Parts failure led to accident with Patrick, Stewart, McMurray
Stewart, who missed the first eight races this year because of a broken back, walked gingerly after getting out of the car. Patrick said she was fine and that McMurray was nursing a sore elbow. Zipadelli said the Patrick car blew a rear-end gear and that SHR driver Kurt Busch experienced a vibration at the start of practice. The team plans to change gears in its other cars.
Stewart and McMurray hit outside walls on the frontstretch that are not covered by energy-absorbing barrier. Dover added 479 feet of SAFER barrier on the inside backstretch wall and on the inside of Turn 3 prior to the race weekend as that area was identified as needing immediate attention. There are SAFER barriers on the inside wall down the frontstretch but only in the turns. NASCAR conducted a safety review of all tracks to help develop a plan to add SAFER barriers where deemed necessary.
"It shouldn't even be a question whether or not tracks have SAFER barrier all the way around," Patrick said.
"It should be mandatory. It shouldn't be a financial decision." Six-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson said he assumed that every wall had a SAFER barrier at Dover but understood the philosophy that the drivers run up against the wall on the frontstretch at the track. He said drivers would adjust to a new groove if Dover added a SAFER barrier to that portion of the track.
"The outside wall doesn't bother me too much that it doesn't have the SAFER barrier on it," Johnson said. "It's not like a mile and a half where we have the D-shaped front straightaway and you actually get away from the wall and, if something went wrong, have a terrible angle at the wall. "With all that said, I'd take a soft wall over a hard wall any day in any situation. … I'm not overly concerned here. I guess I understand why there isn't one on the frontstretch here." ESPN.com