Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway are known for “the big one” that can frequently take out half the field and turn race cars into piles of scrap metal.  The tracks has been the sites of some horrific and often scary wrecks. 

One such crash happened during the Talladega race in April when Kyle Larson and Ryan Preece were involved in a crash that sheered the sheet metal on the right hand side of Larson’s car and exposed the foam padding and rollbars inside.

Beginning this weekend for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, NASCAR has issued some updates to the car chassis to enhance driver safety.

After reviewing the crash, NASCAR have added six new side bar gussets to the right hand side of the car to help strengthen the welded joint.

Also the front clip V-brace has been removed from the assembly to reduce the stiffness in the front clip.

NASCAR is continuing to study car damage after a crash and has scheduled two days of crash testing in Ohio prior to the triple header weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  Depending on the outcomes of the testing, NASCAR may make further adjustments to the cars as it continues to provide the safest cars possible to the drivers.