Porsche Club of America, Northeast Region

Activities

Nor'easter News

Car Care

Membership

Other Cool Stuff

Sponsors & Advertisers

Administrivia

Porsche Club of America
The Northeast Region

By Dave Weber, 38RSR@PorscheNet.com
NOR'EASTER Online - March 2001

Deeply saddened doesn't begin to describe how I feel about the loss of Dale Earnhardt, the greatest driver NASCAR has known. Race fans everywhere are mourning his passing, no matter whether they followed his career or stock car racing. He was an exceptionally talented driver, which he demonstrated every time he raced. Two week ago he drove for the first time in the 24 Hours of Daytona sports car race. There, never before having raced in the rain, he drove lap after lap with machine like precision helping bring his team's Corvette to a fourth overall finish. Subsequently he would race once again in an IROC race at Daytona, where he was leading until Eddie Cheever punted him off the track at 170 mph. Dale didn't lose control despite bouncing across the infield grass; a feat that witnesses said was nothing short of amazing.

Several times during the Daytona 500 his car was hit, but each time Dale gathered up the car and kept pushing toward the front. As the race wound down it was apparent that he had chosen to lie back from the lead to protect teammate Michael Waltrip, when Dale could have challenged for the lead. That act of unselfishness ultimately put him at risk and no doubt lead to his fatal collision with the Turn 4 wall.

The usual cast of critics is out in force today, ranting about racing deaths. They characterize racing fans as overweight, beer guzzling, low IQ, know nothings who are only interested in the seeing crashes and possible deaths. They comment that racing is not a sport, that drivers are not athletes, and that there is no good reason for watching racing - all they are doing is driving around in circles! I even heard comments that no one is interested in safety, that the cars go 250 mph, that they are made out of tissue paper, and that this sport is much more dangerous than any other sport.

I know gross generalizations make for provocative radio and newspaper commentary. What frustrates me is that they are so uninformed. What racing organization isn't interested in safety? Last time I checked racing was viewed as the number one spectator sport - and I doubt that those fans all fit the stereotype described previously. I've yet to run into anyone that says they watch racing hoping for a spectacular crash that kills someone. Racing seems to me to be a lot more concerned about safety than a number of other sports - what's pro football doing about all the concussions that have been occurring in recent years, and how about all the leg injuries caused by artificial turf?

The argument that racing is not a sport and that drivers are not athletes is particularly absurd. I've read story after story about the conditioning programs professional drivers undertake. Poorly conditioned drivers could not survive for long in the sport. They must watch their weight, increase their strength, have enormous aerobic capacity, have tremendous powers of concentration, and have great "hand eye" coordination and reflexes. Michael Waltrip, yesterday's winner, ran four marathons in 2000 - not bad for a "non-athlete!" Things happen in a fraction of a second in racing, with serious consequences if you're unprepared. I've seen more out of shape pitchers in baseball than out of shape NASCAR drivers. And since when does a 325 lb plus offensive tackle in football qualify as a well-conditioned athlete. Let me know the next time one of them tries to run a mile - I want to watch. The Baltimore Ravens Tony Siragusa certainly isn't a poster boy for physical fitness.

The not a sport comment hardly justifies a response. If beating someone's brains out in a boxing match qualifies as a sport, or show horse jumping, or ping pong tournaments, or any number of other Olympic events (isn't ballroom dancing soon to be an Olympic event), than motorsports most assuredly qualify as a "sport." The usual advancers of this argument are fixated on stick and ball games as the only "real" sports. I suspect even those who race lawnmowers would argue that they are participating in a sport. Hunting qualifies as a sport, as does fishing. What makes them more of a sport than racing? This argument seems to me to one of if in your eyes it is a sport - than it probably is! Brock Yates in an editorial reminded me of Ernest Hemingway's thoughts on the subject, when he said that there are only three real sports: mountain climbing, bull fighting and automobile racing. The rest he said, are children's games played by adults.

The "more dangerous" argument has some weight, as motorsports certainly require someone to take risks. I'd venture a guess however that in 2000 more people were killed playing football across the country at all levels than were killed in motorsports. How many serious injuries were incurred in pro football this past couple of years. Seems like I read stories regularly about concussions, a number of paralysis injuries, and several deaths - particularly in high school sports. Yesterday 18 cars collided at 180 mph in a major incident, with injury to one driver, Tony Stewart, who suffered a concussion and separated shoulder. Troy Aikman, quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, has been injured that much during one play.

Any racing fatality is of course unacceptable, and more should be done to lessen the risk for drivers and fans. Safety improvements must be pursued for facilities, racecars, drivers, and spectators. But to suggest that racing is "different" in a significant way from other sports is not factual. What makes racing, particularly NASCAR, different is the high visibility of the sport. So when something serious happens we all know about it and probably witnessed the event. Injuries and deaths in other sports rarely capture the national media's attention - unless it involves a parent out of control at a hockey rink, or a famous personality falling from his horse.

Racing is dangerous, and the driver's would readily acknowledge that it is. Brock Yates in that same editorial wrote: Years ago the late, great Italian racing driver Tazio Nuvolari, the survivor of a dozen hair-raising wrecks, was asked why he chose such a dangerous career. "How do you want to die?" asked Nuvolari. "Peacefully in bed," was the reply. "Then how do you find the courage to turn off the lights each night?" he mused.

Dale's unfortunate death is tragic in the full sense of the word. I like all NASCAR fans enjoyed watching him race. His talent was exceptional, and from what I've read and heard about him, he was a truly wonderful and entertaining person to be around. The racing community will miss him greatly, and NASCAR has lost a living legend.

Porsche Club of America The Northeast Region

Porsche Club of America
The Northeast Region