Good point, Jerry. OK, everybody take three deep breaths and relax. Now, doesn't that feel better? Tom

Yeah, you're right.

You have to walk through the pits to get to the trailer.

In a trailer there are things to trip over, things that are sharp, etc. - just like in a factory

In a pit area there are vehicles going in different directions, with the drivers thinking about what they have to do/where they have to go...a kid suddenly darting in front of them isn't on their mind. - just like in a factory.

A driver is focusing on set ups, what the track is doing/might do, etc, etc, etc (AKA doing his job), and doesn't have time to babysit. - just like anyone else working their job (unless it's daycare)

Yep, nothing similar there at all................

I played with my Hot Wheels, played in the dirt, and snacked as a munchkin too, at Eldora, Limaland, New Bremen, Salem, in the infield at Winchester, etc. And then I went in the pits after the races were over. Just like a lot of other kids!

I've had to travel 5 states away from home with my job, for a week at a time, home for 1.5 days, then gone again. Did I miss my wife and kids, yep, like crazy....called them every night. But they couldn't go with me and stay at the motel, or sit in the factory's parking lot, or hang out by the tool boxes while I worked.

Do what you want, but to act like a kid is completely safe in the pits is a joke.

BTW Mr Pollock: Any lawyer worth his salt will tell you a waiver isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

Besides, like I said earlier to Mr. Nunn, why make people sign a waiver (supposedly meaning you have no INS coverage), then charge almost 2X the general admission fee to get in the pits? If it's not for ins costs, then what's it for??? And since it's for ins costs, why sign a waiver???

Anybody with a brain knows that these track owners/promoters have to have ins coverage on any person within the gates either in the stands or pits....WAY too much liability (AKA -LAWSUIT-) not to.

go to motorsport memorial.org. click on to fatalities by year. click on to 1996 and scroll to the bottom, 3rd up from the bottom, lindsey mayden.if any parent could survive an incident like this, then by all means take your kids into the pits. for a freak accident click on to 1931 and read about wilbur brink. i did forget one major piece of information. speaking with jeff mayden, he informed me that every time lindsey and her mother attened the races they always sat in the stands, except that one day.

If you're using that example as a reason children should not be in the pits, then for the same reason auto racing should not be a spectator sport and fans should not be allowed to sit in the grandstands either. A tire could just as easily come off a car and go into the stands and kill somebody there. It has happened at Indy and at other tracks as well. If we stop doing things because something bad could happen, this sport would come to an end all together. People don't stop driving cars to work because they might get killed in an accident, and a child is much more likely to die in an accident on the way to the racetrack than in the pits once they are there.

If a track does not charge to have children in the grandstands, I don't think they should charge to have them in the pits. The long term survival of this sport depends on developing the interest of the future fans and racers. Any effort made to get them to the track and make them feel welcome is an investment in the future. As a parent and paying customer, I would suggest that you treat a racetrack like any other business. If you aren't happy with the way you are treated, take your hard earned money somewhere else.

I don't know Jerry, Amy, or their son from a bale of hay, but of all the times I've seen Jerry racing, I've absolutely never seen him late getting to the car cause he was "babysitting". Good grief, you all are absolutely mental when it comes to this stuff.

Comparing a racetrack to a factory is beyond weird. Sure, danger is involved, but pretty sure a kid playing in a trailer is just as safe as doing it at home. Pretty sure Jerry and his crew aren't going to have his son hold a damn air hose while they are mounting up a tire. Like I said, I don't know Amy or Jerry from a bale of hay, but I commend them for being a family, in a family sport. I can't blame them for doing that, nor can I blame the thousands of other families across the country for the same thing.

Amazing that good parents get **** on, but the parents that ARE letting kids run around get off scott free. All because he's a small child?

Also, in a lot of cases, tracks pay insurance depending on how many people are in the pits. When I promoted a few races in 08, that's how the deal was for us, and each person on those sign in sheets and waivers was accounted for.

And to say those aren't worth the paper they're printed on is garbage too. Those forms are an "at your own risk" form, and the only way around that is negligence from the track. Prove that, and maybe.
Posted via Mobile Device

My comments are not insane. Let me rephrase so you can better understand. An adult, whether a parent of the child or not, cannot in reality sign away a childs rights. Waivers for children are not reconized in court systems. Therefore, if a child is hurt in the pits, a suit can and probably will be filed in court. The waiver a person signed will be worthless in court. An adult, of which I can only assume you are, can sign their own rights away, just not the rights of a minor child. I hope you have been sufficiently educated in the law, now you can add that to your obvious talents in the area of psychiatry.

---------- Post added at 12:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:04 PM ----------

And by the way, I think we all are more than willing to let parents do what they want with their children. It is when they do things with their child that potentially impacts others that causes the problems. Everyone wants rights, no one wants responsibility. As an example; before an accident, "By God it is my right to have my kid in the pits!"; after the accident, "It's not safe in the pits for my kid, they should have never let me bring him/her in here! By God I'm going to sue!" I believe in to each his own, but in todays society no one wants to take the responsibility once they have made a decision. Therefore, if I ran a track there would be no way I would allow minors in the pits, it would be a recipe for my business's demise.

This is a "no win" situation for a race track.

Allow kids and you're open to a lawsuit.

Don't allow kids and you're viewed as not being family friendly.

I don't know if its right or wrong, Unfriendly or whatever you want to call it.

Without getting personal. I believe it is the parents decision if the track allows it.

That being said, I've seen some very dangerous incidents or near incidents in the pits. Cars breaking and vearing into trailers. Wheels go flying through the pits (From the track) and some very tight situations like Fremont where I couldn't believe they actually let cars drive through there under power.

I've seen drivers flip into their own hauler . Seen drivers fly off the track and fly through the pits about 70mph until getting stopped *Jeff Gordon*

Seen cars chase other cars at high speeds through the pits without regard to anyone elses saftey just to *HAVE AT IT*

Seen sheet metal and bars hanging several feet of to the side of a car that even if you thought you were clear, You didn't expect that!

Seen multiple instances of cars catching fire in the pits while the crew were out on the track taking a few minutes to respond.

Even fully aware of the danger and doing everything I can to stay out of the way. I've almost been clipped twice.

Dangerous, Well I rode a tricycle down a flight of concrete steps at 4 years old. My brother fell through a open cold air return crawling thorugh the kitchen at 14 months falling all the way to basement floor. the one time dad had the cover off it.So the racetrack isn't the only thing dangerous.

Stay safe all.

I will say this. A good lawyer a lame a*s judge, and a waiver isn't worth the paper its written on.

As for having to pay? Every person is subject to make a claim at some point. Right or wrong should that person have been covered if they didn't pay? Kid or not?

Exactly, Jerry! I have often made the comment that I see more kids at Bloomington than any other track I regularly attend.

The crazy part of this is the big "debate" over whether kids should be allowed in the pits when the original complaint was not over that issue at all; it was about the complaintant being charged $30 for a pit pass....which BTW, is clearly stated on the Bloomington website and does not list any exceptions.