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Maybe it was just a first for me, but last night at OSW, a sprint car driver was roundly booed when he staggered out of his car after a hard flip. Every other time there is a hard crash, the crowd would have clapped to show their relief that the driver was out and ok. This time, I was one of the fans booing because the driver, Florida's own Daryl Smith, brought this on himself by starting a crash when the race had been over for an entire lap.
Of course I was relieved that he was not hurt, but this was a mess that deserves some comment.
I was watching another Florida driver, Charlie Ladner, who had just been passed in the last lap or two of the qualifier. This pass knocked Charlie out of the last transfer spot to the feature, so on the cool down lap, Charlie went after the car that passed him. They exchanged a few nerf shots and were carrying on in turn 3, while Daryl Smith drove like crazy on the Bandelero track and was sliding around through the traffic that was slowing after the race.
Daryl had spun earlier in the race, so it appears to me that he had revenge on his mind.
As he neared the start-finish line, he drove over someone's tire and launched himself high into the air in front of the stands. His car took several hard bounces before coming to rest near turn one. It was a scary, hard flip, but in 35 years as a fan I have never seen a wreck so long after the race had ended.
Otherwise, I had a great night at OSW. Everything ran like clockwork; ok the midget feature ran a little long, but all the things that could be controlled by the track seemed to go very well.
Of course I was relieved that he was not hurt, but this was a mess that deserves some comment.
I was watching another Florida driver, Charlie Ladner, who had just been passed in the last lap or two of the qualifier. This pass knocked Charlie out of the last transfer spot to the feature, so on the cool down lap, Charlie went after the car that passed him. They exchanged a few nerf shots and were carrying on in turn 3, while Daryl Smith drove like crazy on the Bandelero track and was sliding around through the traffic that was slowing after the race.
Daryl had spun earlier in the race, so it appears to me that he had revenge on his mind.
As he neared the start-finish line, he drove over someone's tire and launched himself high into the air in front of the stands. His car took several hard bounces before coming to rest near turn one. It was a scary, hard flip, but in 35 years as a fan I have never seen a wreck so long after the race had ended.
Otherwise, I had a great night at OSW. Everything ran like clockwork; ok the midget feature ran a little long, but all the things that could be controlled by the track seemed to go very well.
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