Daytona International Speedway offers no excuses, only immediate action following Kyle Busch injury
The track announces immediate plans to make the race track safer for all competitors.
Joie Chitwood III, Daytona International Speedway and NASCAR Senior Vice President Steve O'Donnell talk about adding SAFER barriers to the track following Kyle Busch's crash
Alexander Trienitz
Daytona Beach, Fla. - Following an accident at the end of Saturday's NASCAR XFINITY Series race that left Kyle Busch hospitalized with a leg injury, Daytona International Speedway plans to cover 'every inch' of the track in SAFER Barriers, according to DIS President Joie Chitwood III. Tonight, they are installing tire packs in the area where the No. 54 impacted the concrete wall.
DIS takes responsibility for Busch injury, responds tonight
"Our thoughts and prayers go to Kyle," said Chitwood. "The Daytona International Speedway did not live up to its responsibility today. We should have had a SAFER Barrier there today and we did not. We're going to fix that. We're going to fix that right now."
What happened tonight should not have happened ... That's on us.
NASCAR's Steve O'Donnell
"We've got the team out tonight, we're going to install tire packs along that 850-foot linear square feet of wall, so we're ready to go racing tomorrow. Following that, (DIS) is going to install SAFER Barrier on every inch at this property. This is not going to happen again. We're going to live up to our responsibility. We're going to fix this and it starts right now."
"For us, we can't really look at financials as a reason for this," continued Chitwood. "We have to have a venue which we can put on NASCAR racing and have competitors be safe."
NASCAR gives their stance
"What happened tonight should not have happened, that's on us, added NASCAR Executive VP and chief racing development officer Steve O'Donnell. "I think we all know that racing is an inherently dangerous sport, but our priority is safety and we'll continue to put things in place that make this sport as safe as possible."
Other tracks?
In response to addressing the SAFER Barrier issue with other circuits, O'Donnell said "We always have those conversations with the race tracks. (They) know that and work together with us on the SAFER Barrier recommendations. What we've said here tonight will accelerate those talks with the tracks."
O'Donnell added that each track is responsible in paying for the installation.
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