Indy's SAFER barrier has provided the Indy Racing League with their first real crash scenario tests and the verdict is that the system is a resounding success. Friday's violent crash by Alex Barron in his Rayovac/Blair Racing entry capped a week long series of crashes that produced reduced G-loads.

"Certainly Tony (George) has spent a lot of money trying to develop a wall," said Marlboro Team Penske owner Roger Penske. "He has stepped up first -- and there's no question when you're looking at accidents that the G-forces recorded were over 100 -- you've got G-forces now that are not spiked, they're more level in the 40 category. There's been a big, big change. "

But the safety pursuit continues. Both Robby McGehee and P.J. Jones ended up with vertebrae fractures after hitting Indy's wall. Jaques Lazier suffered similar back injuries when his Team Menard car backed into Nazareth's concrete.

"We first became aware of possible back issues last season when Sarah Fisher backed her car into the wall at Richmond," explained IRL Vice-President of Operations Brian Barnhart. "We do an extensive crash analysis of every wreck and look for any common denominators."

The one denominator that keeps showing up is that drivers were wearing the Hans device, a head and neck restraint system popularized since the death of Dale Earnhardt in 2001. NASCAR and CART require the use of either the HANS or a Hutchens device. The IRL does not.

"We are very concerned about what we have seen in the major impacts and with what the head rests look like," explained Barnhart. "We made significant advances in safety over the last couple of years with improvements in our cars. We are very active in anticipating safety issues instead of just reacting."

Immediately following Lazier's Nazareth accident, Barnhart and IRL officials staged a number of frontal impacts with sled tests at 80 G's using the neck restraints.

"We invited Dr. Hubbard (the co-inventor of the HANS) and he was there with us," Barnhart said. "Even wearing the HANS device we bounced the driver's head off the steering wheel.

"He (Hubbard) told us before the test we couldn't do it and we did right before his eyes."

The main focus is the head rest area of the cars. Head rests from both McGehee and Jones show an indented imprint of the Hans device as well as significant destruction of the head rest.

Alex Barron was wearing a Hans device when he crashed and did not suffer back injuries

"Its too early for us to draw conclusions," Barnhart said. "Dr Henry Bock (IRL medical head) is looking into the mechanics of what is happening.

"What we are going to do is continue to educate our drivers on what we discover. If a driver chooses to wear a neck restraint device, they need to do every thing they can to make sure that using that device does not compromise the driver's environment.