion-like symptoms in Ryan Blaney

2023 Cup Champion Ryan Blaney’s race at Nashville Superspeedway came to a sharp halt when his car slammed into the wall during lap 146. It all started when Brad Keselowski‘s car seemed to lose its get-up-and-go. Blaney was caught off guard, got a nudge from behind, spun out of control, and hence ended up hitting the wall near the pit road exit. The wall, which lacked any cushioning, made the impact even harder, leaving Blaney with concussion-like symptoms.

A top dog at NASCAR didn’t mince words, calling it downright unacceptable that the wall Blaney hit lacked any protective padding. The latest from NBC Sports, through reporter Dustin Long, suggests, “NASCAR says tire packs will be placed over concrete wall inside Turn 1 at Nashville. Last year, Ryan Blaney hit the concrete wall there.”

But what about the Daytona International Speedway? Well, there’s room for improvement there too. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver, Ryan Preece, didn’t hit anything specific but took a flight due to the high speed and the tricky surface. A few seasoned drivers and insiders suggested that NASCAR could tweak a few things to avoid such life-threatening incidents in the future.

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The 2023 Coke Zero Sugar 400 was a real nail-biter, especially during those last five laps. That’s when Ryan Preece’s #41 Mustang took a wild ride, spinning out and going airborne, leading to a whole “grassgate” mess. An ambulance raced to the scene, and the race was put on hold as Preece was whisked away to Halifax Medical Center.

After this scary incident, NASCAR’s VP of Competition, Elton Sawyer, had a chinwag about possible changes to the track. He had previously mentioned on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio the idea of ditching the grass on the backstretch, focusing on safer barriers and tire packs. 

Drivers and NASCAR insiders, like Kyle Busch, are raising eyebrows over the grass on the track. Busch compared a fast car hitting grass to a “sheet of plywood” catching the wind, likely to go flying. Kevin Harvick chimed in with similar concerns. He reckoned the crash was way more violent because of the car jumping from one surface to another, twisting, and turning in mid-air. He’s pretty clear-cut about it: the grass has got to go.

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On one side, Denny Hamlin stressed on “grass” for the moment Preece’s car took off, triggering those terrifying barrel rolls. TJ Majors suggested slowing things down might spice up the racing and cut down on these major crashes. He’s all for a bit of slow and steady. And Kenny Wallace threw in his thoughts on “turtle shells” under the car: when they catch air, they mess up the aerodynamics, and that’s why cars are going airborne.