Indianapolis Motor Speedway President and Chief Executive Officer Tony George received the Jack O'Neal Safety Award for his role in the creation of the revolutionary SAFER Barrier on Jan. 28 during the United States Auto Club Champions Night source: paddocktalk.com IMS Director of Engineering and Construction Kevin Forbes accepted the award on behalf of George at the annual prize-giving event, which took place at the Westin Hotel in downtown Indianapolis. Forbes supervised the installation of the energy-absorbing barriers at the Speedway and helped develop the system. The O'Neal Safety Award is one of several that George and the SAFER Barrier development team have won for motorsports engineering and innovation. In 2002, they received the Louis Schwitzer Award, SEMA Motorsports Engineering Award and GM Racing Pioneer Award. George received the inaugural Pioneering and Innovation Award at the Autosport Awards Dec. 5, 2004, in London for his leadership in the development of the SAFER Barrier. George was one of two IMS officials honored at the Champions Night. Longtime IMS Historian Donald Davidson received USAC's Eddie Edenburn Award. Davidson formerly also served as USAC statistician and historian. The SAFER Barrier first was installed on the four outside retaining walls of the Speedway's historic 2.5-mile oval in May 2002 after nearly four years of development by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indy Racing League and University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Midwest Roadside Safety Facility. NASCAR joined in the development of the project in September 2000.
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