The Amazing Technology of The Catch Fence

Whether you were watching the Coke Zero 400 or not, you may have already seen the Austin Dillon last lap wreck where he gets caught up and turned into the catch fence. Not only did he get turned, but found himself airborne and his car hurtling straight at the stands where people were gathered in this rain-delayed race.

What you saw, watching live, was a heart wrenching moment as his car got up into the fence and then deflected back onto the track.


As a TV viewer experiencing this incident, NBC's coverage did not immediately show this happen and it was a complete shock when, after a few seconds of covering the field sliding down the chute, that they panned to the upside down husk of what was left of Austin Dillon's car, as crew members from various teams rushed out to lend aid.

Then the network showed the wreck and we saw the car get flipped into the air and into the catch fence. What was ironic about this was that that stands appeared to have been empty except for this one section where fans were clustered.

And then to watch the car hit the fence and bounce back onto the track was horrifying.

Two things took place here. The catch fence prevented deaths for sure of fans in the stands, and the catch fence did the exact job is was intended to do, doing the amazing feat of reflecting the car back onto the track.

Not only that, but the in-car safety features kept Austin Dillon alive and well, period.

Sunday, July 5th, 2015 is a banner day, as it demonstrated that all the safety features NASCAR has been deploying over the years, worked flawlessly. Flawlessly.

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