Originally Posted by illinisprintfan:
It's the smart move from a safety stand point. The shortness of the wall between the pits and the track on the frontstretch and the closeness of the crews to the track always seemed to me as being a dangerous situation. It wouldn't take much for a car to get over it and go right into a group of cars and crew members.
I remember pitting on the front stretch at Williams Grove with nothing between us and the track. That was in the early 60s. Do I also remember pitting that way at Terre Haute in the 70s, or was there a little wall there? Whatever it was, it wasn't much.
A few years ago, Williams Grove cut a pit out of the infield that is big enough that the haulers can park, facing in to the infield, and still leave room to work on the cars, with a push-off lane outside that. Then, there is a wall, topped by a fence, between the push-off lane and the track. It is really nice for the fans on the front stretch to be able to see the cars being maintained, and look right down into the trailers.
However, even with all that, they have had a car get into the pits off the front stretch.