Pointing The Finger And A Plea For Sanity 8/15/2014 |
I bid
you welcome gentle readers, to a message I never intended to place on these
pages, but things happen in life that change our minds. Sometimes, they are
good things; other times, they are not so good. First, please allow me to set
the stage on a personal note. The past weekend was heavily weighted with
sadness in my world. On Monday and Wednesday of this week we commemorated the
lives of two racers, each of whom meant the world to me, J.D. McDuffie and Tim
Richmond. They died 2 years apart, in 1991 and 1989 respectively.
Here at
Race Fans Forever, we ran my last year's tribute to J.D. on Monday, the date of
his death, and
my very extensive tribute to Tim Richmond on Tuesday, with Wednesday being the
25th anniversary of his death. Dealing with two articles of that depth was
something of a downer for this writer. Yes, some of us do take our work home
with us, and our feelings to bed as well.
Speaking
of bed, I was in the process of shutting down and heading there on Saturday
night when my Twitter feed began to light up. At first, the messages were
scattered and uncertain, but concerned a supposed accident at a track very
close to where I spent my first 55 years of life, Western New York State. All
too soon, as anyone ever exposed to Twitter knows,
postings on that subject progressed to a state known as "viral." That
happens when a few folks think they know something and "tweet" it as
indisputable fact. Most times, it is anything but and grows less so as it
progresses.
The
tweets were proclaiming that Tony Stewart, owner/driver of Stewart-Haas Racing,
had intentionally run down a young driver during a sprint car race at
Canandaigua Motorsports Park. Having been in racing for some 60 years now, I
reasoned that true, false or in-between, we probably
wouldn't know what truly transpired before morning, so I hit the switch and
went to bed. Sunday morning, my computer all but came to wake me up. It came to
life with a leap and hasn't landed yet. Messages and headlines all said that a
young local driver, Kevin Ward Jr. was deceased after coming in contact with
Stewart's car.
At this point, allow me to
interject a bit of education aimed directly at many in the "mainstream
media." There is a distinct difference between "Sprint",
"Sprint Cup" and "sprint car." Learn it! "Sprint"
is a cell phone provider; "Sprint Cup" is a racing series at NASCAR's
elite level, sponsored by "Sprint." "Sprint cars" have been
around for decades longer than either "Sprint" or "Sprint
Cup." They are lightweight cars (1200-1400 pounds) that resemble a roll
cage on wheels. They come in two configurations, winged and wingless. They run
with a tremendous horsepower to weight ratio, employing some 1200 horses
compared to circa 800 in the Sprint Cup cars that weigh in at about 3300
pounds. They are little bucking broncos with engines and they are not steered
with the wheel, but by a combination of actions involving the accelerator and
brake. If you've never driven on dirt... or ice... then you
don't know how that is done, so please reserve your "expert"
comments for something in your field of expertise.
All day Sunday,
the story grew wings as it flew around Planet Earth a few times. Tony Stewart
withdrew himself from the race at Watkins Glen and was replaced for that race
by Regan Smith. As always, being a race fan, I watched the race and enjoyed it
because it's a road race and I love that racing genre. Immediately following
the checkered flag, I found myself no longer looking at Victory Lane in Watkins
Glen but the all too familiar face of Attorney Roger Cossack of O.J. Simpson
trial fame. Really? Is that the best you can do; reach
out and grab the first ambulance chaser that comes to mind and bring him into
my living room? Be warned; I have a remote and I know how to use it... and did.
Monday
proved to be more of the same but on a larger scale. I'm not sure how many know
this, but I do a segment on Monday evenings on "Bump 'N Run" with
"That Sports Chick", Robyn Vandenberg on Racin’
Nation Radio. She dropped me a line that said we'd be dealing with the story on
air that night. She and I do not rehearse or usually even converse before being
on air together. We do it completely off the cuff and it seems to work well. At
the beginning, Robyn laid down some rules for the show, saying there would be
no name-calling, no aggression and no blame. That was perfect, as the first
words I ever uttered about the situation were that I would not assess blame or
point fingers; I would only pray for both sides. Oh yes, and just before we
left the air, word came that the world had lost someone to whom no one was
ready to say "good-bye." Robin Williams had taken his own life. May
he rest now in eternal peace... that lovable clown that made all the world
laugh... except himself.
Tuesday,
as stated, RFF ran my article on Tim Richmond, compounding a week that was
already filled with tragedy and it had only just begun. Many
thanks to all that came to read and to the many loving remembrances shared by
readers that also remembered Tim with fondness. To the few that posted
with malice... we take all comments that are not profane or offensive, but only
so many of them. Troll elsewhere, as your time here is limited to the depth of
my patience.
Then it
came; a loving note from a dear friend... asking when I was going to do an
article on the racing death over the past weekend. I explained that I felt far
too much had already been said, and that I had no plans to add my voice to the
roar of the crowd. I gave her the link to a podcast of
the Bump 'N Run show. She said she understood perfectly, but after thinking
about it, the light came on and I knew she understood perhaps too perfectly...
She gave
me no permission to use her name here, but it's easier to ask forgiveness than seek permission, so I
will tell you that her name is Sherry MacDonald, and she is the widow of sports
car racer Dave MacDonald, who was killed in a fiery crash at the Indianapolis
500 in 1964. Sherry would know both sides of the story, because she has lived
both sides for 50 years. She lost the love of her life that day at Indy, and if
that weren't enough, for many years after, she listened to accusations from
folks who knew nothing about racing, that the accident had been all Dave's
fault and that Eddie Sachs, the other driver that died in that terrible crash
would still be alive if...
Years
later, with her son Rich and a dear friend of Sherry's and mine, Henry Jones,
the wreck was gone over by reconstruction experts and it was evident that there
was no blame to assess; the problem was with equipment, not with either driver.
Sherry my love, this one's for you. You
said the words I told you were perfect, so I'll repeat them here one more time.
Gentle readers, please don't point fingers in accusation... in
either direction. A racing death has occurred; it occurred as the result of a
horrible accident. Having been a part of racing for more years than most of you
have been alive, I promise you with confidence that there was no intent to
harm. That just isn't what racing is about. It doesn't happen that way, no
matter what that guy or gal on your 6:00 news might say. They've never been to
a race and in most cases haven't even seen one on TV, yet suddenly they are
experts?
No, dear
friends, they are not. A great number of folks come to read these pages every
week. If you've ever understood what you read here or learned something from
what I write, please... make it this one. Don't cast that stone; put it down,
and while you're near the ground, perhaps you might kneel and say a prayer...
two prayers... one for the Ward family, which has lost a son, brother, nephew,
grandson, etc... the other for Tony Stewart, and I
mean both with all sincerity.
From all
that has been written, tweeted, posted or shouted from housetops, try to look
only at the facts; forget the frills and frivolous words of folks that have no
clue what happened, but somehow simply must share their ignorance with others.
Two facts stand in the foreground and they are equally sad.
1.) Kevin Ward Jr. is dead.
2.) Tony Stewart will live with that his entire
life.
Say
those prayers gentle readers; say them not because I ask you to, but because
your hearts feel the compassion for both families that is right and just. That's
all. Comments are not necessary for this one Dear Hearts. NASCAR reads, but
today is not about impressing them; it's about saying good-bye to a racer and
hoping that another racer will be able to bring himself
to race again. May God bless everyone involved and each of you reading here today.
The
Classic Country Closeout today is carefully chosen. Please listen to the words
of Hank Williams Sr. as he cautions, "Be Careful of Stones That You
Throw."
Be well
gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~
PattyKay