[illiNOISE]

Originally Posted by cmiracingvids there simply needs to be a little more security at some race tracks...and not just let anyone they see with a wrist band into the pit area.

Not to get off topic, but I've seen more than one track not have anyone manning the pit gate only an hour or so after hot laps start. So who knows who's in the pits?

Originally Posted by racerman454 Woman nor children should be in the pits I dont think. Woman cause most fights that occur in the pits and children walking around is just an accident waiting to happen. After the races is totally fine to take them in the pits but when cars are shoving off to fire engines or coming off the track theres no way children should be in the pits.

So when it's just me and my boyfriend, who is supposed to help him?
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[Panama]

Originally Posted by ronmil Absolutely not!!!!

Originally Posted by SprintManDave Ditto, RON

Same here!
Pits is NO place for young'uns, as in, anyone under 12.

I mean after all, I think Chase Briscoe is responsible enough to watch himself just fine!

[RacingGirl10]

I'm with Sprinter2b on this one, my son has been in the pits since he was 1.5 months old. His first race was USAC's last race at Manzanita. He has been to Las Vegas, California, Kentucky, Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas, Iowa, not to mention all around Indiana. We understand the risks. Granted my son cannot walk yet, so he is always on my hip or in a stroller. He wears proper ear protection and absolutely loves the race track. Allowing my kid in the pits generally will make or break my decision on whether or not I go. For instance, I won't go to Gas City anymore but LOVE to go to Lawrenceburg or Kokomo or Bloomington (among others). We love being able to be together as a family at the race track. Having an 8 month old in the stands when the races aren't over until after 10 makes for a very long night, without a lot to do. Lawrenceburg has been so great this year letting us bring our motorhome in the pits so we have somewhere to go between races. Besides there's always clever ways to contain your kids....

[Mud Packer]

Being a former race official in the pits, I can tell you that there are way too many people in there now on most nights. It is no place to have kids of any age roaming around. Even adults with "common sense" get hit and how about the driver who just got black flagged for something flying into the pit area. Or a driver coming in "hot" to the work area not expecting a child to be running free. NO WAY IN HELL! JMO.

[Dave Rudisell]

If these kids are not in the pits with thier FAMILIES, they will be up in the grandstands taping down blankets.:2:
just saying.

Like I said before there are pros and cons to everything. Just watch the news children along with adults are killed and injured on skateboards, bikes, pools, baseball games, and vehicles. I would love to put my son in a bubble to insure his safety but I can't, So I have chose to educate him on the safety precautions at the track, in the grandstands and in the pits. I also take the responsiblity to watch him while we are there. To say all at 15 or 16yr olds have the ablilty to make responsible decisions, Wow just follow one down the road!! I feel blessed that we are able to do what we love for a living and with racing there is traveling which means we may be gone for weeks at a time and be required to be at the track many hours before racing even begins so maybe you should try sitting in the grandstand for hours with no shade with a child. Maybe I should introduce you to my son, I would trust him in the pits long before an adult that is not familar with racing and the pits. I've would also like to mention that I have sat in the stands and had a person sitting 3 seats away from me killed by parts that flew off a car and hit him, and had my own car flip into the grandstand and pin a man and his son. (Thank God they were ok) I believe that it should be up to the parents there are dangers in everything we do so you just have to use your head and pray. Thanks Amy I've got your back. Tamara Benic

[IndyBound]

Originally Posted by LEADERS EDGE Like everything else......It's not a problem until something goes wrong and then it's a tragedy. Not every driver will catch fire during their career and many take fire proof items for granted. That is until you witness someone(or yourself) trapped in a burning inferno when seconds are hours and then it's "We have to do this and that to make the sport safer". My stance is that no one should be allowed in the pits until 16, because at 16 you should have basic knowledge and commen sense and decision capabilities. To say the trailer is a safe place is true to a point..... but I have seen more than one car end up in theirs or someone elses trailer. Like I said, everything is good until it isn't anymore. I guess for me, if you want to have your child in the pits thats your choice, but I don't want to hear about it when something happens and I sure don't want to hear about a tracks neglegence. Of course, like I said: How will the next 10 year old phenom be able to make it without being able to get in the pits.

Leaders Edge, our former crew member didn't expect his own negligence for taking his under age son into the pits. He instead tried to sue the Oswego Speedway when his son got hurt. An insurance representative that called my home one day asking all kinds of questions about our home owners insurance if the track insurance didn't cover the young mans injuries got an ear full from me. I made sure she knew who was responsible for taking his son into the pits, he had no one but himself to blame for his son getting hurt.

It has always been my belief the age 16 rule had to do with insurance stipulations. Certainly a 16 year old should have basic knowledge, common sense and decision making capabilities that a small child doesn't have.

Several years ago one of the current Oswego Speedway owners and a drivers adult sister were hit while standing just beyond the inside edge of the speedway during a rain delay, push truck drivers and spectators in their own vehicles were circling the track trying to dry it. A vehicle looses control, hits another vehicle and hits the people waiting to cross the track. Talk about negligence, even the track owner is suing in this case. Which I find a bit ironic the speedway management asked these people to help dry the track now some of them are being sued.

You called it Leaders Edge, it's not a problem until something happends.

Patti

[Bill Gardner]

I say let people make there own decision. If the kids are being watched by a responsible parent... I see no problem with it. It is very simple... The actions of irresponsible parents make this more of an issue than it should be.

If a child gets hurt, the only legal issues should fall solely on the parents of the children... Not a race track. People nowadays think they can blame every problem that exists in there life on someone else... and that's pathetic.

[Brewer 14]

For me the answer is simple as well:

YOU raise YOUR kid and MY WIFE and MYSELF will raise MY kid.


As far as common sense goes I know adults that have little or none. Chances are most of the kids that have been in the pits since they could walk pose less of a danger to themselves or others than most of the "bleacher jockeys" that rarely come to the pits and have not been taught the proper pit area etiquette.

Just my $0.02

J.L. Brewer