August 17, 2007
By Allen Madding

Allen Madding

Since 9/11 race fans have been subjected to having their camera bags, purses, and any other carry-in items searched at the entrance of a racing event. Sometimes it is a slow long line process, but fans have patiently submitted with the understanding that it was all in the best interest of security. With all of the heightened security measures that have been undertaken since that fateful day, one has to wonder are we really more secure? Has overall safety and security been properly addressed?

With the event of a spectator successfully getting onto the racing surface and gaining access to Matt Kennseth’s race car during the red flag Sunday, I would submit we are not. What if this “fan” had decided he had a beef with one of the drivers and wanted to do something harmful to the driver to the car? He obviously had free access while all of the drivers sat belted in their cars without any real means of defense.

It does not take a rocket scientist to address security under a red-flag.

NASCAR and track officials made the decision where the cars would be parked under the red-flag. Why was track security and law enforcement not stationed to that section of the track when the cars were parked?

For years during college football games at the University of Florida, police on horseback surround the playing field at the end of a game to prevent anyone from getting any ideas about running onto the field. A few security officers mingled in between the parked cars under a red flag would serve to encourage “fans” from getting any ideas about making their way onto the track surface.

A few years ago, Sterling Marlin climbed from his race car under a red-flag at Daytona to fix a fender that had been bent during competition. There was no official around to prevent him from doing it. Finally, one of the officials in the pace car got out and walked back to address the situation. So NASCAR has had some time to consider addressing red-flags, but evidently not much has been done in this regard.

Dispatching security to the chosen area for parking the field under a red-flag at any NASCAR track would provide for increased security for the drivers as well as for the fan that has tailgated a little too long. NASCAR and the track operators need to give this event some careful thought. We were fortunate that the incident this past weekend was innocent. The implications of the incident carry grave consequences that should be addressed.

NASCAR dropped the ball at the Busch race in Canada two weekends ago and allowed the outcome of a race be determined by actions of a car and driver that were supposed to be out of competition and off of the race track.

This past weekend’s breach of security could have easily played into a change of the outcome of the race. It’s time to consider how to enforce rulings and improve on track security. The drivers and teams that compete in NASCAR events each week deserve to know that when they are on the track they are secure from unwanted guests in their cars and that they are not in jeopardy of losing an event to a disqualified car.

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.