If you notice the candy canes are on inside corners and have a 4x4 barrier help keep cars on the right side on the track. Also if look you will notice a different barrier on the ouside on the track which is about 8 to 10" tall. I believe the parts of the track that are next to the staights are barricaded. Also keep in mind that these guys can ALL drive, this is the world's you know. They don't have little Johnny's (that just got a new tc4 with a 8 single and has never raced before) running with them. Most of the damage with road rails come from less experienced drivers not from the quality of the system. 2x4's and such are usually a little harder on your car when you make a mistake, but they can save you from others mistakes. I'd rather break knowing that I shouldn't have tried to push myself so hard in that last corner then to have been taking out by an airbourne car that was going full throttle into a hairpin turn.