Public Announcement: How to stay Alive in the Grandstands

[OldSchool+]

Well, another Daytona "race" is in the books, and another race car almost got into the stands.

Here is how to survive in the stands:

1) Never assume "it" is safe. Never assume "they" will take care of you.

2) A Law of physics--An object that is in motion tends to stay in motion. And once released from the adhesion of the track (like when it flies off a car), an object will "vector" in a straight line until something else stops it.

3) Like gravity and wind resistance. Or your forehead.

4) Ask yourself, at a short track or "superspeedway" if a lug nut comes loose (you know, they don't have to tighten them anymore), and it travels in a straight line, will it strike and kill me--or my child? If the answer is "yes", then you need another seat.

5) Remember, it may not be a lug nut. It may be an engine block. Or the rest of the car. Or two cars.

6) In other words, sitting on the far side of the finish line at "tri-ovals" in a low seat, or in a turn on a short track, is not the place to be.

Your prerogative, if you know and accept the risks. Many don't.

[OldSchool+]

NASCAR remains Ignorant

I have been writing about the dangers of plate racing, but more than that, the dangers of the banked turns at Daytona & Talladega for at least 10 years.

Like the complaints of virtually every driver, it has been ignored.

It is not that NASCAR is unaware of the danger. They have been aware since at least 1987. That is why we have restrictor plates. But they have not knocked down the banks--which is something additional they can reasonably "do" to mitigate the danger.

And that, race fans, makes them negligent and therefore LIABLE. It is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when. I am surprised it has not already happened.

And make no mistake, the guvment does not like racing, no matter how much Brian sucks up.

They don't like fossil fuel, they don't like non-public transportation, but most of all, they don't like the independent types that participate and spectate.

No matter how much brown-nosing, the powers that currently be would love an excuse to ban all racing.

And NASCAR, in their pig-headedness, is trying to give them the perfect "reason".

That is, it is inherently too dangerous for "the people", and the government needs to step in for our own good. You see, the tracks are too money-grubbing to do it, and we are too stupid to get out of the way. Where is the counter-point?

I don't know what to do about it, I don't think anything can be done about it.

So, as has been previously stated, enjoy racing while you still can, and remember the big picture, not the free phone, when choosing our leaders, assuming there is a decent choice to be made.

Actually, it is not ignorance. NASCAR knows better. That would make it some combination of selfishness--they don't want to spend the money to change their signature tracks or admit that they need to, and/or just plain...stupidity--as they truly are not bright enough believe the inevitable will happen.

[zerofor]

But the car companies love the research and development side of the racing that stock car racing gives them. The luxury of getting that isn't solely paid for on their own dime.

[jbonez21]

Love this post. You should add that the government's should shut down all airports, grocery stores, and gas stations since people get hurt/killed at those places too.

I wonder what the statistical odds are of getting hit by debris when spectating at a racetrack.

If as a driver/fan you weigh the risk and feel it's too dangerous then there are plenty of others in line ready to take your place.

The government can send someone over to your place in the morning to brush your teeth and make all of your daily plans for you too

[Don Nerone]

Many years ago the safty of baseball was in question. The government ruled that it was our national sport and there fans must take all responsibility for any person getting hit buy a ball.
the other fix was a catch fence that blocked most of the view so they became excempt from most of the rules.
Auto racing is much more safe than riding a bicycle on the public roads so you might be over doing it a bit.
NASCAR has done a lot of thing that I think were stupid but they have done everything possible for the safty of the fans and drivers. They don't need any help from the form.
a lot of the short tracks need a lot of help in the safty of there fans and drivers and I hope the track owners will take a good look at what NASCAR has done at there tracks in wall and fence concrtuction. They could learn a lot.
The only short track that met the rules in Florida was Lakeland and its gone
Billy Martino spared no expence to have the best


don62

[Darren]

I don't think there are a lot of drivers and fans ready to take any places.

[OldSchool+]

Er, there's a BIG-A hole in the fence, Don.

Do we really have to wait for folks to be taken out before this is taken seriously?

ps--Most of the competitors from the race agree...

But you are right, they neither ask for nor accept suggestions from anywhere. Well, except the government, of course. And ironically, that could be who takes 'em out.

My concern is that the short tracks will be thrown out with the big drafting bowls that outlived their usefulness decades ago.

That usefulness being getting a '59 near-stock Pontiac to run 143.

[zootv]

The engine coming out that could have been scary.THAT NEEDS TO GET FIXED

[OldSchool+]

Okay, agreed. No point in just waving a finger and saying "they-need-to" though, what exactly to do about it?

