rec.autos.simulators

But what's this about the crew man underneath A. Petty's car a year back?

--DK

[snip]

--------------------

This is in response to the article "Just a Speed Bump" by John Gearan.  I do
not object to Mr. Gearan's opinion, and I respect he has the right to
express it.  However, the manner in which he expressed it in a public forum
was a poor choice on his part.  How can I take the article seriously when it
sound like nothing more than a childish rant that rivals that of my 3 year
old?  First, the derogatory tone in which he uses "Good Ol' Boys," as if all
people that watch auto racing are uneducated, back-wood, hicks that only
know tobacco, beer and racin'.  Guess what?  Here is this Good Ol' Boys'
profile:

-I am a well educated West Point graduate--and well versed in the physics
that drive race cars.  I know what they can do, can't do, and what can
happen in them.
-Myself war-hero as Mr. Gearan referenced?  No, but I have been to war and
seen the business end of a bullet.  All just so Mr. Gearan has the 1st
Amendment right to publish this childish display.
-A red neck?  Maybe by Mr. Gearan's definition.  Maybe Mr. Gearan should
attend a NASCAR race, he will find the red neck quotient to be pretty low.
All walks of life tend to show up.
-And, yes, I do race cars, so I have a bias.

He seems to question if auto racing is a sport.  I challenge him to come on
down and go 25 laps with me.  I'll give even him a 3 lap head start and will
pass him clean.  When he finishes out of breath, his brake leg cramped and
can barely lift his arms the morning after--well there should be no question
that auto racing is a sport that requires physical conditioning.

Mr. Gearan states "There are more than a few loose lug nuts rolling around
in Kyle Petty's thought processes."  The man just lost his child.
Regardless of how Mr. Gearan feels about the circumstances in Adam Petty's
death, have some compassion for his father.  This quote is one of two that
are way out of line.

Mr. Gearan compares auto racing to athletes in other sports.  OK, I'll agree
that auto racing is more dangerous than most other sports.  But, how may
race drivers are suspended for ***?  How many have killed their
girlfriend?  How many have attacked their coach?  And I have yet to see a
bench clearing brawl at a race.  Occasionally, a car is used as a weapon,
but at least the other drivers have some protection in their cars.  I also
remember a hockey stick being used as a weapon here recently--how much
protection did his helmet provide?

All of the above pales in comparison to the play on words found in the final
paragraph.  Let me quote this, in case the wording was forgotten:

"Two years ago, in a minor-league ASA race, Adam's crew chief crawled under
his car during a pit stop. When the car came down off the jack, Petty ran
over him. The crew chief was killed, a death barely noticed in the cruel
world of auto racing, too petty to make much of a fuss about."

It wasn't noticed much outside the world of auto racing, but inside the
"cruel world" it had a chilling effect.  It still comes up at the tracks I
go to sometimes at drivers meetings.  The final senctence contains a play on
words with the "Petty" name, that if it wasn't so cruel, borders on genius.
In one sentence, Mr. Gearan was able to make "Petty" a synonym with "a death
barely noticed in the cruel world of auto racing."  Maybe it was not done on
purpose, although I don't see how.  In the final sentence, Mr. Gearan loses
any credibility he could have gained with the article.  He has shown he is
as cold and heartless as the "sport" he is writing about.

I only have one hint for Mr. Gearan.  His article would only appeal to those
who already hate auto racing.  This article is so demeaning to even the
casual race fan, how can he hope to sway anybody's opinion?

David McCarson
Apex, NC

<snip>

Er - eh? Could you explain that for those of us unfamiliar with US
regional attitudes?
--
David.
"After all, a mere thousand yards - such a harmless little knoll,
really."
(Raymond Mays on Shelsley Walsh)

When Adam was running in the ASA series two years ago, one of his crewmen was
underneath the car when the jack was dropped.  As any driver is taught, when
the jack drops you go.  Adam did that and the rest is history.

Randy
Moonshiners
Team Pro Com
60, 20, 1

Yes, the paper is from Worcester MA.  A city about an hour outside of Boston.
Growing up as a racefan in MA was tough because you had to deal with the
attitudes of people like this.

