NASCAR driver Ryan Preece called on the auto racing governing body to “do more to prevent cars from becoming airborne during superspeedway races” after being involved in a “terrifying tumble” yesterday at Daytona 500, according to Mark Long of the AP. Preece said, “We keep beating on a door hoping for a different result and we know where there’s a problem: at superspeedways.” He adds, “Something needs to be done because cars lifting off the ground like that.” Preece: “Everything about that: airborne, heading toward the fence, it’s not a good place to be in, honestly. With a hit like that -- a head-on impact -- I don’t really think it should have gone airborne. I’m just not very happy” (AP, 2/17).
SCARY SIGHT: In Port St. Lucie, Patrick Bernadeau noted the incident yesterday “was initiated” when driver Cole Custer, “bump-drafting from the outside lane, turned Christopher Bell into the outside wall.” As Bell “veered back into oncoming traffic, Preece clipped the Toyota Camry, sending his Ford Mustang on a wheelie for roughly 100 yards before flipping onto his roof and slamming head-on into the wall” (TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS, 2/16).
MORE CHANGES NEEDED: Preece specifically said that the Next Gen car package “needed to be safer on superspeedways.” In Charlotte, Alex Zietlow notes NASCAR “made steps to combat going airborne, specifically, in October,” but those changes were not “enough in Preece’s eyes” (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 2/17).