Here are some suggestions:

>>Bulldoze the joint. Make a smaller track, like Bristol.
Yeah, so that won't happen...

>>Knock the bank down. Simply add dirt to the apron area, and repave a significantly flatter track. That probably won't happen either.

>>Run them through the infield. At least on the fourth (approx). Hey, in the era of new politically correct flagness, why not?

>>Run them around the chicane. That alone would slow them down. Make it a bigger zig zag if neccessary.

BUT, they will probably just give them smaller plates, making a sad deal even sadder. And it will not solve the problem, IMO, just as it has not up to now. Lowered the odds, but not solved it.

[Jimmy McKinley]

2) A Law of physics--An object that is in motion tends to stay in motion. And once released from the adhesion of the track (like when it flies off a car), an object will "vector" in a straight line until something else stops it.

3) Like gravity and wind resistance. Or your forehead.

4) Ask yourself, at a short track or "superspeedway" if a lug nut comes loose (you know, they don't have to tighten them anymore), and it travels in a straight line, will it strike and kill me--or my child? If the answer is "yes", then you need another seat.

Friday night at our local track, the Main Event Series flagman suddenly fell over and grabbed his head/neck area. The assistant flagman had the presence of mind to drop the yellow, then the red as the track EMT had to get across the track. Silence on the track PA for about five minutes as medics tended to the flagman; turned out that he apparently got hit by some debris off of a car in the left side of his head/neck. Now, the flagstand at this particular track is *way down low* - like "right-on-top-of-the-wall" low. It's not just fans that can get hit. Thankfully, it just bruised the guy pretty decent; he climbed from the box on his own, and the track's flagman finished out the event.

[JC26]

NASCAR is so diluted as it is, just leave it be the way it is. Nothing is gonna make it safer at a plate track, so you lower the speeds 30 mph, big deal. Even at 150 that car would hit that catch fence all the same. The only way to make it safer is to get Daytona and Talladega off the schedule. And as far as I'm concerned those are 4 of few races they have that are worth tuning into.

Their main concern is the fans, and I get that. You wanna know a simple solution? Move them back. End of story. The only real problem here that needs to be addressed with the cars themselves is the motors coming out. It surprises me that they don't use a steel tether to keep them in place at plate tracks like the NHRA does with rear ends.

[exnyer]

NASCAR is so diluted as it is, just leave it be the way it is. Nothing is gonna make it safer at a plate track, so you lower the speeds 30 mph, big deal. Even at 150 that car would hit that catch fence all the same. The only way to make it safer is to get Daytona and Talladega off the schedule. And as far as I'm concerned those are 4 of few races they have that are worth tuning into.

Their main concern is the fans, and I get that. You wanna know a simple solution? Move them back. End of story. The only real problem here that needs to be addressed with the cars themselves is the motors coming out. It surprises me that they don't use a steel tether to keep them in place at plate tracks like the NHRA does with rear ends.

The car is designed so that the front clip comes apart like it did to minimize damage/injury to the center section and driver. It would not do much good if the front clip broke away to protect the drivers legs and body but the engine and trans are whipping around on a tether.

The fans simply need to be moved back further from the fence line.

[OldSchool+]

With the reconfigured stands they are further back, and higher I believe.

Also, you cannot walk along the fence like you could right though '14.

Good thing.

But it doesn't look like "enough" to me. To your point they could lop off some additional lower rows, but if a tumbling car actually made it through it could be beyond disasterous, and the spectators would need to be quite high to be safe.

I would much rather see them head through a chicane (or two) on the backstretch and then scream by on the front straight with no plates--at a net-net reduced speed, and with a much lesser drafting effect.

However, as is frequently the case, I appear to be the only one with this opinion...(lol), and that is certainly fine.

[Don Nerone]

The car is designed so that the front clip comes apart like it did to minimize damage/injury to the center section and driver. It would not do much good if the front clip broke away to protect the drivers legs and body but the engine and trans are whipping around on a tether.

The fans simply need to be moved back further from the fence line.

Well someone that does know what they are talking about.
It took many years to get the cars so they would break apart and the drivers aera built to protect the driver.
Thumbs up exnyer

don62

[OldSchool+]

Don,

Yep I, and probably we, knew that, but it doesn't seem relevant to the big hole/injured-or-worse fans discussion. Or if it is, please share how, sir.

The front clip came apart, and as Exner mentions, that leaves the little problem of a loose motor and trans. If you tether them it is still a danger to the driver.

Obviously the driver walked away, although that is not a lock. But the question is how to protect the fans...