The knee jerk reactions have already begun

HoneyBadger

HoneyBadger

I love short track racing (Taylor's Version)
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Saw this on Facebook:
I would like to see NASCAR tracks build a couple big buildings for fans, drivers and teams to take shelter when storms come through. What if a tornado came through the track yesterday at Pocono. There would be a bunch of people dead or hurt really bad. Just saying!
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There's plenty more where that came from. Within seconds of the word coming down about this tragedy, Jeff Gluck, proving he's becoming more unhinged by the second, came right out and basically blamed NASCAR for this.

Ultimately, it's up to the fans to keep safe. NASCAR didn't force them to sit in the stands. NASCAR didn't force them to show up despite the forecast for severe weather. The responsibility isn't on NASCAR.

This should remind us all that we should heed weather watches and warnings. The words "SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING" aren't words to be ignored.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
The words "SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING" aren't words to be ignored.
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That comment cuts both ways. NASCAR did. They held a race and enticed 100K people to gather and stay in the path of potential storms. MoeJoe's thread makes a bit more sense now. I'm not blaming NASCAR for the injuries and death, but perhaps they could use better judgement than running a race right into the arrival of those storms they were warned about.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Saw this on Facebook:


There's plenty more where that came from. Within seconds of the word coming down about this tragedy, Jeff Gluck, proving he's becoming more unhinged by the second, came right out and basically blamed NASCAR for this.

Ultimately, it's up to the fans to keep safe. NASCAR didn't force them to sit in the stands. NASCAR didn't force them to show up despite the forecast for severe weather. The responsibility isn't on NASCAR.

This should remind us all that we should heed weather watches and warnings. The words "SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING" aren't words to be ignored.
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Totally agree with you Andy. Nascar couldn't have done anything to prevent this. Seems people always want to blame somebody for what ever happens. It was an act of nature. As long as lightining and people exist, this will unfortunately happen. I live in Florida and I learned very quickly if it's lightining outside, your a*s better be inside or if your out find some cover. It's a shame soneone lost their life and I feel for the victims family. There's just no one to blame and nothing that could've have been done.
 
Nascar runs the race as close to the posted start time as it can . Surely they can't take every 'what if ' into consideration . I sat in my car at Bristol once in a rainstorm and went to my seat when it cleared .If it had been held the next day ,I would have missed it .
 
This tragedy most certainly could have been avoided as everyone - including Nascar - made a critical decision in the face of a dangerous, approaching storm.

I have no interest in assigning blame but this was avoidable.
 
FenderBumper said:
That comment cuts both ways. NASCAR did. They held a race and enticed 100K people to gather and stay in the path of potential storms. MoeJoe's thread makes a bit more sense now. I'm not blaming NASCAR for the injuries and death, but perhaps they could use better judgement than running a race right into the arrival of those storms they were warned about.
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I agree in part, NASCAR didn't show a lot of descretion here. But it's easy to say in hindsight that they should've red flagged it sooner and ended the race. Ultimately, the responsibility is in the hands of the individual.
 
To avoid the risk of lightning amusement parks shut everything down if bad weather is within so many miles. I don't know if that could or would ever be a rule with a Nascar race.
 
Stewart Fan said:
To avoid the risk of lightning amusement parks shut everything down if bad weather is within so many miles. I don't know if that could or would ever be a rule with a Nascar race.
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maybe we could just construct giant dome like buildings around the track that are translucent.
 
Stewart Fan said:
To avoid the risk of lightning amusement parks shut everything down if bad weather is within so many miles. I don't know if that could or would ever be a rule with a Nascar race.
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That's a tough call. You could have severe storms move in at 3pm, out by 4pm and return to racing by 5pm.

As for yesterday, NASCAR knew that was a race ending storm, that's why they ran 15 minutes under caution before throwing the red. If they knew they wouldn't go back to racing when that caution came out (and they did know that), they should thrown the red and told the fans to get the hell out. However, as I said before, the responsibility is the fans. NASCAR didn't strap them to the bleachers and force them to stay there at gunpoint.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
If it was about safety, NASCAR would have called it instantly instead of running 15 minutes of caution laps telling fans they were gonna go back to green.
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Huh? What are you talking about? The track tweeted at 4PM that there were dangerous storms in the area, but took no action to protect their fans. Did they even make an announcement over the PA? Tweeting about dangerous storms is a rediculous way to keep your fans safe. If lightening had hit the stands while people were in them, it would have been a disaster.
 
