It? s another Sunday and the auto racing community is getting ready for the green flag to drop. Thousands of people travel hundreds of miles to go to the track, while millions stay home to watch the event on television. The sport of auto racing is the fastest growing spectator sport today. Nascar, NHRA (drag racing), CART, and The Indy Racing League are some of the biggest auto racing events in the world. Every racing style has the element of excitement, sadness, greed, and violence.
Are these the elements that make us fans or are there more? Every race fan loves the excitement of racing. Two, sometime three cars racing side by side going close to two hundred miles per hour racing for the number one slot, who wouldn? t? The excitements of watching your favorite driver lead the race, hoping your driver can maintain the lead after twenty some cars come in to the pit for four tires and a tank of gas. Watch a pit crew change four tires and fuel up a car under twenty seconds. The excitement of auto racing is immeasurable. The entertainment of the sport is like no other. Auto Racing does have a violent side to it.
Not all races are accident free and drivers do not always walk away. Accidents in racing are just that, an accident. There is no way a car accident can be planned or timed to happen. The competition is fierce, and people make mistakes. The violent accidents are a part of the excitement of racing.
The fear of death is on the minds of all the drivers on the track. Death is also a part of racing, and not only to the drivers, but to the pit crew members also. All the drivers and pit crewmember know that their job is very dangerous. Does the violence attract people to watch? Or is it the greed, the greed of watching your driver win the race and keep winning? Do people want their driver to win race after win? That is greed, and people do watch for the greed of a winning driver. Auto Racing is a sport for all ages.
Would I let my children watch a race on television? Is a sport just like baseball or golf? The violence of racing is uncontrollable, and is not always deathly. Car accidents happen every day; driving to fast can be a cause of an accident. Letting children watch a race is a good way to explain to them the right and wrong ways to drive. Children cannot legally drive until the age of sixteen years old and by then hopefully they know the different between the right and wrong way to drive. Explaining to children that people have dangerous job and is a way of life, is also a good idea. Racing is a sport for children if parents take the time to explain that it is a sport.
Not everyone can and should do it. Auto racing is one of the most exciting sports in the world. The excitement of seeing your driver that you cheer for the whole race win is a great feeling. Auto racing does have violent scene at times, but auto racing is not a violent sport. The violence is auto racing is uncontrollable, but all racing styles are taking the step to prevent accidents from happening. Drivers and pit crewmembers do die sometime in violent accidents, but these are the risks people take.
To stop auto racing or limit the viewer ship would be a crime to all sports. People have the right to watch what they want. Auto racing is a growing sport; we should not stop the growth because of accident within the sport.