The Final Word – Drivers are not the only ones who accept the risk at Daytona; you do, too
Jimmie Johnson has his second Daytona 500, Chad Knaus has his first, and Dale Earnhardt Jr finished second again. Some will remember the race more for Danica Patrick starting at the pole, leading some laps, staying up front all day, and finishing eighth. Still, even more people will remember the weekend at Daytona for what took place the day before at the end of the Nationwide race.
A score and more fans left the track on Saturday to either receive, or only after they had received, medical attention following Kyle Larson’s car going up into the fence to leave everything in front of the firewall on the grandstand side of the wire. Could this have been prevented? Sure. Just as fans getting run over standing at a curve watching a rally or off-road race could have avoided injury by being in a place where an out of control car would not barrel roll over them. The dangers of sitting in a spot a few feet from where 3200 pound cars running 200 mph might be bounced into your lap near the finish line seems rather obvious, too. It all comes down to the amount of risk one wishes to take.
In 1955, a wreck at La Mans caused flaming pieces of a car to fly into the stands, killing one driver and 83 spectators, while injuring more than 120 others. It was the worst disaster in motorsport history. As to why so many were affected is rather straight forward. They had all gathered in a location that made them vulnerable to be caught up in what took place on the track. It was as simple as that, as was what happened at Daytona.
If one charted out all areas debris has, in the past, entered the grandstand areas, and banned spectators in those areas, then that might be a start. Then we can look at areas where debris could conceivably be flung out to endanger fans, even in freak situations, and keep them out of there as well. Then we can try to convince those fans that such moves are for their safety. We can try, but we know how those same fans will react. They want to be close to the action, and they will claim to accept the risk of such an unlikely event happening to them, at least until disaster actually strikes. It does not take a genius to figure out that the closer you sit to the track the better the odds are that what happens on the track won’t stay on the track.
At Daytona, for example, I have sat about 40 rows high on the backstretch. The odds of getting hit by anything there were low, but not impossible. The odds were sure a lot less than had I been sitting five rows up near the start finish line, yet there remained the chance. Still, does anyone want to sit anywhere near trackside at Talladega when Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards are racing to the finish? Yes, a whole bunch would.
Where are the danger areas? Well, consider that Dale Earnhardt’s car was turned nearly 90 degrees, yet was still traveling at about 160 miles per hour at the moment of impact in his fatal accident. Also consider that at Talladega, Carl Edwards had his car lifted, then clipped even higher, to send it sailing a dozen feet up into the catch fence. So, if you take a 3200 pound car traveling at 160 mph and launch it 12 feet into the air over any wall at any part of any two mile track, you tell me how far that car or parts of that car might rocket into the wild blue yonder? That is your danger area. To eliminate the danger, you would have to eliminate a heck of a lot of seats and access areas, and still something might be missed. A few seats might be removed, but very few. The fans won’t stand for it.
NASCAR and those who operate the tracks they race on will work to make it a safer experience, but they will never totally eliminate all the risk we must accept when we attend a race or make our seat selection. Other than putting the fans back, way back, from the action or covering the track with a bubble they can not absolutely remove all danger. Freak events can and have happened. At best, NASCAR might increase the odds against injury to you and I, but they will never be able to totally eliminate the possibility. That is the risk we assume when we buy a ticket.
My 2013 Daytona Experience
Daytona International Speedway, the World Center of Racing. It oozes passion and history. No matter how many times you come back, you still get chills when you go through the tunnel or get onto the high banks. From a 16 year old avid NASCAR fan’s perspective, going to any NASCAR race is like a piece of heaven. Moreover, going to the Super Bowl of our sport, the Daytona 500.
As my dad and I parked our car in the lot at BWI Airport on a cool Friday afternoon in Baltimore, I couldn’t hold my excitement back. Wearing all of my favorite driver’s gear, who is Kevin Harvick, the TSA agent in the security line said to me “Harvick got that win yesterday!” I responded with a smile and said “Two down, one to go!” The entire plane ride down to Orlando, I couldn’t even fathom doing my homework. I was too focused on the great and unforgettable weekend that was ahead of me.
