Matt Spannan, 29, of Indianapolis, Indiana, was saved from serious injury in a high-speed crash Thursday during the WERA Grand National Finals (GNF) at Road Atlanta by new sections of Airfence Bike product.

“I was following a guy, following him pretty closely,” said Spannan, who was riding his Suzuki GSX-R1000 in the Sportsman A Superstock Novice race Thursday evening. “He was doing pretty decent, and I was struggling to keep up with him. Going into turn 12, he ran a little close to the [inside] rumble strips and checked it up right when I was right behind him. My front wheel hit his rear tire, and I lowsided.”

Spannan, who said he had just clicked into fourth gear and was traveling well over 100 mph, hit the ground instantly and started sliding at a 45° angle for the concrete wall just off the racing surface of Road Atlanta’s turn 12.

“I remember I was sliding and thinking, ‘This is bad,’ because I knew that wall was coming up,” continued Spannan. “I hit the [Airfence-protected] wall head-first. It knocked the wind out of me, my neck’s real stiff but I’m still here. I’m very grateful for that. Most definitely, if that Airfence wasn’t there I’m fully convinced I wouldn’t be standing here talking. There’s no way I would be. It definitely did its job.”

Spannan impacted a section of Airfence Bike product, one of 80 such sections deployed around the track for the event, 15 supplied by Road Atlanta, 15 provided by the Roadracing World Action Fund and 50 purchased by WERA Motorcycle Roadracing, Inc. In addition, AMA Pro Racing has sent its full inventory of 50 inflatable Airfence barriers, of which approximately 30 are currently deployed, according to WERA Operations Manager Sean Clarke. In total, nearly 1200 linear feet of Airfence safety barriers are deployed at Road Atlanta for the WERA GNF, according to Airfence’s Andy Coffey.