Kevin Harvick wants more SAFER barriers to fill in unprotected voids at Sprint Cup tracks

By Mar 1, 2014, 2:42 PM EST
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Kevin Harvick has never been shy about speaking his mind, especially when it comes to his safety and that of his fellow competitors.

During his media session Friday at Phoenix International Raceway, Harvick made it clear that he wants to see more racetracks further expand installation of SAFER barriers.

While all Sprint Cup tracks have the speed absorbing barriers, several do not have them completely around both outside and inside retaining walls.

Harvick slid through the infield grass and hit hard into an inside retaining wall that was not protected by a SAFER barrier during last Sunday’s Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Although he was uninjured, Harvick did suffer soreness and just started feeling better Friday from the lick.

“The tracks, for the most part, don’t listen to really anything unless it’s profitable for their shareholders,” Harvick said. “So, when you see somebody spending $400 million dollars on their track and they don’t have soft walls around the inside, maybe they could spend $403 million to go ahead and finish the inside of the superspeedway there at Daytona.

“Yeah, I was sore all week. And just today I feel good enough to do what I need to do.”

Several other drivers have had similar hard wrecks into inside retaining walls that haven’t been protected by SAFER barriers at other tracks in recent seasons, including Jeff Gordon, Danica Patrick and Denny Hamlin.

Hamlin suffered a serious back injury in his particular wreck last spring when his Toyota crashed into an unprotected inside retaining wall at Auto Club Speedway. The wreck forced him to miss four weeks of the Sprint Cup schedule.

Harvick had absolutely no control of his No. 4 Stewart Haas Racing Chevrolet at the time of Sunday’s wreck.

“It was just a weird situation,” Harvick said. “The car didn’t have any brakes or any steering and the throttle was partially hung coming off the wall and going through the wet grass and then into no SAFER barrier at the end of pit road there.

“So, it was a hard shot. It’s a little bit frustrating because it really shouldn’t even be a debate. I know they have data that shows where the most frequently hit spots are but we wear all this safety equipment and do all the things that we do to these race tracks for that one freak incident to keep things from happening like happened back in 2001 (when Dale Earnhardt was killed in a last-lap crash at Daytona International Speedway).”

Harvick succeeded the late Earnhardt in what became the No. 29 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing.

“It shouldn’t even be a debate,” Harvick said. “It’s just one of those things I guess that you just wait around for something else to happen and then they’ll fix it.”

DIS spokesman Lenny Santiago issued a statement in response to Harvick’s comments.

“Fan and competitor safety is a top priority at Daytona International Speedway,” Santiago said in the statement. “We work closely with NASCAR, the Motorsports Technology Group, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and its Midwest Roadside Safety Facility division on recommendations for placement of the SAFER Barriers. We continuously review incidents that take place with these experts, and make improvements based on their ongoing recommendations.”

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Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
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LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).