Devastating News--Ron Pestana Dies in a Race Car
General
I can help....Dale Earnhardt was racing the best cars in the world for the best racing organization in the world and his death caused much scrutiny and has since saved lives. The sad fact in the evolution of safety in racing is that most advances came as the direct result of loss of life. To not scrutinize any "type" of racing after a death would be a huge mistake.
Ron was a personal friend and his death was tragic. On the surface it appears it may not have even been related to a mechanical issue...we do no know those facts yet.But in theinterviewsafter the loss, I saw a quote from someone at the track that said they were going to ask NASCAR to help with the investigation. That my friend is scrutiny. It should always happen...that is how we save lives in racing.
I have some knowledge of the cars being raced and personally believe they are among the safest cars being raced...based on what I have been told about them. I personally believe that this "type" of racing has a future in local short track racing and can be good for the sport. But, I certainly hope no one "assumes" the cars are perfect and rules out any possible cause. That would be a mistake...in my opinion.
I think you took an otherwise normal comment and assumed it was a barb against the cars. I don't think that was the case. Everyone in this group is for the success of short track racing. The quest to make it as safe as possible should never end. Every death on a race track should bring considerable scrutiny to make the sport safer....we will never make it "safe".
A heavily scrutinized accident that finds the driver safety aspects of the car did their job would go a long way toward the quest to make racing accessible to more people.
