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The perception of a 15-yr-old
From obsession
to contributor
By Dylan Knoop
It all started 10 years ago. I was five years old when my grandpa asked
me if I wanted to go to Eldora for the races with him. I said sure.
That’s how my obsession with racing got started and it started at
Eldora Speedway.
Many people see racing as a bunch of cars going in circles. They’re
kind of right. They do go in a circle basically but its much more than
that. 10 years ago when I first went to Eldora, I was 5. I saw things
like any other 5 year old back then. I saw it as a bunch of fast cars
going in a circle around a track a bunch of times and it was exciting
to me. As we age we see things differently. Racing isn’t just about
going in circles around a track for x number of laps. It involves years
of learning how to handle the car and how to repair it. Hand-eye
coordination is very important. If something happens in front of you,
you have to be prepared to do something and do it fast. The reflexes of
the drivers are very fast. NASCAR drivers are traveling at speeds of
200 mph. They have a split second to do something. Dirt racers aren’t
going as fast but they also have a split second to do something. That
split second could be the difference between life and death.
Racing is the same to me now as a 15 year old but I look at it
differently.
I see it as a rough sport that takes bravery and skill to participate
in. Its not just going in circles around a race track trying to see who
has the faster car on the track.
Racing is a very popular sport around the world. If you go out and ask
people if they like to watch racing on television, at least half of
them will say yes, and that half will say they don’t watch it for the
wrecks, it is a brutal sport, but for the excitement and to cheer for
their favorite driver.
Racing is a family oriented sport depending on what your family is
like. The race track that you go to can be somewhat focused on not only
the racing, but also the family. Owners of the tracks do their best to
keep things clean and family friendly. Many tracks are like this, but
most of the time you don’t even think about that, but only the racing.
How you see racing is up to you. Whether you see it as a bunch of cars
going in circles or as a sport that takes integrity and skill, you can
enjoy it no matter what.
Its not just something anybody can do. Nobody can just jump into a
stock car or any other type of race car and win everything. Maybe a win
at a couple tracks, but they will have no clue what they’re doing or
how to do it.
I’m 15 now and racing is very important to me. Eldora is what really
got me into racing and is the reason that I want to try to get into
racing some kind of race car. Hand-eye coordination and skill, bravery,
and smarts are all very important in a race and if someone gets out of
the zone of one of those, something could go terribly wrong. There have
been deaths in the history of racing during races.
Possibly the most remembered of them all was Dale Earnhardt Sr. His
crash at Daytona was a tragedy.
The roll cage and the seat belts, along with the seat and head gear
needed are all important to keep something like that happening again.
Think about what racing really is before the next time that you tell
someone that its just cars going around in a circle for an hour and a
half or how ever long the race lasts. Not many people are into racing
but then the people that are can understand it just as well as any
other racing fan.
Racing is a an intense sport. It could be considered an extreme sport
to some people. Extreme things do happen at a race track during,
between, before, and after the races. Danger and adrenaline are in the
drivers of these cars. Nothing can hold them back from hopping in the
car and racing it. Everyone sees things differently than others, but
everyone has their own opinion, and this is mine.
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