You just dread this type of thing. It could have happened at any outdoor venue - just happened to be the Pocono racetrack.
I have worked at a track when fans in campers perished from carbon monoxide poisoning and another from "wrestling" in his tent with his best buddy. It eats your guts out.
Prayers for those folks and their families. So saddened to hear this.
I know this is a racing site, but many of us are also football fans. Hope all of you good folks from our racing family will join in sending our deepest sympathy to the Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid and his family who have lost their eldest son today.
Could we possibly convince NASCAR that they should have listened to Harry Gant when they went about "repurposing" the racing we used to love?
I just a read a five year old Rick Houston piece on NASCAR.com that is just as relevant today as it was when it was written.
http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/features/03/21/hgant.where.is/index.html
Check these Harry quotes from the story and tell me which don't fit today's problems?
Then ... there are the cars, which in Gant's opinion have been tinkered with, cut, raised, moved over, lengthened, shortened and tweaked far too much.
"I'll tell you what my honest opinion is ... and I told [NASCAR president] Mike Helton this," continued Gant, "even when I quit racing with the [Chevrolet] Lumina, it was pretty much just a regular Lumina. With the Oldsmobile, [the manufacturer] would send us sheet metal, and we'd use it.
"Now, they've started letting them do so much to these cars. They let you run a four-door car, but make a two-door out of it. The Ford Fusion ... that's an intermediate car, a little four-door, halfback thing. The Monte Carlo is the only car out there that's a two-door. They let you add a foot to the hood to fit the motor.
"They made a Dodge the ugliest thing I've ever seen in my life. They let 'em put the grille down where the bumper's at. They all look like they've run under a tractor-trailer and smashed the nose down. They've got this big problem ... aero push, aero push. Well ... if they would run 'em the way they was supposed to be, there wouldn't be no aero push. You wouldn't even need no Car of Tomorrow. ... I don't like that at all."
I had to look twice to see if I was reading Harry Gant's words or Bobby Williamson's words. Why can't they listen to some folks who know what they're talking about?
Republican Veep Nominee
Well known NASCAR driver
"Jeff" as he was/is known to everybody in racing was another legitimate "character" who was a wonderful person to be around. A lumberman operating out of Yakima, Washington, for years he campaigned the only Ford in Winston West or NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model Sportsman competition. His brother, Harry Jefferson was quite a good driver as was his son. He gave both Derrike Cope and Chad Little their starts in his cars. Jeff was very nearly killed when he was hit by a spinning car in the infield of a west coast track.
Just like dealing with Bud Moore, I always knew George Jefferson would deliver more than contracted for. In fact, I would have felt safer dealing with Bud and George without a contract than with most of today's car owners with one. He may be wearing a black hat in the photo, but he definitely rode with the good guys.
I don't think that other guy has the right touch with his hat. No feathers!
Reckon Kasey woulda been Ginger Rogers' type?
