Dean Sicking, professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering and former director of the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, received the Landmark Award for outstanding contributions to stock-car racing during the NASCAR Hall of Fame ceremony Feb. 7. The achievement was featured in more than 130 national media outlets, including Essentially Sports, NASCAR.com, Racer and Speedway Digest.
Sicking and colleagues at the facility invented the Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) barrier system, which has saved countless drivers’ lives over the past 20-plus years. The barriers consist of stacked steel tubes, backed by bundled foam — a combination that is much more forgiving than bare concrete. The walls are now standard at all NASCAR and IndyCar tracks across the country.
“I was glad that he got the award and got recognized for his work because, honestly, it’s saved a lot of drivers’ lives, and for him to develop something like that, it should go recognized and noticed,” said Ryan Blaney, who served on the Hall of Fame voting panel last year as the Cup Series’ 2023 champion. “From a driver standpoint, it’s one of the best inventions we’ve ever had.”
Racing mogul Tony George and his Indy Racing League — now known as IndyCar — first approached Sicking in fall 1998 about designing a “soft” wall that could protect drivers in high-speed crashes. NASCAR later joined the effort after a string of fatal crashes. Over the course of nearly four years, engineers and researchers at Nebraska teamed up with motor sports experts to design multiple iterations and conduct numerous crash tests before the SAFER system was introduced in 2002.
Sicking’s Landmark Award recognition arrived in his first year on the ballot. The innovation also earned him the Bill France Award of Excellence in 2003 and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President George W. Bush in 2005, NASCAR.com reported.
Sicking and his Midwest Roadside Safety Facility team — which included current director Ron Faller — were also honored at a Feb. 6 event at the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, leading up to the Hall of Fame ceremony.
“It’s been a wonderful experience, because I spent hours and hours with these people, and it’s great to see everybody here and celebrating the SAFER barrier work,” he said. “I just can’t describe it.”
Learn more about the SAFER barrier system.
Learn more about the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility.
Nebraska Headliners highlights Husker faculty and staff featured in major news outlets. If you see a possible Nebraska Headliner, submit the story or URL via email to nebraskatoday@unl.edu.
