CIRCUIT RACING : FRACTIOUS FOOD FIGHT AT DOVER! Part 1

Hotly contested battles were expected and truth be told, expectations were realized for the most part. It is often said that NASCAR has a large fan base for this rather simple reason – patrons want to see and enjoy the spectacle that colliding race cars create (accidents). I do not attend motorsports events to see the carnage, but, unfortunately, accidents are an unavoidable feature of motorsports.

I was giving the first race of the day a cursory glance, still absorbing the crisp, oxygen-rich atmosphere that the lush, tropical natural vegetation which engulfs Dover Raceway, provides. And without warning, from my favored vantage point, the tower, I grabbed the remnants of what appeared to be a distorted white image. It was, like a jet departing N.M.I.A. – elevating rapidly – airborne – almost vertical, scaling the tyre wall and hurtling through the yawning trees, which slammed shut abruptly.

The white mass vanished! Was it a figment of my imagination? What was it?

SUMMERBELL

I was startled, but despite my obvious shock, my reassembled marbles confirmed that a race car had exited the track at corner 1 at a rather high rate of speed. I can recall David Summmerbell Jr’s expedition into the unknown, beyond the confines of corner 1, in the not so distant past. I can still see myself scurrying along the start-finish straight, chasing the throng that was before me – everyone running to see if the ‘King’ was ok.

Some images, like fingerprints, are indelible and they never leave. Thankfully, like David Summerbell Jr, Kirk Diaz who was the reluctant passenger aboard the Mitsubishi corner 1 flight was ok, but his machine was claimed by Dover’s flora! Frightening, but without injury. Relief all around!

REMEMBER THIS?

What can be done to reduce incidents of that nature at corner 1?

Cecil Munroe Gleaner On-Line Writer