During the final lap of yesterday's Nationwide race (think of it as NASCAR's AAA-level), several cars started jockeying for position as they entered the final turn. As so often happens one car hit another, a car went sideways, several cars tried to slow down to avoid an accident and were rear-ended, making a bad accident even worse. This is not uncommon. However, this time it went very bad for the fans in the few front rows because one of the cars went airborne and collided with the safety catch-fence, sending the engine through the wall and into the stands along with large chunks of the car. Several fans were sent to the hospital with injuries, but fortunately none of them were thought to be life-threatening. Watching the aftermath I couldn't help but feel like NASCAR is really lucky this doesn't happen more often. Driver safety has come a long way in the last few years with HANS devices, safer barrier systems and innovations in car safety, but things still go wrong and all the fans have to stop a car from coming at them in a chain-link fence. (Every driver was able to walk away from yesterday's carnage.) Honestly, it doesn't seem quite fair. This would be like going to the movies and suddenly the bad guy comes through the screen. I know NASCAR likes to pride itself as the most inter-active sport for fans, but I don't think this is what they had in mind.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Flimsy Fences
I am not one of these people who thinks that just because I can drive a car I could be a NASCAR racer. I recognize that it takes a lot of endurance and skill to drive for 300 miles at 200 mph four inches from the car in front of you inside of a car where it is 100 degrees. And while I actually like auto racing, there is one thing I don't understand about the sport, which is why the races have to be so long, because it really doesn't feel like anyone starts trying to win until there are just a few laps to go? People are perfectly content to be in the middle of the pack for the first 170 laps, but as soon as there are 20 laps to go everyone starts trying to move to the front and with two to go it becomes a free for all. (It's a little like the NBA All-Star game that way.) I just think it would make a lot more sense to shorten the races down by about half as many laps and not only would that get people motivated to race a little harder a little earlier which the fans would enjoy, it would mean that when they get to the point that they all start driving like maniacs they won't also be on the verge of dehydration. Not only would this be a lot safer for all the drivers, as we were reminded yesterday, it would also be a lot safer for the fans.
During the final lap of yesterday's Nationwide race (think of it as NASCAR's AAA-level), several cars started jockeying for position as they entered the final turn. As so often happens one car hit another, a car went sideways, several cars tried to slow down to avoid an accident and were rear-ended, making a bad accident even worse. This is not uncommon. However, this time it went very bad for the fans in the few front rows because one of the cars went airborne and collided with the safety catch-fence, sending the engine through the wall and into the stands along with large chunks of the car. Several fans were sent to the hospital with injuries, but fortunately none of them were thought to be life-threatening. Watching the aftermath I couldn't help but feel like NASCAR is really lucky this doesn't happen more often. Driver safety has come a long way in the last few years with HANS devices, safer barrier systems and innovations in car safety, but things still go wrong and all the fans have to stop a car from coming at them in a chain-link fence. (Every driver was able to walk away from yesterday's carnage.) Honestly, it doesn't seem quite fair. This would be like going to the movies and suddenly the bad guy comes through the screen. I know NASCAR likes to pride itself as the most inter-active sport for fans, but I don't think this is what they had in mind.
During the final lap of yesterday's Nationwide race (think of it as NASCAR's AAA-level), several cars started jockeying for position as they entered the final turn. As so often happens one car hit another, a car went sideways, several cars tried to slow down to avoid an accident and were rear-ended, making a bad accident even worse. This is not uncommon. However, this time it went very bad for the fans in the few front rows because one of the cars went airborne and collided with the safety catch-fence, sending the engine through the wall and into the stands along with large chunks of the car. Several fans were sent to the hospital with injuries, but fortunately none of them were thought to be life-threatening. Watching the aftermath I couldn't help but feel like NASCAR is really lucky this doesn't happen more often. Driver safety has come a long way in the last few years with HANS devices, safer barrier systems and innovations in car safety, but things still go wrong and all the fans have to stop a car from coming at them in a chain-link fence. (Every driver was able to walk away from yesterday's carnage.) Honestly, it doesn't seem quite fair. This would be like going to the movies and suddenly the bad guy comes through the screen. I know NASCAR likes to pride itself as the most inter-active sport for fans, but I don't think this is what they had in mind.
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