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Tuesday, August 21 The price of success By Jonathan Baum ESPN.com Calls for safety. Calls for improvements. Criticisms of NASCAR. Public and media scrutiny. With a network TV deal and a season which began with the death of the sport's biggest star, the amount of focus placed on NASCAR and its response to Dale Earnhardt's death is not surprising. While some longtime race fans will simply say, "That's racin'," people newer to the sport might express their utter shock and disgust at a sport which regularly risks the lives of its participants. But they still watch. Kind of makes you think of one of those futuristic movies in which we find our hero in some gladiator situation, fighting for his life while the spectators cheer, bets are placed and this new social elite is amused. Exaggerated? Sure. But it makes this point: on some level, we still live in a barbaric society. And if people are dying in a sport which is incredibly exciting, anyway, people will watch. Only the most cynical would claim -- incorrectly, at that -- that NASCAR caters to this. There's nothing to indicate that NASCAR and other racing series have only moderate concern for the safety of its participants. There's an adage in marketing that any news is good news. Even a controversy -- a product recall, for example -- does wonders to get a company's name out there into the public consciousness. So despite calls for NASCAR reform, despite experts insisting the HANS device be made mandatory, drivers are basically at as much risk now as they were when Adam Petty died at Loudon last May. Or when Dale Earnhardt died at Daytona in February. And people are still watching. More people are watching, in fact. Here's a parallel: Ever order a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese Extra Value Meal from McDonald's? It's meal No. 4 at most of the golden arches. They're good. Of course, they have nearly 1,900 calories, just under 100 grams of fat and probably enough cholesterol to kill a small elephant on the spot. But people buy it. Because it tastes so good. Anyone who eats this food knows it's not healthy, but does it anyway. And that's their business. People can eat what they want. If it makes them sick, so be it. So then why is it not enough for us when drivers get in the car saying they know the risk? Saying they know it could end at any moment? It's their living -- safe or not -- and they are going to keep on keeping on? NASCAR, IRL, CART -- they are just providing a forum for these risk takers, not unlike McDonald's and Taco Bell. So why should we -- the public, the media, race fans -- get on NASCAR's case when people die? After all, drivers do know the risk. Because little kids don't sit in the parking lot by the drive-thru worshipping the guy who just super-sized his meal. Because burger wrappers and french fry boxes don't come with a sleek design and (generally) aren't available in cool, collectible 1/24 die cast form. Because a milk shake doesn't have the personality or aura of Dale Earnhardt, and a Frosty -- while very tasty -- doesn't quite have the appeal of a Brooke Gordon. Maybe it was OK when NASCAR was more of a regional sport. Kids growing up with it and around it had a better understanding of the risks involved. But as the sport becomes less regional and the fan base expands, NASCAR does have a greater responsibility to tweak its product -- something it is trying to do. "That's racin'" is no longer acceptable. In fact, it's hard to imagine that reply was ever an appropriate reply to a child's question which was surely posed time and again this past February. "Mom, Dad -- you know the guy whose poster is all over my room? The one who drives that cool black car that I like? The one whose hats and T-shirts are always on my Christmas list? You know that guy? Why did he die?" That's racin'? Auto racing is so tremendously exciting. The intensity. The nail-biting passes. It's become the favorite sport of a lot of kids. But years down the road, if those kids have kids who say they want to be race car drivers when they grow up because the sport is so exciting and so intense ... what will the answer be? "Sorry, Billy and Claire, racing cars is much too dangerous. "But here, have a Happy Meal."  Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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