Lowe's Motor Speedway (LMS) execs said Tuesday that it
will erect the "tallest safety fences in motorsports if Indy
cars return" to the track, according to Foon Rhee of the
CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. The higher fences will also go up at
three other tracks owned by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI)
-- TX Motor Speedway (TMS), Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) and
Las Vegas Motor Speedway -- "before Indy cars run on them
this year." SMI "plans to spend" $1M on the new "catch
fences," and a "prototype" will go up next week along 800
feet of LMS's fourth turn and will be in place for the
Winston Cup Coca-Cola 600 on May 30. SMI President Humpy
Wheeler called the fence, which will be 21 feet high, about
6 feet higher than the existing fence, "fairly
revolutionary" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 5/19). Wheeler said
that his engineers are talking with the U.S. Navy about "how
aircraft carriers deal with similar problems" and that a
"special Navy webbing may be used" for the project (WINSTON-
SALEM JOURNAL, 5/19). In Dallas, Tony Fabrizio reports that
the "fence modification" at TMS will "encompass" about 4,000
feet. But TMS GM Eddie Gossage said that the changes
"aren't enough to reduce the risk of spectators being hit by
debris and suggested that if the IRL wants to stay in
business, it must modify the cars" (D. MORNING NEWS, 5/19).
