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Yeah. I've had just about enough.
There's a post down below here somewhere that shows a guy that I used to have tons of respect for as a racer. Hell of a driver. This is a guy has raced all over and won against some pretty big names in the asphalt Late Model world. I guess I still think at least that much about him.
What is it, you might ask, that lets me know that racing, as a sport, has finally just gone to hell in a handbag? I guess it's seeing that someone who I used to hold in such high regard and absolutely loved the fact that he had both his boys in a bare bones beginners class of car and teaching them the basics of racing, has become another one of these daddies who see the ability to hold a steering wheel and push on a pedal as a green light to stuff their pride and joy into a Late Model.
For the life of me I can't fathom what qualities these parents are perceiving in their children's (and yes I said CHILDREN's) under-developed, newly acquired talents that make them lose all focus on reality and think, "Let's stick Junior (or Junior Miss) in the fastest thing with fenders we can find and see what they can do!"....I used to think maybe it was just me and that I was just getting too old and codgerly. Maybe I'm just not seeing this one thing that stands out and says that this kid needs to be straddling 800hp and who cares if he's never driven anything bigger than a Honda.
Yeah....I thought it was me for about 15-20 seconds.
Then I got an image of a 14 year old kid, you know, the one who has to be reminded to put a seatbelt on as he rides in the passenger seat of his mom's minivan while on his way to middle school, I think of how this kid is gonna react when the throttle sticks wide open on that 2800 lb Super Late Model as it jumps the tire barrier, climbs the wall and flips onto it's roof before catching fire after landing upside down in the parking lot. I wonder what kind of previous life challenges and adventures has this kid had, in his 14 long years, that could possibly make him ready to handle something that harrowing. Other than the awesome graphics on his latest Xbox car chase game, I mean......but I know, I know....those kind of crashes NEVER happen anymore. These cars are so safe now. Look at all that metal around him/her. Look at all the safety gear they can wear these days. Why...they're safe as kittens...yep....safe as kittens....
Then I think of a race I saw a few years ago where one driver, after believing he had been done wrong by another driver, drove his car the length of the straightaway and pile drove who he thought was the offending driver's car into the turn three wall. Oops. It wasn't the guy he thought had hit him. That guy was parked on the front stretch. That guy was a 16 year old boy in his second race in a Late Model Sportsman. Well, hitting the wrong car had only made the first driver angrier so he set off for the young lad who was taunting him while walking across the infield. Luckily, for the boy, he began running when he did because it was quite a long way to the protective custody of Daddy Warbuck's motorhome. He just made it inside when the fighting began. So, how about that poor, innocent sap who got stuffed in the wall? He got a broken arm and a broken racecar. All because the kid's dad had bought his old car which was still painted like his new car. But...he was an adult who took an adult chance by being on the track with other adults. What if the first guy had hit the "right" car? What if he had caught the kid before he could get to his trailer? Think a guy crazy enough to run into another car on the track under caution is going to say, "Oh, it's just a kid" and leave it at that? Yeah...sure...and I have a track in Lakeland for sale, too.
In the end, it's the parents who have to wise up and act like responsible adults. Track owners and promoters (and especially in these economic times) are not going to do the parenting for them. They need all the back gate receipts they can get their hands on and usually that motorhome and the toterhome hauling the 53' trailer bring in about 15-20 extra people with them. They could care less about the welfare of your kid. Hell...that's what that paper you sign at the back gate is for. They may even pay for the ride in the ambulance, but don't count on it. There's probably a codecil in there somewhere that says they don't have to pay if the ambulance goes to All Children's Hospital.
But why would a parent worry? Most tracks have all the latest, greatest, cutting edge rescue equipment and a fleet of trained personnel on hand to make sure your child can be extricated from the twisted, burning hunk of metal just as fast as humanly possible. Hey, the car came with a 10lb fire bottle...and one of those ATL fuel thingies in the back...no worries.
I really hope I've scared the shit out of some parent who thinks it is sane and prudent to stick their kid in a full blown Late Model or Sprint Car at any age where they haven't even had the experience of driving a vehicle on the public roadways. This isn't Little League football, baseball or hockey, people. The ugly and painful consequences aren't chipped teeth and fractured long bones. These are dangerously fast MACHINES that don't have the ability to comprehend that an immature and fearless kid is sitting at the controls. Is a dozen or so years really long enough to have enjoyed the company of that freckle faced kid who just yesterday came home with the news of their first crush or that they had made the deans list their freshman year of high school? Are you ready to trade all that away for the sensation of spending gobs of money just to watch that same kid drive around in a racecar they aren't nearly ready enough to handle with the better than good chance that they could make the slightest mistake with the gravest of outcomes? Again, I hope I have really scared the LIVING SHIT out of somebody who had the gumption to read this entire diatribe.
Think about it parents.
Somebody has to be the adult here.
Racing?......nope....it's not racing anymore. There used to be a kind of code among racers. An unwritten set of rules that everyone lived by. Maybe even an honor about it. I dunno. Whatever was there...well, it's gone now. Has been for some time. NASCAR has been ruined for so long that it's become a joke. Short track racing didn't take too long to follow, either.
