July 12, 2007
By Rebecca Gladden

Rebecca Gladden

When I sat down to write this week's column, I had in mind a story about the Tony Stewart - Denny Hamlin controversy that emerged from last weekend's Pepsi 400 race in Daytona.

But today is Tuesday and there is breaking news about a plane crash which killed two members of the NASCAR family and three people on the ground.

Somehow, the Stewart-Hamlin debate seems a little less important right now.

Dr. Bruce Kennedy, husband of ISC Motorsports President Lesa France Kennedy, and Michael Klemm, a senior captain with NASCAR Aviation, both lost their lives in the crash along with the three civilians on the ground, two of them children.

Ms. France Kennedy, a member of NASCAR's Board of Directors, is the sister of NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France. The two lost their father, longtime NASCAR Chairman Bill France, Jr., just five weeks ago.

They say NASCAR is more than a sport to its devoted fans, that it's truly a way of life.

As such, we all get caught up in the ongoing debates over on-track incidents and driver comparisons, cheating scandals and car configurations, rules changes and race officiating.

Whatever the topic du jour happens to be, race fans and media members are fired up to talk about it.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

But over the past week or so, various headlines have reminded us that the sport we love does not exist in a vacuum.

NASCAR's participants, like the rest of us, face life's inevitable ups and downs - births, death, trials and tribulations, successes and failures.

On Tuesday, the same day as the tragic plane crash, People.com posted a lovely photo story about Jeff Gordon with wife Ingrid and now three-week old baby Ella Sofia. "It's all I want to talk about now," gushed Gordon about his new role as daddy. "Just about babies, about kids."

But Gordon is still thinking about his fans - especially those facing their own life-and-death struggles. As reported in a South Carolina newspaper Sunday, Gordon sent a personal video message to a fan battling cancer. "Hi David," he said. "I hear you are a big fan of mine, and I really appreciate that. I also understand that you are going through a very difficult time right now. I just wanted to pass along, from this whole 24 Dupont Chevrolet team, and everybody here at Hendrick Motorsports, including myself, that we wish you all the best, and that we are behind you 100 percent. Thanks a lot."

Said David's brother Robert tearfully, "I couldn't tell Jeff Gordon what this means."

In other real-life news this week, NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Aaron Fike was arrested and jailed Saturday, charged with felony drug possession after heroin was allegedly found in his vehicle in the parking lot of the Kings Island amusement park outside Cincinnati.

Fike was released from jail on Tuesday and faces a preliminary court hearing on July 19th. David Green will be behind the wheel for Fike in the truck series this week.

As you can see, life goes on, and so does racing.

The Cup and Busch series will be in Chicago this week with the trucks running in Kentucky, and we'll all be there as usual - the fans cheering on some drivers and jeering at others, the media reporting the details and trying to make sense of it all.

For some folks, NASCAR is simply a healthy diversion from the stresses of every day life.

For others, it really is a way of life.

But regardless of your level of involvement, when you find yourself getting a little too caught up in the drama and the debate, the discussions and differences of opinion, it helps to remember the big picture.

Even if you're Tony Stewart or Denny Hamlin.

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.