Kyle Busch is frustrated over the fact that NASCAR hasn’t successfully brought the expected safety changes to the superspeedway package for this weekend at Talladega. The two-time Cup Series champion was critical of the fact that, while these changes are expensive, the racing series is yet to make the safety improvements.
Speaking to the media ahead of this Sunday’s Jack Links 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Busch commented on the modifications to the “greenhouse” area of the Next Gen car – the upper portion that houses the driver.
“I think they tested it at Michigan, and I’m pretty sure greenhouses aren’t that easy to make and are very expensive – probably one of the more expensive body parts that these cars have,” Busch said to FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass.
“So, you know, you would like to have anything like that as soon as you possibly could get it and have it on the race car, especially coming to places like this. So I would agree with the sentiment that, yeah, it’s a little disappointing we don’t have it yet if it’s a safety feature for us.”
These comments come as NASCAR hopes to solve the issue of these Next Gen cars going airborne during high-speed crashes, specifically at tracks like Talladega where the drivers can reach speeds upwards of 200mph.
The modifications being considered involve adding a flap to the A-post of the greenhouse, which during a 90-degree spin, increases the chances of the car staying flat to the floor by 40-50%. But after failed tests by NASCAR in Michigan earlier this year, these safety improvements won’t be making their way to the tarmac of Talladega just yet, leaving drivers wondering when they will see them this season.
Brad Keselowski was part of these tests with RFK Racing. He admitted they “didn’t pan out.”
“RFK [Racing] was part of the test at Michigan probably three or four weeks ago, where we explored different options to help the cars at track at very high speed and Michigan is very [high] speed,” Keselowski told the media. “The options, unfortunately, didn’t pan out that NASCAR had worked to develop, so it wasn’t a surprise that there weren’t any changes.
“I knew there was effort being put into it and, candidly, not everything you try is gonna work, but I appreciate that there was effort put into it and I think there’s very much a back to the drawing board mentality. I don’t feel like it’s not being worked on, but we’re not gonna skip the race just because we haven’t figured something out, so the show goes on.”
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