NASCAR shares safety updates for Atlanta, crash test footage of Kyle Larson, Ryan Preece wreck at Talladega

NASCAR has never been afraid to make changes in the middle of the season. And this one is a welcomed change. When Ryan Preece ran into Kyle Larson’s passenger side at Talladega, it was a scary wreck. The speed of Preece put his car into Larson’s, a little too close for comfort.

Since then, changes have been announced. NASCAR let teams know that they would have to add gusset plates for the Coca-Cola 600. Now it seems that the changes are in full effect and NASCAR has a solution to this kind of hard hit.

Listen to Dr. John Patalak break it all down.

NASCAR announces significant safety updates to the Next Gen car following the crash involving the Nos. 5 and 41 cars at Talladega.

These changes are set to debut at Atlanta Motor Speedway. pic.twitter.com/bPoOGMRSGb

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 8, 2023

This year has been all about “transparency” from NASCAR. That’s great for fans. This time around, we even got to see footage from a crash test. Where the passenger side chassis used to just be the bars of the frame, will now be reinforced with a steel plate.

The folks at the Research and Development Center also wanted to make the front of the car crush more in these instances. So, the removal of the front clip V-brace will remain from Charlotte. They also have removed other front clip parts to make for a softer and bigger crush zone for these types of high-intensity impacts.

A lot of drivers were uncomfortable with the impact they saw Kyle Larson take from Ryan Preece. Hopefully, these tests and these updates will give them reassurance that NASCAR is taking their job seriously.

NASCAR updates front clip even more

When it was announced changes were coming to the car at Charlotte, I figured it would be the end of changes. But NASCAR kept at it and came up with more solutions to improve the outcomes of these hard-impact wrecks.

Dr. John Patalak is the vice president of safety engineering at NASCAR. He explained what changes were made to the car and what that means.

“We’ve taken a lot of the steel structural members and removed material from key elements to make this structure less stiff,” Patalak said. “We have slots on both sides, we have deleted some cross members between the upright mounts and we’ve treated some of the areas down low that are some of the first to contact the wall on the front clip. We’ve also added slots to this ballast container as well as some holes, and it’s all an effort to increase the amount of displacement we’re getting out of the car and to reduce the accelerations that the driver is experiencing.”

In other words, the front of the car now crumples more in high-speed impacts. The side of the car that was once vulnerable is now reinforced with steel plates. So, we should have fewer intrusions in wrecks like the Larson, Preece ordeal.

Thankfully, NASCAR is proactive on safety. While they could have done the bare minimum it seems they’ve gone out and checked all their boxes. Let’s hope we don’t have to see the changes in action, though.