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After reading all these posts I must admit I'm still on the fence. Growing up racing I always wanted to go into the pits but wasn't allowed to as the rules were 16 and up, as well as other rules that seemed to go down the drain - no open toe shoes, no tank tops, long pants must be worn (now that these aren't rules I do wear shorts but continue wearing sneakers and shirts with sleeves). Now that I'm older I understand why I wasn't allowed in the pits and admit it was smart that I wasn't. Was it a pain for my parents who had a very small operation and 2 kids, YES. My father was in the pits and my mom would go back and forth between the grandstands and pits depending on if we knew people in the stands. Of course sometimes they made the decision to leave us home with family and other times my mother would stay home with us.
I agree with some of the other posts that kids that grow up around racing tend to have a better appreciation of the dangers in the pits than many adults. Tamara, your son is extremely well behaved and an extremely smart kid! He definitely knows more than most adults in the pits!
However, I have seen many kids running around the pits and I worry about those kids. I think the age range I worry about the most is those around - 1 1/2 to 6 - those that can walk and dart easily, and tend to not pay attention.
It all comes down to being smart! Parents need to be smart. I hope for everyone's sake all the kids in the pits are safe but you never know! Take care!
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