We ended up getting to our seats in the Roberts Tower near the pit exit exactly one minute before the green flag for the first race of the 2013 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season flew! That was some great timing by us. We watched the race and it came down to a great ending and had some great racing overall. When we arrived back at our hotel room late that night, we planned out our next day at the track.
We woke up pretty early so that we could get all we could out of our Sprint FanZone passes for the day. Among some of the people we listened to were Casey Mears, Kyle Petty and The King, Richard Petty. Being about 10 or so yards away from arguably the best driver in NASCAR history was such an incredible experience. We stayed for awhile and heard some old racing stories from The King himself. Seeing Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards, David Reutiman, Dave Blaney and David Gilliland go through inspection was also very cool.
Then we went onto the Sprint FanDeck, where we could see almost all of the teams garage stalls from above. The testing of the cars with the motors revving got my blood pumping for sure. Afterwards, we went down to the level where we could actually see into the teams’ garage stalls through a glass window. I immediately went to Kevin Harvick’s window. I stayed there for about an hour and a half or so. After he made one run in final practice, he came back and parked it for the day. When he got out of the car, I looked back and saw a huge crowd, probably about 15 or so rows deep trying to get a glimpse of Kevin. He looked at his stats on the computer and then came over to sign some autographs. I gave him my ticket holder and eh signed it. I said “Thanks, Kevin!” and he replied “You’re welcome!” Talking to my idol for about the sixth or so time definitely made my day. I stayed for a while longer to see his team work on the car and I was rewarded by receiving two used lug nuts from his right front tire from one of his crew members!
After that, we made our way to our seats to get ready for the Nationwide Series race. My dad told me that I could probably make it into the infield with my FanZone pass for driver introductions. And sure enough, they let me in!
I got a good spot and took pictures of all the drivers that came down the stage during introductions and just standing on history itself, Daytona International Speedway was sort of like a dream. It sounds cliché, but it’s true. All the stress from junior year of high school, my youth group board position and everything else just seemed to float off my shoulders in that moment. There’s nothing better than being at the race track, nonetheless, Daytona.
The race itself was the best of the weekend, in my opinion. Great racing, 3-wide almost all race long. But the last lap was very frightening. As we all know, the crash that injured 28 people happened about 200 yards or so away from me. At first, I thought of the drivers’ safety. After that, I realized that some fans could be hurt. And unfortunately, that was the case. All I saw was Kyle Larson in the air, a bunch of smoke and debris. Usually after a race, fans file out like it’s a madhouse. But not this time. We all stayed to see how everyone was. On our walk back, we heard a false report from a woman that 12 people had passed away. My dad and I, jaws dropped, hoped that it wasn’t true, and thankfully, it wasn’t. My phone died and when I got it charged, I saw about 50 twitter mentions and 20 text messages asking if I was alright. It truly was one of the scariest moments that I’ve witnessed live at a race.
Coming from a fan that was forced to fly home Sunday night in 2012 and not able to witness the Daytona 500 due to rain, I was praying for no rain all weekend. And sure enough, mother nature cooperated (thank goodness)! Before the race, we went to The Midway and hung out at the Team Chevy display, played some NASCAR The Game: Inside Line and went to NASCAR RaceDay on SPEED. It was really fun and then the Zac Brown Band performed before the driver introductions for the 55th running of the Daytona 500. We were in our seats and ready to rock!
After an amazing speed weeks from my driver, I was very confident in his chances of winning the Great American Race. Unfortunately, he got caught up in someone else’s mess and ended his day very early. I was disappointed, but the race itself was great! Although I thought it was kind of boring, just single file most of the time, it was very entertaining. But that’s just my opinion of course.
Our flight back was at 9:30 pm. I closed my eyes on the plane, thought of my whole weekend, and fell asleep with a smile on my face. At school today, although I had to avoid haters asking me why Kevin Harvick is so bad (typical), I bragged about how much more fun I had than them. No matter what they did. It was truly a weekend I’ll never forget, and I’m grateful for every second of it.
Also, shout out to my dad for being awesome and taking me on these unforgettable racing weekends. None of this would be possible without him, best dad in the world!
