DEBACLE AT DAYTONA.

By Peter M. DeLorenzo

Detroit. Denny Hamlin won the rain-postponed Daytona 500 on Monday evening, beating Ryan Blaney to the line by 0.014 seconds in overtime of the NASCAR Cup Series' premier event. It was Hamlin's third Daytona 500 win in the last five years and his second consecutive win in NASCAR's biggest race. But needless to say, that wasn't the story of the race. Ryan Newman's vicious crash while heading to the finish line was. As I'm writing this, the only thing we know about Ryan is that his injuries are serious but not life threatening, which indeed seems miraculous. (Ryan thankfully was released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon.)

I have railed against NASCAR's superspeedway stupidity for over a decade now, writing at least a dozen columns about the subject. And the fact that these allegedly "smart" racing people keep repeating the same reprehensible behavior hoping for a different result is just flabbergasting to me. As I've stated repeatedly, NASCAR plays Russian Roulette with its drivers every time they run at Daytona and Talladega. The fact that a driver hasn't been killed, or a car hasn't flown into the grandstands and mowed down hundreds of people is just pure luck. To make matters worse, the last fifteen laps of Monday night's Daytona 500 were an embarrassment and a fiasco, proving to everyone who bothered to tune in that NASCAR is a flat-out joke that doesn't deserve the attention it gets, even though that attention has been on an accelerating downward spiral for going on thirteen years now.

Stating the obvious, the sport of motor racing almost didn't survive after the disastrous crash of a racing car into the stands at the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans killed more than eighty people and injured hundreds. And in today's 24/7 Internet-driven environment, an accident of that scope would effectively shut down the sport indefinitely. Don't agree with my assessment? Care to find out? Yet here is NASCAR jeopardizing the future of the sport for the perverse edification of a minority of fans who relish the "Big One" and who can't wait for the next one to unfold. NASCAR even promotes the "Big One" in advertising, which is disgusting, despicable and beyond the pale. 

As you may have noticed in recent years, I have reduced our coverage of NASCAR dramatically. I still have the utmost respect for the drivers and the talented people on the teams, but I have zero respect for the powers that be in Daytona because they continue to play fast and loose with the lives of their drivers, their fans and with the very future of the sport. At this point and until further notice, NASCAR doesn't deserve the time of day.

And that's the High-Octane Truth for this week.