Yeah...I'm done with it.
There's a post down below here somewhere that shows a guy that I used to have tons of respect for as a racer. Hell of a driver. This is a guy has raced all over and won against some pretty big names in the asphalt Late Model world. I guess I still think at least that much about him.
What is it, you might ask, that lets me know that racing, as a sport, has finally just gone to hell in a handbag? I guess it's seeing that someone who I used to hold in such high regard and absolutely loved the fact that he had both his boys in a bare bones beginners class of car and teaching them the basics of racing, has become another one of these daddies who see the ability to hold a steering wheel and push on a pedal as a green light to stuff their pride and joy into a Late Model.
For the life of me I can't fathom what qualities these parents are perceiving in their children's (and yes I said CHILDREN's) under-developed, newly acquired talents that make them lose all focus on reality and think, "Let's stick Junior (or Junior Miss) in the fastest thing with fenders we can find and see what they can do!"....I used to think maybe it was just me and that I was just getting too old and codgerly. Maybe I'm just not seeing this one thing that stands out and says that this kid needs to be straddling 800hp and who cares if he's never driven anything bigger than a Honda.
Yeah....I thought it was me for about 15-20 seconds.
Then I got an image of a 14 year old kid, you know, the one who has to be reminded to put a seatbelt on as he rides in the passenger seat of his mom's minivan while on his way to middle school, I think of how this kid is gonna react when the throttle sticks wide open on that 2800 lb Super Late Model as it jumps the tire barrier, climbs the wall and flips onto it's roof before catching fire after landing upside down in the parking lot. I wonder what kind of previous life challenges and adventures has this kid had, in his 14 long years, that could possibly make him ready to handle something that harrowing. Other than the awesome graphics on his latest Xbox car chase game, I mean......but I know, I know....those kind of crashes NEVER happen anymore. These cars are so safe now. Look at all that metal around him/her. Look at all the safety gear they can wear these days. Why...they're safe as kittens...yep....safe as kittens....
Then I think of a race I saw a few years ago where one driver, after believing he had been done wrong by another driver, drove his car the length of the straightaway and pile drove who he thought was the offending driver's car into the turn three wall. Oops. It wasn't the guy he thought had hit him. That guy was parked on the front stretch. That guy was a 16 year old boy in his second race in a Late Model Sportsman. Well, hitting the wrong car had only made the first driver angrier so he set off for the young lad who was taunting him while walking across the infield. Luckily, for the boy, he began running when he did because it was quite a long way to the protective custody of Daddy Warbuck's motorhome. He just made it inside when the fighting began. So, how about that poor, innocent sap who got stuffed in the wall? He got a broken arm and a broken racecar. All because the kid's dad had bought his old car which was still painted like his new car. But...he was an adult who took an adult chance by being on the track with other adults. What if the first guy had hit the "right" car? What if he had caught the kid before he could get to his trailer? Think a guy crazy enough to run into another car on the track under caution is going to say, "Oh, it's just a kid" and leave it at that? Yeah...sure...and I have a track in Lakeland for sale, too.
In the end, it's the parents who have to wise up and act like responsible adults. Track owners and promoters (and especially in these economic times) are not going to do the parenting for them. They need all the back gate receipts they can get their hands on and usually that motorhome and the toterhome hauling the 53' trailer bring in about 15-20 extra people with them. They could care less about the welfare of your kid. Hell...that's what that paper you sign at the back gate is for. They may even pay for the ride in the ambulance, but don't count on it. There's probably a codecil in there somewhere that says they don't have to pay if the ambulance goes to All Children's Hospital.
But why would a parent worry? Most tracks have all the latest, greatest, cutting edge rescue equipment and a fleet of trained personnel on hand to make sure your child can be extricated from the twisted, burning hunk of metal just as fast as humanly possible. Hey, the car came with a 10lb fire bottle...and one of those ATL fuel thingies in the back...no worries.
I really hope I've scared the shit out of some parent who thinks it is sane and prudent to stick their kid in a full blown Late Model or Sprint Car at any age where they haven't even had the experience of driving a vehicle on the public roadways. This isn't Little League football, baseball or hockey, people. The ugly and painful consequences aren't chipped teeth and fractured long bones. These are dangerously fast MACHINES that don't have the ability to comprehend that an immature and fearless kid is sitting at the controls. Is a dozen or so years really long enough to have enjoyed the company of that freckle faced kid who just yesterday came home with the news of their first crush or that they had made the deans list their freshman year of high school? Are you ready to trade all that away for the sensation of spending gobs of money just to watch that same kid drive around in a racecar they aren't nearly ready enough to handle with the better than good chance that they could make the slightest mistake with the gravest of outcomes? Again, I hope I have really scared the LIVING SHIT out of somebody who had the gumption to read this entire diatribe.
Think about it parents.
Somebody has to be the adult here.
Racing?......nope....it's not racing anymore. There used to be a kind of code among racers. An unwritten set of rules that everyone lived by. Maybe even an honor about it. I dunno. Whatever was there...well, it's gone now. Has been for some time. NASCAR has been ruined for so long that it's become a joke. Short track racing didn't take too long to follow, either.
Yeah...I'm done with it.
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