Safety is goal #1 in racing now days. It used to be winning is everything and how fast can we go, but like the world around it racing has become more socially responsible and so it is if you cannot do it safely you cannot do it at all? Not quite! In an inherently dangerous sport only so much can be done to improve safety, we do not race in protective bubbles though some would have it that way.
    The racing community has just lost one of it's champions, by now everyone knows of the loss of Indy Car Champion Dan Weldon. Like his father ' Clive' commented, and what all racers of any sort think: He left us doing what he loves.
    Rick Huesman, an off road racer, died on the same day along with his brother Jeff and their pilot in a plane crash. Another tragic loss to the racing community, another talented young man left the world way too early.
    So how do we console ourselves in the wake of such tragedies? The rumors and "facts" have been flying; 'It was the tracks fault...' I don't think so? With the advent of safety fences and safer barriers, surface preparation and maintenance , race tracks today are the "safest" any body has ever run on and they continue to improve! I am not even going to go into all the other thoughts, theories and plain ignorant rants that have been thrown out there. The fact is every man or woman that straps on a helmet knows that they are engaging in a life threatening activity, yet we do it any way. Why do we do it, because , Like Rick Huesman, we never know when our time will come. We can spend every day of our life wrapped in security only to have a tornado, or earthquake or fire or any number of other life ending occurrences happen and without notice we are gone.We can strap ourselves into these "machines of speed, performance and agility and defy death 5 days a week only to trip on a child's toy and be snuffed out by the corner of that Coffee table your mother -in-law bought for you! (I told you she was evil!) It matters not how long or short our lives are nor how or where they end, it matters only how we lived them when given the chance. Dan Wheldon, Jeff & Rick Huesman.....Sam Rogers....they were men who left the party early, but that is ok, they had their share of laughs and helped us to have ours while they were here!
    Yes, we will continue to work to improve safety in what ever version of motor-sports we choose to participate. We will continue to protect the spectators, the crews, the drivers and the track officials to the best of our abilities. We will continue to get faster and faster until we are melting paint off of the doors, then we will make better paint and continue on faster yet. . We will also continue to loose great people in this world, regardless of the life they lead or the games they play. Most importantly, we will continue! For in continuing we Honor those that have gone before us, we live for ourselves, and we prepare for those that will come after us.