NASCAR places 400 lb barriers in esses at COTA to enforce track limits

Not only has the track in Austin, Texas been changed to a shorter configuration, but NASCAR has also put new barriers up at COTA. In order to keep drivers within track limits through the esses, 400 lb barriers have been installed.

This has been a hotly contested area of the track. NASCAR didn’t put barriers up at COTA last season but did make other efforts. Track officials were enforcing the limits in that area, but many fans and drivers felt others got away with it while only a few were punished.

There is no turtle bump, speed bump, or line that can keep a stock car driver from pushing and stepping over the limits on a road course. It’s just the nature of the sport. Bumps? Well, faster to go over those than it is to turn sharper in the corners.

Now, a wall or a concrete block, that will keep drivers on their best behavior. In the apex of the s-turns, NASCAR has put up 400 lb barriers at COTA. Surely this will not lead to any issues in practice or the races.

Anthony Alfredo, Young’s Motorsports Xfinity Series driver, snapped a photo of the new installments.

400 lb walls in the esses GLHF #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/jQvpnVvNRW

— Anthony Alfredo (@anthonyalfredo) February 28, 2025

This is the part of the track where drivers are generally going door to door with one another. It is an opportunity zone for some and a nightmare for others. Sometimes you’re the hammer and sometimes you’re the nail kind of situation in the esses, especially on restarts.

How will new NASCAR barrier at COTA effect racing?

We will see later this evening if the Xfinity Series has issues in practice. I suspect it won’t be a problem unless someone loses control in that area of the track. Not out of the realm of possibility. However, I think seeing these barriers will put everyone on high alert and good behavior. Or else they may be the ones wrecking into them.

While I don’t believe it will be a major issue, there is always a possibility. NASCAR has not only added barriers but shortened the course. I’m not sure if a new course will make the field, especially a younger field in the Xfinity Series, go wild or anything. We’ve seen crazier things.

Drivers better hope they can get under or over these barriers in a worst-case situation. Best to do a stop-and-go penalty than to have a wrecked race car. Do you think we see a driver or multiple drivers end up hitting these barriers?