As the sport of off-road racing continues to struggle with a tragedy which killed eight and injured at least 12 others northeast of Los Angeles a few weeks ago, it is very possible that the sport may have to analyze itself as it relates to the competitors.
You see, it may be time for the sport to look deep into its rulebook relating to who is allowed to compete in a sport. Evidence of that is how easy it can be enter an event without first having to experience the sport.
Evidence of the flaw in the sport is that for the right money, an individual can either rent or purchase a vehicle for a single race. The practice is commonplace especially during a bad economy as competitors have found that renting is certainly much cheaper than investing in the purchase of a vehicle.
But the mere fact that virtually anyone can climb into a high-powered race vehicle with little or no experience is not only dangerous but frightening, too.
In fact even co-drivers can be dangerous additions to an off-road race vehicle as evidenced by what happened during one Mint 400 more than 30 years ago with legendary Indy 500 champion Parnelli Jones at the wheel.
As the story goes, Jones’s truck lost the rear springs early in the Mint 400 north of Las Vegas, so the suspension provided no cushion whatsoever. The constant beating finally led the co-driver to tell Jones that he thought he was suffering a heart attack.
No problem. Jones simply pulled off the track near hundreds of fans; opened the passenger door to the truck and left the co-driver lying in the desert with fans quick to supply water.
On one hand, the Parnelli Jones story is comical. However, it also illustrates the tenacity and toughness needed by both drivers and co-drivers in the sport of off-road racing which requires talent and a high level of physical fitness.
While the driver of the ill-fated truck in the Mojave Desert Racing event is undoubtedly suffering tremendously following the accident north of Los Angeles, there are countless others thankful that they weren’t the ones behind the wheel.
When you combine unruly fans with an element of alcohol and an out-of-control race vehicle where crowd control is weak at best, adding an inexperienced driver who just happened to rent the ride and you have an accident that could be repeated over and over again primarily because off-road racing is way to lax when it comes to requiring experience.
In the case of the Southern California accident, the driver was experienced. However, you can bet that the same race may have had several other drivers with little or no experience when it comes to understanding the terrain of the desert and the challenges it can present.
I speak from experience based on a press pre-run event from downtown Las Vegas to Reno.
While following professional off-road racers Walker Evans and Rod Hall somewhere south of Beatty, I thought I should turn on the gas considering that the two pros were pulling away from me and my co-rider Bobby Keyser who was an executive with Coors of Las Vegas.
Problem was that Evans and Hall had made a hard right-hand turn which I didn’t notice because of the dust in front of us. I went straight and suddenly discovered that Evans and Hall had made a right turn for good reason.
Our brand new Nissan truck went airborne before landing on its nose. I can still hear Keyser screaming obscenities as we hit nose-first even though it was more than 30 years ago. In fact every time I see Keyser he reminds me that I almost got both of us killed.
Simply put, I had no experience related to competing in an off-road racing event and didn’t understand the consequences. Luckily, we survived the hard landing although the Nissan truck was badly damaged.
Truth be known, I had no business trying to keep up with Hall and Evans. Had something happened to us, I would have never forgiven myself. But when you are involved in off-road racing, you stick your foot to the floor and hope nothing bad happens.
In our case, thank God nobody died and nobody got hurt, but I still think about the foolish judgment on my part more than 30 years ago. I can’t help but think about Brett Sloppy, the young man whose out-of-control truck killed eight and injured at least 12 in mid-August.
The potential for disaster is far-reaching in the sport of off-road racing. In Mexico, fans actually dig ditches across the track hoping to derail a vehicle, steal parts and leave the competitors in danger. It’s actually a form of terrorism.
The Southern Nevada Off-Road Enthusiasts, known as SNORE for more than 40 years, had its own issue a few years ago when two chase trucks collided during the Dusty Times 250 north of Las Vegas leaving one person dead and others injured.
This time it wasn’t fans along the course who were threatened. It was team members one leaving the pits and the other heading to the pits.
I was in the timing trailer when the accident took place and officials cringed hearing that someone had died. As the PR person for the event, I, too, felt the cloud which hung over the event.
SNORE had an injury to a fan at a closed course event at the old Las Vegas Speedrome, but never had the club faced such a tragic situation as the one on that day in Caliente north of Las Vegas.
Nobody wins when an accident takes place especially when people are killed or injured. Whether it is a press pre-run event from Las Vegas to Reno or an off-road event northeast of Los Angeles or north of Las Vegas, the consequences can be devastating.
