Saturday, February 25, 2012

Blood Sport: Daytona and "the big one"

Who remembers the Le Mans catastrophe of 1955?

A Mercedes race car left the track and killed 83 spectators. A further 120 were seriously injured. The accident took Mercedes out of racing for a generation.

I was reminded of this while watching the Nationwide race from Daytona this afternoon.

They had "the big one" late in the race. I saw the 52 car slide right underneath the car in front. Anything could have happened.

Sooner or later "anything" will happen. A car will launch into the grandstand at 200 mph. Scores will die. Scores more will be maimed. Lawyers will have a field day for the next twenty years.

And isn't that what compels us to watch?

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