DAYTONA BEACH -- The ESPN broadcast color commentator said it best 34 seconds into the video clip shown from the 2013 Sprint Cup race at Homestead-Miami Speedway involving Paul Menard's car: "I can't believe the caution hasn't come out for that."
At 56 seconds into the clip after the right rear tire exploded, the main broadcast commentator added, " Caution has come out."
Really? Really!
Menard's car was on fire underneath from a price of rubber and yet the caution flag had not been waved during the 2013 Sprint Cup race at Homestead. Why? After all, It could have been catastrophic on the track.
As it was, the fire flared up when a rear tire near the flame blew, causing a big explosion, rethought it was quickly extinguished, prompting the Richard Childress Racing team namer to instruct the crew on the radio to put four tires on it and bering it behind the wall. He emphasized the obvious: "We're done."
At left, a rear tire explodes from heat and flames on Paul Menard's racing car at Homstead-Miami Speedway, causing a massive fire that is quickly extinguished.When exactly NASCAR officials do being out the caution isn't crystal clear. Sometimes they get it right. Somethings they don't, like this incident demonstrates, where luck was on the side of the driver and the crew in the pits.
As the countdown continues, Headline Surfer® twill show examples where fire played a devastating role in the senseless deaths of drivers, crew members and even fans in various racing venues. Certainly this kind of danger is not unique to NASCAR.
A poster under the video commented sarcastically: "I love how NASCAR titled this video." It was headlined: NASCAR EXPLOSION on pit road!! | Homestead-Miami Speedway (2013).
Another fan posted: Thank (God) they have to wear fire suits. People forget this could happen.
Premise for the series: Motorsports fans are drawn to racing for different reasons: The excitement of speed, skill of drafting & passing; strategies on when to pit for fuel, tires or repairs; the will to win and so forth. Ultimately, though, it's the big crashes that fans seem to like more than anything, though most won't openly say it. Perhaps it's because of the tragedies that often come with horrific crashes, be it the stock cars and trucks of NASCAR, open-wheel racing with Indy Cart, Formula One, and others still, like sports car endurance races, motorcycles and dragsters (and funny cars). And though nobody wishes serious injury or death to drivers, crew members, emergency personnel and especially spectators, the sad reality is death and carnage are always lurking. Despite the latest technology and improvements in aerodynamics of vehicles, driver equipment and enhanced track safety features, the fine line between life and death is always at play in any given sanctioned motorsport. Given that Headline Surfer® puts such an emphasis on racing with Daytona Beach International Speedway, the 24/7 internet newspaper is counting down its listing of the top 1,000 WORST of the Worst. While on the surface it may come across as gratuitous gore to critics, there can never be enough discussion about the need for constant vigilance in looking at safety and whether enough is being done to minimize loss of life.
Recap: WORST of the Worst Motorsports crashes:
996. Broadcast color commentator on Paul Menard race car on fire: 'I can't believe the caution hasn't come out'
997. Phil Krueger survives crashes in Indy Cart races at Michigan in 1984 & '89
998. Disgruntled ex-Mercedes employee in rain coat interrupts 2000 Formula One Grand Prix in Germany
999. BMW flips after intense contact with another car in Nürburgring VLN endurance road race; driver unscathed
1,000. Rusty Wallace flips violently down backstretch in 1983 Twin 125 qualifier at Daytona