Soft wall for race tracks

A modular energy absorbing panel structure for cushioning a vehicular impact against a barrier, the panel structure comprising:

• a flat elongated front panel, said front panel having an exterior face exposed to ambient atmosphere;
• a flat elongated rear panel;
• a hollow resilient core disposed between said front panel and said rear panel, the core having a front wall, a rear wall, opposing side walls, a top wall and a bottom wall, the core further having a plurality of vertically disposed partition walls defining a plurality of air chambers therein, said partition walls of each air chamber having a first plurality of apertures defined therein for fluid communication between adjacent air chambers;
• and
• a second plurality of apertures disposed through said front panel, said second plurality of apertures being in fluid communication with said air chambers and the atmosphere;
• a third plurality of apertures disposed through said bottom wall, said third plurality of apertures being in fluid communication with said air chambers and the atmosphere;
• wherein said front panel is laterally offset from the front wall of said core, whereby a portion of said front panel overhangs one of said opposing side walls of said core and a portion of the front wall of said core is exposed on the opposite side of said core;
• wherein said partition walls are disposed at an oblique angle relative to the front wall and the rear wall of said core, whereby each said air chamber has a parallelogram shape in cross section;
• and
• wherein the rear wall of said core has at least one vertically disposed groove defined therein, the groove being adapted for sliding engagement with at least one bracket on the barrier.