Driver reactions......

[Elwood]

From Yahoo Sports :

"Drivers react to NASCAR decision to cancel race

By JENNA FRYER

AP Sports Writer

September 13, 2001

 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- There's nothing Jeff Burton wanted to do more this weekend then pack his family up, head to New Hampshire and race.

Burton wanted NASCAR to stand tall in the face of terrorist attacks on New York and Washington and keep things as normal as possible.

The sanctioning body thought otherwise Thursday, postponing the race at New Hampshire International Speedway. Once the decision was made, Burton understood -- but didn't like it.

``It makes me mad, part of my emotions in this thing is that I want to make sure that the idiots that did this don't win,'' Burton said. ``With all the pain that they've caused, we've got to make sure they don't win and that's part of me wanting to get back to normalcy.

``I want to just shove that back into the face of these idiots and show them that we are resilient.''

The race, set to be run on Sunday, was rescheduled for Friday, Nov. 23, the day after Thanksgiving.

It was only the second non-weather postponement for NASCAR in its 53 years. The Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway was postponed from July until October in 1998 because of forest fires in central Florida.

``I know NASCAR's decision comes with a lot of careful evaluation of various interests, they had to consider fans, teams, tracks and a variety of other things in the decision,'' car owner Robert Yates said. ``I believe NASCAR has done the right thing.''

But NASCAR has traditionally been the one sport in which the show truly does go on.

Racing was not canceled last year when drivers Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin were killed in separate practice session crashes in New Hampshire, and the series didn't miss a beat following Dale Earnhardt's death in the season-opening Daytona 500.

But unlike those instances, when racing was a form of healing, many drivers believed on-track activity should be stopped out of respect for those injured and killed in the attacks.

``Once we knew what had happened and knew there were gonna be thousands killed in New York and Washington, I thought it should have been canceled,'' driver Jimmy Spencer said. ``I'm very lucky. We didn't lose any of my friends or family in that situation, but there are thousands of families that have been affected by this. I tip my hat to NASCAR for doing this because I think it's a compliment to the American people.''

The logistics of getting all the teams and crews to New Hampshire in time for the race played a slight role in NASCAR deciding to postpone the event. With drivers and car owners spread out all of the country and the availability of flights in limbo, transportation was an issue.

Burton said he and John Andretti had decided they would drive their families to the race, setting 6 p.m. Thursday as their departure time from Charlotte.

``If they hadn't opened up the airspace by six, we were gonna start driving,'' Burton said. ``Then I started thinking, 'That's just me, what about all of the fans and the people who wouldn't be able to get there?' So, logistically, it was certainly turning into a nightmare.''

Meanwhile, Jeremy Mayfield and Rusty Wallace decided to raise money for the victims of the attacks and urged other drivers to join them.

The Penske drivers said their teams will donate ? per driver for every lap completed at next weekend's event in Dover, Del., to the Disaster Relief Fund of the American Red Cross.

``That would be up to ?,000 between the two of us if we run as well as we are capable of running,'' Mayfield said.

Wallace said they hoped the other 41 drivers in the field would follow suit. The field combined to complete 13,470 laps at Dover last September, and at ? per lap it would pool ?,400.

``There is a lot that has been done and a lot still left to do, especially in Manhattan,'' Wallace said. ``A lot of people have been hurt. I'm sure a lot of those people were race fans but, even if they weren't, we need to show we care and do something to help.''

Andy Petree, owner of the Chevrolets driven by Joe Nemechek and Bobby Hamilton, said late Thursday he would match the fund-raising effort.

``I think its a great idea and we want to be involved,'' Petree said. ``This is an opportunity for the entire NASCAR community to do something, a grassroots thing from the race teams. We want to be a part of that and to give something back to our country.''  "

 

I really hope more teams than just Petree follow suit here.  This would be a wonderful way for NASCAR to help with this, and it could also lead to other sports following along and raising funds somehow too.

[Kansas Kid]

My thoughts are almost exactly with what Jeff Burton had to say.  The country is being shut down for the whole weekend, just giving the terrorists another victory.  I do understand that running on Sunday might have been hard to accomplish, but why not Monday?