Another Viewpoint Archives
Debbi Willis, Daw613@bigfoot.com
Fear
Being extremely competitive in a risky sport like auto racing requires an innate sense of trust in the Almighty. Fear can undermine that trust far too quickly when our minds roam with the possibilities of "what if's". Going back to Louden this weekend, has caused that to happen among the drivers and fans. Replacing the every week trust most everyone has in the "what will happen, will happen" acceptance is a festering feeling of fear. And fester it does. Fear will kill faster than anything else on a racetrack or for that matter in any dangerous situation. Fear causes mistakes that kill. Fear causes hesitation that causes problems that can kill. Fear is insidious and unnerving. Focusing on the fears isn't helping the drivers focus at all. In fact, it's downright distracting in my opinion. Once it was considered best not to express the fears for fear they would actually come about. Negativity has a way of happening like bad luck! Sounds like a good policy to me as I write this praying for a safe weekend for all.
We profess trust in the Lord and then try to take control. We pray for safety we must trust in and then try to be absolutely sure when in the next moment anywhere, anyplace, doing anything, anyone could die. Life is just like that, a real unknown adventure. I've learned that God has a plan for everyone and we don't know and won't know when our time has come. It just
happens and only the Lord knows. Everything and everyone serves a purpose, too. Maybe the situation is not completely understood by us immediately or even remotely obvious anytime soon, but I know everything and everyone serves a purpose. And it's very easy to be caught in others peoples lessons.
However, living in fear robs everyone of the moment and creates the potential for self-fulfilling disasters based on that underlying fear.
A recent report about the autopsies had me wondering exactly what purpose that served for someone to criticize NASCAR for not requesting copies and further investigating the whole matter. NASCAR's reply was that what they needed to know was on the death certificates. Death certificates are final conclusions derived by professionals. Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin both died
of the same type of head injury from the same impact caused by apparently the same problem of a stuck throttle. My initial reaction to exposing the gory details was that this is a private matter for the families. Autopsies are not pretty and the reports are more information than most desire to know or
are able to stomach. I know this personally after dealing with the autopsy reports on my brother's death. I'm very grateful no one else wanted to know all the details as I am sure the Petty's and the Irwin's would be grateful if everyone would let their sons' rest in peace, finally. If something were truly amiss or anyone's fault, doesn't it make sense to think the families
would seek the solutions first? Fear motivates the multitude of speculation from everyone else.
Legal tug of wars such as that between the Loudon police department and NASCAR isn't benefitting anyone either. No crime has been committed. No one caused these tragedies to happen with any malicious intent. For what reason do the police need to be involved? Death is a part of Nascar's history and will continue to be as long as humans choose to race. Have we become so soft
and sensitive that we've lost sight of the painful side of the sport we all enjoy? Common sense dictates that if safety can be improved (H.A.N.S., throttle controls, kill switches) then by all means explore all the options and seek viable solutions. Everyone needs to keep their senses about them in this matter, though. Based on the hyper-extension injuries that killed both
drivers on impact, many questions arise that I've no doubt were answered somehow. Questions surely arose about the helmets conditions and potential defects in manufacturing. Were the headstraps properly secured? Were the harnesses properly tightened? Of course, we believe all these things were
correct. The impact was just too much for their bodies to withstand caused by a stuck throttle condition in a mechanical vehicle they happily chose to be in. But fear that it could happen again creates mega-speculation and even accusations of not doing enough. As though enough could ever be done to
prevent the inevitable if that time had come.
Racing is full of as many risks as it is full of sheer joys. Safety measures are built in and the focus for everyone needs to be on making sure all those safety measures are in excellent condition. Then, all that is left is trusting the Almighty for a safe outcome and accepting those outcomes. Trusting in the Almighty is living the gift of life He gives us every moment.
Fearing the potential loss ultimately robs everyone. Just maybe now, the pre-race prayers will take on a deeper meaning and not just be a routine habit.
Another Viewpoint Home
Fear
Being extremely competitive in a risky sport like auto racing requires an innate sense of trust in the Almighty. Fear can undermine that trust far too quickly when our minds roam with the possibilities of "what if's". Going back to Louden this weekend, has caused that to happen among the drivers and fans. Replacing the every week trust most everyone has in the "what will happen, will happen" acceptance is a festering feeling of fear. And fester it does. Fear will kill faster than anything else on a racetrack or for that matter in any dangerous situation. Fear causes mistakes that kill. Fear causes hesitation that causes problems that can kill. Fear is insidious and unnerving. Focusing on the fears isn't helping the drivers focus at all. In fact, it's downright distracting in my opinion. Once it was considered best not to express the fears for fear they would actually come about. Negativity has a way of happening like bad luck! Sounds like a good policy to me as I write this praying for a safe weekend for all.
We profess trust in the Lord and then try to take control. We pray for safety we must trust in and then try to be absolutely sure when in the next moment anywhere, anyplace, doing anything, anyone could die. Life is just like that, a real unknown adventure. I've learned that God has a plan for everyone and we don't know and won't know when our time has come. It just happens and only the Lord knows. Everything and everyone serves a purpose, too. Maybe the situation is not completely understood by us immediately or even remotely obvious anytime soon, but I know everything and everyone serves a purpose. And it's very easy to be caught in others peoples lessons. However, living in fear robs everyone of the moment and creates the potential for self-fulfilling disasters based on that underlying fear.
A recent report about the autopsies had me wondering exactly what purpose that served for someone to criticize NASCAR for not requesting copies and further investigating the whole matter. NASCAR's reply was that what they needed to know was on the death certificates. Death certificates are final conclusions derived by professionals. Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin both died of the same type of head injury from the same impact caused by apparently the same problem of a stuck throttle. My initial reaction to exposing the gory details was that this is a private matter for the families. Autopsies are not pretty and the reports are more information than most desire to know or are able to stomach. I know this personally after dealing with the autopsy reports on my brother's death. I'm very grateful no one else wanted to know all the details as I am sure the Petty's and the Irwin's would be grateful if everyone would let their sons' rest in peace, finally. If something were truly amiss or anyone's fault, doesn't it make sense to think the families would seek the solutions first? Fear motivates the multitude of speculation from everyone else.
Legal tug of wars such as that between the Loudon police department and NASCAR isn't benefitting anyone either. No crime has been committed. No one caused these tragedies to happen with any malicious intent. For what reason do the police need to be involved? Death is a part of Nascar's history and will continue to be as long as humans choose to race. Have we become so soft and sensitive that we've lost sight of the painful side of the sport we all enjoy? Common sense dictates that if safety can be improved (H.A.N.S., throttle controls, kill switches) then by all means explore all the options and seek viable solutions. Everyone needs to keep their senses about them in this matter, though. Based on the hyper-extension injuries that killed both drivers on impact, many questions arise that I've no doubt were answered somehow. Questions surely arose about the helmets conditions and potential defects in manufacturing. Were the headstraps properly secured? Were the harnesses properly tightened? Of course, we believe all these things were correct. The impact was just too much for their bodies to withstand caused by a stuck throttle condition in a mechanical vehicle they happily chose to be in. But fear that it could happen again creates mega-speculation and even accusations of not doing enough. As though enough could ever be done to prevent the inevitable if that time had come.
Racing is full of as many risks as it is full of sheer joys. Safety measures are built in and the focus for everyone needs to be on making sure all those safety measures are in excellent condition. Then, all that is left is trusting the Almighty for a safe outcome and accepting those outcomes. Trusting in the Almighty is living the gift of life He gives us every moment. Fearing the potential loss ultimately robs everyone. Just maybe now, the pre-race prayers will take on a deeper meaning and not just be a routine habit.
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