NASCAR

I'm not really much of a NASCAR fan. There are only two drivers that I ever really check on and I rarely watch any races.

I like to know how Carl Edwards is doing since he pilots his own jet and flies into our airspace. It's nice to be able to congratulate him on a good run or wish him well as he heads out for another weekend race.

I also follow Danica Patrick.
I think that every successful woman makes it better for the next generation of young women (like my daugher and daughter in law). Even though Ms. Patrick is a beautiful woman, she is recognized as a competitor on the track and a skilled driver.

But this post isn't about either of them.

I've waited a little bit before writing anything about the Tony Stewart incident because it's a hard thing to write about as a non race fan. It turns out that the only races that I've actually attended were dirt track, sprint car races.

I think that it's wrong that Tony Stewart is being assigned blame in this case. Once a driver leaves the safety of his car, no other driver should be blamed for any harm that might happen. Even if Stewart was to blame for the initial incident, a pedestrian in the middle of the dirt track has disregarded his own safety and allowed his emotions to override his good judgment.

Even if visibility was good and other drivers could clearly see a dark suited pedestrian on the track, is a driver even looking for a pedestrian?

Like I said, I don't know much about racing.

I was thinking that having a driver like Stewart in a dirt track race might be very aggravating to the other drivers. Many of them work on their own vehicles and have minimal funding or sponsorship. Then along comes a guy with more than enough personal money and skills that have already put him in a racing circuit that the other drivers are striving for.

It would be like Adam Wainwright pitching in rookie league!

I know that there is a family that is grieving their loss. Perhaps having someone to blame makes grieving easier.

I know that there is a driver that has to consider his part in the tragedy and find a way to cope with his assessment.

Maybe we (society) have a role in assessing blame, but I don't really think so. Our internet world of instant information (and misinformation) often helps us to jump to conclusions and poor judgment where we really have no business making any.

Sure, we all have opinions.
And we believe that everyone else is interested in what we believe to be the truth, regardless of how little we actually know.

As I said, I'm not much of a race fan, but I hope that Mr. Stewart gets back to racing soon. I hope that some good can come this tragedy.  And I hope that the grieving family can find peace.

John <><