Dont talk shop on here often, but if youll afford me the liberty just once, here goes: It was good to be back at Eagle River Speedway last night. Enjoyed the show and it was good to catch up w/ the drivers, crews & fans Ive gotten to know over the last decade plus. However, it was a challenging night as well, working on an assignment for the The Northwoods River News (one, in full disclosure, that I pitched to my editor) on local racers takes on the sprint car accident Aug. 9 involving Tony Stewart, which took the life of fellow racer Kevin Ward Jr. The coverage on the accident in the following days has ranged from respectable and thoughtful, to sensationalistic and irresponsible — both from mainstream and social media. Aside from small talk amongst family, Ive kept my thoughts to myself mainly because, spare a couple of spectacularly-flawed attempts, my experience behind the wheel of a race car is zilch. Ive been around the sport long enough to have some semblance of an idea but truly feel the only way to get some perspective of what happened is to talk to those who have walked a mile in a racers shoes. With that said, I just filed a 3,000-word essay on the piece which, space willing, will find its way into Tuesdays paper. This is not to brag, or make you go pick up a copy of the paper. Instead its a way for me to decompress. This is probably the most challenging story Ive had to write in all my years around the sport, just because of the complexity of the details and the emotions it has already elicited. I want to sincerely thank those who took the time to talk to me last night (and you know who you are). Some are quoted in the story, some are not, but all provided very valuable insight and were very gracious with their time while still trying to put the finishing touches on their vehicles before racing. Some Ive known for years. Others I met for the first time last night, but all provided responses that were very well-thought out for being put on the spot. It is my hope that Im am able to portray those thoughts clearly in this upcoming piece. With that, I conclude my spiel and hope that we all can realize that sometimes in life, we do not know all the answers, which should cause us pause when we try to pontificate on whats wrong and whats right.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 22:44:57 +0000
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