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March 22, 2008
Fascination with violence
By DAVID GREEN
Not surprisingly, the top-rated story on TR.com this morning is the one about the New Hampshire stock car racer who was convicted on a charge stemming from an on-track incident in which he intentionally slammed into another driver's car.
We are all fascinated with violence. When we were kids, most of us gathered to watch when there was a schoolyard fight. Most of the the ones who didn't watch were probably involved in the fight.
Much of the attention on sports violence has been focused on hockey. The joke "I went to a fight last night and a hockey game broke out" is probably a lot older than I am. This is the sport that leads the way in the dubious history of criminal charges that resulted from incidents that occurred during games.
But it isn't only morbid curiousity that causes those of us who love racing to read the New Hampshire news item. In recent years, auto racing has seen a number of incidents that have brought the wrong kind of attention to the sport.
One incident that stands out is the one at Michigan in which an angry Carl Edwards roared off pit road and pretty violently sideswiped Dale Earnhardt Jr. during a caution-flag period. But there have been plenty of other occurrences, the most alarming being the pit-road demolition derbies. In those incidents, the drivers are pretty well protected, but there are unprotected innocent bystanders in harm's way.
And, yes -- despite the safety measures incorporated into modern racing cars, a deliberate ramming of somebody else's car could result in an injury. The one in New Hampshire did not, and the very brief story posted on TR.com offers almost no context. It doesn't state whether the offended driver preferred charges, or if track management initiated criminal action, or if someone in the law enforcement or legal professions might have been trying to make political hay.
It's well documented what a violent society we live in, and as standards of civil behavior continue to slide downward, it stands to reason that the level of violence and the number of incidents will rise. Of course there will always be those who insist that we should "do something about it" when these things happen.
So, competitors at all levels, be advised: Use your racecar as a battering ram at your own risk.
March 22, 2008 | Permalink
Comments
David,
NASCAR has an obligation to protect its participants from harm. There are also inherent dangers in being a NASCAR participant. NASCAR has done a great job minimizing these risks using safer barriers, safer cars, personal equipment etc. NASCAR has been less than adequate in minimizing the use of a 3800 pound hunk of steel as a weapon of retribution.
An example would be pit road. Since I've seen both, I would argue that pit road is even more dangerous to personnel than a full night launch/recovery on an aircraft carrier. The latter is a coordinated, precision exercise in safety and efficiency. The former is chaos run amok. There's no need to tolerate childish behavior that puts lives at risk. Busch's "almost" hitting a crewman is not only an adverb for a close call. It's a wake up call to NASCAR. If that "almost" becomes a fatality, because NASCAR did little or nothing to control it, then NASCAR opens itself up to lawsuits and outside enforcement. They need to clamp down hard on pit road. None of their pansy fines, etc. How about a DQ and a 2 race suspension?
BTW, nice post
Posted by: Keith | Mar 22, 2008 10:38:50 AM
I suppose I'm not like a lot of sports fans in that I don't go to hockey games to see fights, I go to see the players move the puck, shoot the puck, and score goals. A good example came last night in AHL action in Worcester as the W-Sharks hosted the Bridgeport Sound Tigers; there were no fights (the closest came when the Tigers' Kip Brennen got tossed for kneecapping the W-Sharks' Riley Armstrong) but a wild finish to regulation as the Tigers scored an empty-net goal with a minute to go for a 4-2 lead, then the W-Sharks tied the game with two goals in the final twenty seconds; the Tigers won in the final minute of OT 5-4.
That was a game worth enjoying without gratuitous violence.
I go to races to see passing and sidedrafting up front; I don't go to see wrecks. My hatred of Dale Earnhardt stems from his deliberate intent to hurt other drivers in wrecks. It was true of other racers over the years like Ernie Irvan and presently Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Unlike some others, I'm not particularly fascinated by gratuitous violence; I'm fascinated by hard competition.
Posted by: Mike Daly | Mar 22, 2008 1:05:25 PM
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