Racing Beat
M ore than two months have passed since Talladega's spring race, and I'm still angry. I'm mad at NASCAR, and I'm mad at the TV networks. They are mutual enablers of the twice-a-season debacle in north Alabama. But mostly I'm mad at the so-called fans that head to the tracks or turn on the TV expressly hoping to see the big one. I have two words for you: There's nothing more exciting than two highly skilled drivers run-ning wheel to wheel, but wrecking is not racing. It's a tragic by-product of a risky profession. Not only can it ruin the lives of those involved, it also diminishes the sport. I'm not so naive as to think wrecks will never happen. You can't put 43 adrenaline-fueled drivers into 3,400-pound vehicles and not expect some incidents. I've seen my share in the 20 or so years I've followed the sport. In most cases, nothing more was damaged than car parts, nerves (mine) and pride (the drivers'). But there are times when that's not the case, like Rusty Wallace in 1993 and Elliott Sadler in 2003 flipping end over end. Their vio-lent rolls at Talladega were 10 years apart, but eerily similar. Thankfully, both men walked away. In between those vicious licks came the 1996 high-speed nudge Race fans and the NASCAR commu-nity lost a valuable member of the motorsports team in April when David Poole passed away. Poole, a columnist for the and occasional broadcast commentator, died two days after the Talladega race; his last column was on the issues confronting the track. He will be missed. Kudos to the King for acknowledging the importance of the Indianapolis 500. Richard Petty Motorsports fielded a car in the 2009 open-wheel classic. John Andretti was the perfect driver for the RPM entry. Not only is he the nephew of racing legend Mario Andretti, winner of the 1969 Indy 500, John spent much of his NAS-CAR career driving for Petty. Unfortunately, NASCAR has proven it has the same problems as stick-and-ball sports. I'm talking, of course, about drug abuse issues. Obviously, this is more critical in a sport where speed and heavy metal dictate that one driver's artificially obstructed skills could mean literal life and death for him and his colleagues. NASCAR has to come to terms with Jeremy Mayfield, the latest driver accused of violating the sport's zero-tolerance drug policy. Regardless of what happens in that case, which was undecided at press time, NASCAR also must make its position clear to competitors. Right now, it doesn't provide drivers a detailed list of banned substances, which means it could include over-the-counter medications as well as a medically necessary doctor's prescription. Instead, NASCAR reserves the right to test for anything. Gentlemen, start your virtual engines. NASCAR and iRac-ing.com Motorsport Simulations are creating a NASCAR-sanctioned online racing series. In early 2010, fans will be able to log onto the Internet and compete against one another, as well as a number of NASCAR drivers (still to be named), in digital duplicates of NASCAR cars and tracks. LOOSE LUGNUTS JULY 2009 46 TRUCKERS NEWS A 14-car incident in Turn 4 brought out the first cau-tion on lap 8 of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. JO H N H A R R E L S O N /G E T T Y I M A G E S Wrecking Isn't Racing VIEWS FROM THE GRANDSTANDS KAY BELL True NASCAR fans come to see powerful cars helmed by elite drivers run clean and competitive races from start to finish