NASCAR to alter backstretch wall at Talladega after major crash

When Ryan Preece flipped violently at Daytona International Speedway in the summer of 2023, NASCAR was not shy in their reaction, quickly moving to remove the grass from the entire backstretch at the superspeedway. 

Thankfully, no one went up and over at Talladega, but Christopher Bell and Chris Buescher crashed fairly hard at the exit of Turn 2 on a mid-race restart. Bell slammed the inside wall head-on, completely destroying the front of his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Buescher’s impact looked less severe, but he still radioed about how much it hurt afterwards. They crashed into an unusual section of the wall as it actually juts out at an angle towards the race track to make room for an opening behind where emergency vehicles come and go.

Despite not even reaching full speed, the impacts were severe, and Bell’s crash is not the first of its kind in that spot on the 2.66-mile superspeedway. Both Bell and Buescher were checked and released from the infield care center.

On the weekly NASCAR podcast, Hauler Talk, the sport’s senior director of racing communications Amanda Ellis revealed that the wall be altered before NASCAR returns to Talladega later this year during the playoffs.

“That wall will be adjusted or essentially corrected before we return in the fall,” she revealed. “They are going to take that lip out and actually straighten it out, and kind of straighten the wall that leads into that as well. Fix that area, and there is an additional area of the track too that will also be fixed before we return to Talladega.”

Mike Forde, the managing director of racing communications for NASCAR, elaborated on that, adding: “That wall is a wreck magnet. For some reason, that area has been hit often. There is a wall there because there is an access road right behind it where we have emergency vehicles stationed, so if there is a wreck on the backstretch, they can easily get there. So, that’s why that wall is there in the first place.

“But right now, it’s at a five degree angle — it might even be a little bit more than that. So, planning that out and making it more of a straight edge should help as far as the significance of these wrecks. That’s one of those things that we’re going to fix over the summer and for October, you’ll see a new wall there.”