RIP Jason Leffler

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/NASCAR-Driver-in-Critical-After-Crash-at-Local-Speedway-211313661.html

 

Wow. RIP.

 

Was that a sprint car? I know he came up that way, but what in the world are you doing in one of those things once you've made it?

 

Lots of guys run small dirt tracks like that during the week. Tony Stewart, for one, is famous for just showing up and racing at random tracks. Kenny Wallace and Ken Schrader, too.

 

I was going to mention Stewart doing it. Part of the culture.

 

Yeah, but that doesn't make it smart.

 

It's a shitload different. As illustrated tonight. Tiger Woods isn't going to die playing a round on his day off.

And I wouldn't even consider flying a little recip helicopter at the local airport during my off time. Not even fucking close.

 

Tiger Woods also doesn't have to deal with the local yokels trying to prove they're better golfers by body-checking him into a tree. The big-time drivers probably get a lot of respect, but I wonder how often they have to deal with idiots trying to make a name for themselves.

That said, these guys are pros. They know what they're doing. It's just an unfortunate fact of life that stuff like this happens from time to time.

 

Jason didn't have a full-time NASCAR ride. Sprint cars WERE his full-time job now.

RIP, LefTurn.

 

I don't know. I think it happens in sprint car racing a lot more than it does in other forms of racing, even the so-called "lower" forms at the local dirt ring. If it isn't someone getting killed, it's someone more often getting maimed. I've covered a few of those myself. I saw Jay Drake's career end in a near-death wreck. Sprint car racing is extremely dangerous.

Leffler wasn't full-time, so he's an exception I suppose, but I'm surprised the teams and the sponsors let guys like Stewart, et al, race sprints. I would think it would be akin to a baseball team not allowing a player to play basketball in the off-season.

 

Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart both own sprint car teams. Stewart is his NASCAR team owner, so permission is not an issue for him.
However, I believe at one point he was restricted from doing as much sprint car racing when he drove for Joe Gibbs Racing, which is part of why he wanted to own his own team.
Stewart takes a racing vacation with his sprinter during the off week for NASCAR each summer.
Kyle Larson, the guy whose crash put his engine in the stands at Daytona, is a standout sprint-car racer as well. He's barred from racing wingless sprints after a crash at Eldora last year I believe.

Racing is what they love to do.