Who Is To Judge The Risks That Are Taken?

For some time now, I have had this thought in my head for all those who want to get interested in racing: If you watch racing long enough and across many different disciplines you will watch someone die. Now, are you ok with that?

It seems like a dark, hollow thought but its true. Death will always be there in racing and if can't stomach watching wives become widows and parents burying their young, maybe you should find something else to follow.

Tony Stewart pushes the limits of life and death in a race car just as much, if not more because the vast array of cars he isn't afraid to jump in in a given week. From the high-banked mile and a half ovals that litter the NASCAR schedule to the dirt ovals found in small towns all across the midwest, there is and has always been a chance that the man who first completed the USAC Triple Crown will be their, helmet in hand ready to race. But when you show up, helmet in hand ready to race, regardless of it's a NASCAR Sprint Cup car or a 360 winged-sprint, a driver is going face-to-face with the risks that come with racing. Monday night, Tony Stewart suffered a broken leg in an accident in a 360 winged-sprint car at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa. And now, all fire and brimstone that is the media is raining down on the three-time NASCAR Cup Champion.

Now the hindsight question of whether Stewart should have been out racing or not fills the internet with every point of view from the great AJ Foyt supporting the racer that Stewart is to David Newton of ESPN who, depending on how you read it, is giving Stewart the motherly "I told you so" treatment. Foyt gives the carpe diem view that life could end at any moment and since we don't know what could happen, we should live life and what happens happens. Newton on the other hand believes Stewart should not have been taking the risk because of all he is in charge of a multi-million dollar NASCAR team that employs hundreds of people.

Racing and the men and women who compete in racing are risk takers. They never back down and never will. It's not just drivers, team owners have put themselves in harms way when they don't have to on multiple occasions.

Why wasn't Newton yelling at Jack Roush to stop flying airplanes when he crashed... twice, putting his life in danger both times? Doesn't he also run a multi-million dollar NASCAR that employs hundreds of people? What's the difference from Stewart? Or why doesn't Newton yell at the many drivers (such as Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle) who fly their own private jets from race to race when they could avoid that risk and fly commercial? Don't they have the same responsibilities to  their sponsor as Stewart does?

Why isn't Newton yelling at Kyle Larson, who was racing in the race Stewart got hurt in? Doesn't he have a responsibility to Ganassi Racing as an development driver and currently drives for Turner Scott Motorsports? Couldn't he have been just as easily hurt as Stewart?

Why doesn't Newton yell at Richard Childress for going hunting where, God forbid, he or whoever he is hunting with could be gravely hurt accidentally? Doesn't he own a multi-million dollar NASCAR team that employs hundreds?

Why wasn't Newton yelling at Gene Haas to simply pay his taxes when he was under investigation for tax fraud? He owned a multi-million dollar NASCAR team that employed hundreds. Heck, if it wasn't for Stewart, the Haas name probably isn't in NASCAR today and who knows what would have happened to those employed by Haas prior to Stewart's involvement.

And finally, why didn't Newton cry foul when Alan Kulwicki and Davey Allison lost their lives in private aviation accidents? Kulwicki didn't have to take a flight that Thursday night from Knoxville, Tennessee to Bristol. They are only a two hour drive or so apart. Kulwicki could have easily driven or been driven back and forth and he may not have lost his life that night and be running a race team, just like Stewart. At the same time, Allison didn't have to fly from Hueytown, Alabama to Talladega Superspeedway. They are only a little over an hour apart. The same as Kulwicki, he could have driven or been driven to the track. We'll never know what would have happen to Kulwicki or Allison had they decided to drive.

But even when avoiding the skies for being on a motorway is no safe bet. Twenty years ago, Croatian basketball star Dražen Petrović, the first European ever to be named to an All-NBA team, choose not to fly from Frankfurt to Zagreb with his Croatian teammates but drive with his girlfriend. Somewhere outside of Inglostadt, Bavaria, Germany, a semi truck broke through the median on the autobahn, struck the car carrying a sleeping Petrović in the passenger seat and killed the up-and-coming star. No one could have seen Petrović was going to be in more danger on the roads than in the air. Had the car Petrović was in was just a minute further up the autobahn or a minutes further back or if Petrović had just flown with his teammates, he may still be here today. We'll never know.

Life has it's risks. We try to limit them as much as possible. They are unavoidable though even in what seems to be safe choices. It's not like Stewart is going out and racing sprint cars with out seat belts or a HANS device or a fire suit and looking to escape death living on the edge. Stewart is taking all the steps he can to be as safe as possible when he is racing in a sprint car. According to Newton, Stewart told him his sprint car is eighty pounds heavier than most with the full-containment seat he uses. What else could Stewart have done to avoid injury? Besides not racing?

Stewart could have been hurt this weekend at Watkins Glen. What would Newton and the rest of the media be writing then? Would they still be critical or would it be alright that Stewart got hurt because he was driving in a NASCAR Sprint Cup race?

What if Kasey Kahne or Kyle Busch gets hurts in the Nationwide on Saturday? Would they be saying they were taking an unnecessary risk or does that all change because of they are driving with sponsors who spent a fair share of money to be on the car and the race is on a big cable channel such as ESPN?

What happens if Marcos Ambrose gets hurt in the Nationwide race after Watkins Glen at Mid-Ohio when there is a Cup race the following day at Michigan?

And how does the media judge what is and what is not an unnecessary risk and is it fair that they judge what others do? I can't wait for the media to send out their list of risks a driver is allowed to take and risks they are not allowed to take because they are all powerful.

I, for one, don't want to see anyone get hurt or killed but I don't want to force others to live in bubble wrap. Drivers (just like any other human being) should be given the freedom to do what they want. Racing sprint cars is not the most harmful thing Tony Stewart could be doing in his free time between NASCAR Sprint Cup races. Look at what the Whittington brother, Randy Lanier and Aaron Fike were doing in their free time and now tell me Stewart was doing something wrong. I, for one, am glad Stewart was racing sprint cars and not engaging in the illegal activities those other six took part in.

Stewart knew the risks he took. He's now living with it. Telling him "I told you so" won't heal his leg or get him back in a Cup car any sooner. Let's be thankful it wasn't worse. Now Max Papis gets an amazing shot to do the same thing Tony Stewart would have been doing this Sunday, get a win for the #14 Mobil 1 Chevrolet and Stewart Haas Racing.

Or should Papis not be in the car because he shouldn't risk his championship chance in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series with Jeff Segal? Why isn't anyone giving Max Papis a hard time for that?