Matthew2470 said:
Everyone is an expert when given the benefit of hindsight.
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Exactly.

The thing that sickened me was Jeff Gluck tweeting, within SECONDS of the announcement coming down, that NASCAR should have avoided this. He's becoming more unhinged with each passing day. First, rooting for John Wes Townley to fail and then this.
 
FenderBumper said:
Huh? What are you talking about? The track tweeted at 4PM that there were dangerous storms in the area, but took no action to protect their fans. Did they even make an announcement over the PA? Tweeting about dangerous storms is a rediculous way to keep your fans safe. If lightening had hit the stands while people were in them, it would have been a disaster.
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Better watch you are going to be called a attacker soon.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Exactly.

The thing that sickened me was Jeff Gluck tweeting, within SECONDS of the announcement coming down, that NASCAR should have avoided this. He's becoming more unhinged with each passing day. First, rooting for John Wes Townley to fail and then this.
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I am beginning to wonder if NASCAR pulled his press credentials. He hasn't been at the track much since he published and ridiculed the rule book.
 
FenderBumper said:
Huh? What are you talking about? The track tweeted at 4PM that there were dangerous storms in the area, but took no action to protect their fans. Did they even make an announcement over the PA? Tweeting about dangerous storms is a rediculous way to keep your fans safe. If lightening had hit the stands while people were in them, it would have been a disaster.
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Dark skies and lightning aren't indicators enough to get out of Dodge? And yes, tracks communicate through smartphone apps and Twitter. That's how the Baltimore Grand Prix sent out alerts. We don't know if fans were told to leave over the PA system. And if elements of the media have an agenda to blame NASCAR and the track for this, they're not going to tell us one way or the other.
 
Stewart Fan said:
I know but we can learn from this. Maybe the race should be put under red and the fans evacuated if it's obvious sever weather is coming. Yes it would be a hassle but it's worth it if it keeps people from getting hurt.
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Exactly. It doesn't take hindsight to know that lightening and grandstands don't mix.

David Higdon, NASCAR's managing director of integrated marking communications, said he thought Pocono Raceway "acted appropriately" but conceded that it's a delicate balancing act when action continues on the track, even as fans are being advised of an approaching storm.

In this case, the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the Pocono Raceway area at 4:12 p.m., but the race was not called until 4:54 p.m.
"As far as the race is concerned, that is ultimately our call," Higdon said. "As for the facility and the fans, that ultimately is the responsibility of the promoter.
 
Stewart Fan said:
I know but we can learn from this. Maybe the race should be put under red and the fans evacuated if it's obvious sever weather is coming. Yes it would be a hassle but it's worth it if it keeps people from getting hurt.
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I agree. Maybe something NASCAR should consider in the future.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Dark skies and lightning aren't indicators enough to get out of Dodge? And yes, tracks communicate through smartphone apps and Twitter. That's how the Baltimore Grand Prix sent out alerts. We don't know if fans were told to leave over the PA system. And if elements of the media have an agenda to blame NASCAR and the track for this, they're not going to tell us one way or the other.
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Yes we do, because they race continued. Nobody was told to leave. You seem to think that fans should have said "I guess NASCAR thinks we're safe, because they still wants to run the race. I'll leave anyway". You want fans to be smart about safety, but NASCAR and the track owners get a free pass?
 
It is easy to jump on Andy for his comments yesterday, which at the time i agreed with, however how was the average tv viewer to know how bad the storm was. I dont remember ESPN stating it was bad, just that rain was on the way. Now i am not blaming ESPN, but sounds like ****** reporting to me. You think Nascar could have made a better decision yesterday if their tv network covering the race was breathing down their neck with how bad the weather was?
 
Stuff happens. It's all in the hands of the lawyers and insurance companies at this point. Go ahead and place blame if it makes you feel superior but it won't change anything. All that anyone can do is learn from it and move on.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
I'm not siding with anyone. From what I've read, the fan that was killed was standing out in the parking lot while the lightning was happening all around. Common sense should have told him you get inside. Why wasn't he and the others in their vehicles?
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To take it further it was said that he was leaning against the car that got struck by lightning.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
I'm not siding with anyone. From what I've read, the fan that was killed was standing out in the parking lot while the lightning was happening all around. Common sense should have told him you get inside. Why wasn't he and the others in their vehicles?
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To be fair, at some racetracks, it takes a half hour or more to get back to the parking lot. Blaming is unfair but NASCAR should look at having a contingency plan in place for the future. If this happened at Richmond, where it takes over a half hour to walk to some of the parking lots.....
 
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