Jeff Gordon has NASCAR's attention, and he is determined to make it count.
Ahead of Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas, Gordon is offering advice his sport and its track owners must heed. Driver safety is critical, and that includes every wall at every track.
Gordon knows it, from his crash last week at Atlanta. NASCAR knows it, having seen Kyle Busch injured at Daytona. And now that he has the bully pulpit, Gordon wants fans to know he's making his appeal.
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A four-time Cup champion, Gordon is making this his final season as a full-time racer. He's doing it in grand fashion, having won pole position for the Daytona 500 and now Sunday's Kobalt 400.
Gordon walked away at Atlanta after his car slammed into an unprotected infield wall. Busch is recovering from a broke leg and broken foot from his similar smash-up during the Daytona Xfinity Series race. Gordon doesn't want that to happen again.
"The most important thing is just to continue to see progress," Gordon told media members Friday. "The one thing I would question is when did SAFER barriers start being put at race tracks, and when was the plan for them to be complete, and where are we in that plan?"
For those not familiar with the anagram, a Steel and Foam Energy Reduction Barrier is designed to cushion the impact of 3,400 pounds of high-powered automotive energy when it strikes a wall. Tracks have them on outer walls, but areas remain where inner walls are unpadded concrete.
Gordon, long a driver safety advocate, wants more of them in place.
"I was under the impression when they started going in it was going to be a three- or four-year plan to complete the SAFER barriers in every wall that needed to have a SAFER barrier," he said.
"To me every area that they say, 'Yes, that wall would be safer with a SAFER barrier' it needs to have a SAFER barrier and we need to know what the time frame is and when it is going to become a SAFER barrier."
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Gordon will meet Tuesday with Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, to air his concerns. O'Donnell said stockcar racing's sanctioning body is reviewing how it determines which walls should be covered.
Gordon is OK with that and how NASCAR is handling things, but believes sooner is better.
"They have been sharing a lot of information with the drivers, a lot more than I've ever seen in the past," he said. "I've been pretty happy with that. Whatever comes out of (the meeting) I will share with other drivers and my team."
NASCAR offered this statement after Gordon's crash at Atlanta: "We have accelerated our review of safety advancements at each of our racing venues. This is an ongoing process that we will continue to approach with aggressively and steadfastly in working with our track partners in the areas of safety."
In some areas, stacked tires provide enough cover for solid walls. Others need something more. SAFER barriers aren't cheap, and they take time to manufacture and install. But twice in three weeks fans have seen how critical they are to driver safety.
Given his status and willingness to use it, Gordon will rightly continue his campaign.