Randy
Moonshiners
Team Pro Com
60, 20, 1

But what does he think about GPL?   ;`-)

--
-- Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard>
-- May the Downforce be with you...
-- http://www.WeRace.net
-- People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realise
how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world.

No, it was an ASA race at the Minnesota State Fair.  I was about 200 feet away,
and watched it all happen  : (
He was underneath the car when they dropped the jack, so the car was dropped on
top of him.  Then Adam took off and ran him over.  It all happened in about 2
seconds.  Felt like an eternity though.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions including the writer of that article,
r.a.s. readers, and myself. A number of people in this thread feel it's ok
to rip that writer apart for his views. Well, then it's certainly ok for me
to bluntly express my opinions of NASCAR.

I agree with most of what the writer had to say about NASCAR and it's fans.
For those who live outside of the U.S., you might be unaware as to how
NASCAR is viewed by many Americans. Do you know what the WWF is? It's that
bulls**t, fake, wrestling garbage that unfortunately pollutes the airwaves.
NASCAR and the WWF are often referred to as siblings, or even
interchangeable. Yes, the fans ARE typically hicks and beer worshipers. The
drivers are not athletes. How could a bunch of old, chubby, good ol' boys be
athletes? One of the U.S.'s top sports radio stations is near where I live,
and NASCAR is NEVER mentioned, except to be made fun of when a Billy Bob is
foolish enough to call in.

Sorry, but NASCAR IS considered a joke to the majority of Americans. The
writer knows that. I know that. The only one's who don't know that, or are
too full of beer to care, are it's crash crazy fans.

WWF and NASCAR. Happy together.

David G Fisher

You mean the media manipulated mass?  You mean the people who have no real
opinion then what "The View", 20/20 or Oprah tells them?

If you only knew how I care.  I enjoy watching it and racing it.  That's
enough for me.  You enjoy watching/racing stockcars David?

--
-- Fran?ois Mnard <ymenard>
-- May the Downforce be with you...
-- http://www.WeRace.net
-- People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realise
how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world.

I would say 3 maybe 4 drivers are a little on the chubby side.  However,
most of them engage in sports outside of racing.  Just glancing over their
hobbies, it looks like snow skiing and golf seem to be the most popular.  I
wouldn't want to pick a fight with Mark Martin.  And Michael Waltrip ran the
Boston Marathon the day after a 500 mile race.  I have run marathons and I
drive a race car--a lot less than 500 miles, I might add.  I wouldn't try it
back-to-back.  Both take quite a bit out of you.

David--if you're up north close to a Skip Barber racing school, treat
yourself and give it a try.  It's a blast, and you will get a healthy
respect for what any race driver goes through for 500 miles.  I'll admit
it's a little pricey, but you get a lot of fun per $--and learn a thing or
two you can apply to your street car.

Do most Americans think NASCAR is a joke?  Who knows--we can't even get 50%
of the country to vote or answer a census, much less a poll about auto
racing.  However, being that the NASCAR series is made up of the Winston
Cup, Busch Grand National, 9 other touring series, and the NASCAR weekly
racing series that compete at about 100 tracks all over the country, I would
say it is popular with a good portion of the country.

There is a big stereotype of the race fan as well.  In truth, I have found
that race day brings a great cross section of people.  Every race is there,
every income level--yes, including that backwoods hick who just sold enough
moonshine to get his tickets.  He'll be sitting by the doctor--and for 4
hours they get along just fine.

As far as sport shows go, I gave up on them--seems the only sports in
existence are baseball, basketball, and football.  You can only tell about a
ball going over a fence or in a hoop so many ways.  Even when a show does
report on racing its "X passed Y on lap Z.  And on lap M..."  Yawn!  Just
because you are not mentioned on a top sport show, doesn't mean you are not
an athlete.  By that measure, weight lifting, swimming, track and field, and
rugby would not be considered sports or their participants athletes in most
parts of the country!

Bottom line is this--every night thousands of games are played with millions
of fans watching.  We have a choice of what to watch and participate in.  I
think the real beef with the article is his tone.  If this had been my child
that was killed, and I read an article so callus and derogatory to both a
large segment of people and had personal attacks (look at his comments
directed toward Kyle Petty), he and I would discuss it in person and I would
certainly expect an apology.