CONCORD, N.C. -- When Jeff Gordon hit the wall during the March race in Las Vegas he described it as, “Probably the hardest I’ve ever hit.”

How is this possible in 2008?

Since the death of Dale Earnhardt the cars are safer, the drivers wear head and neck safety devices, and the tracks have energy-absorbing walls that dramatically reduce the force of an impact.

Not the wall Gordon hit.

It was an inside wall and he hit it head on, knocking the radiator out of his car and sending it and other pieces flying high landing all over the track.

Now, tracks are looking at what they thought was a good plan, having SAFER barriers along outside walls, in curves and at other “high risk” areas of the track.

Gordon’s crash proved any area of a race track is high risk.

H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler, president and CEO of Lowe’s Motor Speedway, saw that crash and decided to do something at his track before the year’s first race, the All-Star on May 17.

Today, Wheeler and current Sprint Cup points leader Jeff Burton were out on the track ceremonially installing the first piece of a new 340-foot section of SAFER barrier along the inside wall of the tracks back stretch.

“We want to keep these guys healthy,” said Wheeler.

Healthy comes with a healthy price tag. Just this new part of the wall will cost Wheeler between $175,000 to $200,000 to put in, along with the millions already spent on the other 6,100 feet of SAFER barrier at the track.

This investment is not lost on Burton.

“This is an expensive investment they’re making that doesn’t yield any financial result for them. It’s hard for tracks to do it, but the responsible ones are at it,” said Burton.

In addition to safer inside walls, plans are also in the works to rework the openings along the back stretch in an effort to make those areas safer as well.

To see a slideshow of the installation at the speedway, check the sidebar of this article.