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My prayers go out to the Ward Family and to Stewart from this sad incident.
I am a regular at Bloomington Speedway, and frequent other facilities when able. I've been to countless other non-Indiana tracks as well throughout my life. But it seems that no matter the division, no matter the facility, you see similar instances of "calling a driver out" so to speak. Sure, sometimes it is indeed warranted, but this behavior as a whole should quickly cease to happen to avoid future incidents to not just drivers, but even safety workers and officials as well who may also get caught up in the line of fire.
But as racers can attest, sometimes you don't think properly in the heat of the moment or when you think you've been greatly wronged. It's human nature. Still, perhaps one should sit that extra moment in the car and take a few deep breaths and calm down a little. At least give the safety workers time to get to you (And for that matter the cars to slow completely down) and even "escort" you during your rant. That extra (and much more visible) body, whom will keep a more safe distance from moving cars, could help avoid a similar situation if you really want to risk losing your cool. Just remember, be mindful of your surroundings and don't go running 2/3 of the way down the track just to point out who wronged you. Nothing good will come of a man (or woman for that matter) trying to win an argument vs. a moving racecar. It's just not worth the risk on something that might not of been said accused driver's fault. I've seen my fair share of driver's mad at the wrong person. But either way there needs to be some sort of change to this behavior as a whole. And it's up to the drivers ability to change this behavior on how deep tracks need to go on perhaps a rule enforcement.
While not completely related; this is why officials tell you to slow down (And be observant) during cautions. And even stop as quickly and safely as possible, and to not drive through an accident scene during a red. And this is why Bloomington (and likely other places) has the "No Hot-Lapping" rule, where you're not supposed to run at anything over part-throttle while under yellow (unless otherwise directed by an official). It's for the safety of everyone both in and out of the cars. In hopes that it would avoid someone getting accidentally hurt.
Racers will be racers, incidents will happen. Somewhere something will need to change be it ethics and/or a rule. Hopefully everyone can learn from this and find a solution that will prevent something like this from happening again.
Just my two cents. Sadly this whole incident has gotten blown out of control and proportion by the media due to Stewart being involved... and unfortunately the finger pointing has been going on since hour one. No matter the outcome, someone somewhere is gonna be p-ed off and blah-blah-blah. The only ones who should be worried about the outcome is to everyone directly involved. As long as they can come to terms with the results and accept them, that is what truly matters.
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