Questions, questions, questions
By Liz Allison, Turner Sports Interactive
December 26, 2001
4:35 PM EST (2135 GMT)
COMMENTARY
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Liz Allison
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Throughout the year, I have received thousands of emails from NASCAR fans asking so many different questions. I thought it would be fun to give you answers to the most-asked questions of the year. Who knows -- you might have just been wondering about one of these subjects yourself.
1. The most frequently asked question, hands down, is: "How is Teresa Earnhardt?"
My response: I think she is doing very well under the circumstances. She has had an emotionally exhausting year, but has held up beautifully. She has fought hard to preserve Dale's image by working feverishly to prevent her husband's autopsy photos from being released.
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Teresa Earnhardt
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She continues to deal with the day-to-day business dealings of Dale Earnhardt Inc., something she did even before Dale's death. She is also a devoted mom to her thirteen-year-old daughter, Taylor, who keeps her very busy. Teresa has had to be strong to withstand the year that was put before her. I think she deserves a medal.
2. "Why have there been so many racing fatalities in the past two years?"
My response: I do not think that auto racing is necessarily more dangerous than it was a few years ago. We have to continue to remind ourselves that this sport is very dangerous. The drivers realize the risks every time they climb in the car, so we have to realize that too.
The sport of auto racing, unfortunately, has lost more drivers than we would like to count over the course of many years, not just recently. We have lost greats in stock cars before the year 2000. I do feel, however, that there are some structural items that need to be looked into further. I also feel that NASCAR is doing just that with the newly-developed safety and research center in North Carolina.
I can only imagine that NASCAR racing will be as safe as it can possibly be with this new extension of NASCAR, but it still does not take all of the danger out of the sport, period.
3. A dream of many race fans is to be right in the middle of the action at the race track -- the garage area -- which brings us to this question: "How can I get pit passes and garage passes?"
My response: Sorry to say that these treasured pit passes are not for sale. The only way to get into the pits is to have some sort of race official (be it NASCAR, track or sponsors) add you to their guest lists or to be an invited guest for a guided pit tour that is set up through one of these entities. The drivers and crew members are also allowed to have invited guests for their friends or family. Sorry to give you the bad news but can you imagine if there was not a limit to the number of people in the pits? OUCH!
4. The following question is so funny to me because not everybody can get along, anywhere -- so there is your answer to this inquiry: "Do all the drivers really get along"?
My response: Again, of course not. They are human like the rest of us. However, most of the guys do get along quite well. They do try to leave the track incidents to the track and personal to the personal.
4b.This, by far, is the most hilarious question ever asked: "Do the wives ever duke it out when their husbands have an altercation on the race track"?
My response: Not that I have ever seen, but wouldn't that be something? Seriously now, these ladies are just that -- ladies. They, for the most part, stay out of the on-track situations.
However, in 1989 at Daytona, I did see a former Winston Cup driver's wife go after another driver that she felt treated her husband unfairly on the track. I will hold out on telling you her name, but she did have her NASCAR license pulled for a period of time to, let's just say, "cool off."
5. With the race season already so long and many new tracks still wanting to host a Winston Cup event, a popular question is: "Has NASCAR reached the max on its season's length"?
My response: I think that the schedule is grueling. I traveled the circuit for just half of the 2001 season and I was worn out -- not to mention that my children were ready to have Mom home.
These crewmembers and drivers are pulled to the limit, and I certainly feel that something will have to give, or we will see more drivers and crew members burning out. Another concern is the travel costs and how teams will manage to commit to a full race season with the economy as it is. If things do not change, we will likely see races without full fields.
There is no simple solution, though. Some feel that it would be best to drop the tracks that have two races a year to just one race; but these tracks have season ticket holders and sponsor obligations that would make it difficult to drop a race. Others feel that maybe the season should be stretched out over a longer period of time; but the season already lasts for nine months, not including tests sessions during January and February.
Then, there are tracks like Texas Motor Speedway still fighting to get a second date. When would that be, Christmas Day?
Bottom line: There is no easy solution and NASCAR will have to take all the options into consideration before they make any schedule changes. But I feel schedule changes are imminent at this point. Let's just hope the changes are for the better for all parties involved.
Okay, there you have it. The five most asked questions of the year. I have to admit my favorite was question 4B. I look forward to your e-mails every week. As long as you send them, I will keep on reading them and responding as much as I can.
NOTE: Liz Allison's column appears every Wednesday on NASCAR.com and the opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer. To reach Liz, you can contact her at liz.allison@turner.com.
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