{"id":27937,"date":"2016-06-10T14:45:05","date_gmt":"2016-06-10T21:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=27937"},"modified":"2016-06-13T13:04:36","modified_gmt":"2016-06-13T20:04:36","slug":"latest-racing-death-once-again-serves-as-grim-reminder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/latest-racing-death-once-again-serves-as-grim-reminder\/","title":{"rendered":"Latest Racing Death Once Again Serves As Grim Reminder"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 658px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-version=\"7\">\n<div style=\"padding: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"line-height: 0; margin-top: 40px; padding: 26.1858% 0px; width: 100%; background: #f8f8f8;\"><\/div>\n<p style=\"margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;\"><a style=\"color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BGRCYKLPN8W\/\" target=\"_blank\">The paddock gathers for a minute&#8217;s silence in memory of Luis Salom. #CatalanGP<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;\">A photo posted by MotoGP (@motogp) on <time style=\"font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;\" datetime=\"2016-06-05T08:32:28+00:00\">Jun 5, 2016 at 1:32am PDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\" async=\"\" defer=\"defer\"><\/script><br \/>\nAs a society, we oftentimes take things for granted too much.<\/p>\n<p>Oftentimes, things come too easy, too early and for too long for many of us.<\/p>\n<p>And then we\u2019re hit with tragedy and our world spins out of control for a while.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I mention all this because of the recent fatal crash by Moto2 rider Luis Salom. I barely knew of Salom, as motorcycle racing is not something I follow closely.<\/p>\n<p><strong>See Also:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.motogp.com\/en\/tribute-luis-salom\">MotoGP Pays Tribute to Salom<\/a><\/p>\n<p>However, in the bigger picture, Salom joins so many other racers that have lost their lives while pursuing their passion on either two or four wheels.<\/p>\n<p>We saw the same thing happen last year when F1 driver Jules Bianchi died from injuries suffered in the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, or when Justin Wilson was killed at Pocono in the Verizon IndyCar Series race there.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_27939\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-27939\" style=\"width: 638px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"27939\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/latest-racing-death-once-again-serves-as-grim-reminder\/39-salom_20150217193710_2-gallery_full_top_md\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/39-salom_20150217193710_2.gallery_full_top_md.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1024,576\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"39-salom_20150217193710_2.gallery_full_top_md\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Luis Salom. Photo courtesy of MotoGP.com&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/39-salom_20150217193710_2.gallery_full_top_md-300x169.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/39-salom_20150217193710_2.gallery_full_top_md-1024x576.jpg\" class=\"size-large wp-image-27939\" src=\"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/39-salom_20150217193710_2.gallery_full_top_md-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Luis Salom\" width=\"638\" height=\"359\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/39-salom_20150217193710_2.gallery_full_top_md.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/39-salom_20150217193710_2.gallery_full_top_md-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/39-salom_20150217193710_2.gallery_full_top_md-308x173.jpg 308w, https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/39-salom_20150217193710_2.gallery_full_top_md-678x381.jpg 678w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 638px) 100vw, 638px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-27939\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Luis Salom. Photo courtesy of MotoGP.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>And the list extends to dozens, if not hundreds of racers over the years, including NASCAR\u2019s Dale Earnhardt, NHRA\u2019s Scott Kalitta and so many more.<\/p>\n<p>That is particularly impactful in the lower categories of motorsports, particularly the sportsman ranks, where we\u2019ve seen so many amateur racers lose their lives \u2013 and yet their tragedies have barely made local news in their respective areas, let alone making national news.<\/p>\n<p>I did some very loose and limited research last year for a story I was working on and came up with six fatalities in just a period of a few months. The majority of those deaths were racers, but it also included track workers and even amateurs making their first attempt behind a wheel.<\/p>\n<p>My point in all this is that while racing is still very safe, and it is arguably safer than it has ever been, it will never \u2013 ever \u2013 be completely 100 percent risk-free.<\/p>\n<p>Even with all the state of the art safety enhancements that have burst on the scene over the last 15 years since Earnhardt was killed, death or serious injury always has the potential to be around the next turn.<\/p>\n<p>You can have the most skilled driver behind the wheel and he can just as easily become the next victim of the Grim Reaper. All it takes is for that same driver to make a rare and uncharacteristic mistake, or another driver makes a mistake, and somebody sadly perishes, much like Salom did a week ago.<\/p>\n<p>While I\u2019m relieved that we haven\u2019t seen any deaths in major NASCAR competition in the last 15 years since Earnhardt\u2019s passing, and there haven\u2019t been any since Kalitta was killed at Englishtown, New Jersey eight years ago (June 21, 2008), it doesn\u2019t mean we should grow complacent.<\/p>\n<p>There are still several races each year that I hold my breath at where things have the potential to quickly spin out of control, fearing the worse but hoping for the best. There\u2019s Talladega in NASCAR. There\u2019s last year\u2019s IndyCar race at Fontana. There\u2019s virtually every NHRA race \u2013 just look at how Jack Beckman incredibly survived the explosion of his Funny Car last weekend in New Hampshire.<\/p>\n<p>Thankfully, everybody typically walks away. But not always. Bianchi, Wilson and Salom are among the most recent victims that speak to that.<\/p>\n<p>And as much as I\u2019d like to wish they were the last victims we\u2019ll ever have in racing, I know that\u2019s just not the case.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, let\u2019s hope that all motorsports series \u2013 from F1 to NASCAR to NHRA to IndyCar and all the way down to the smallest grassroots entities \u2013 never, ever stop thinking about safety and continue working at ways to further improve safety for everyone: drivers, track officials and fans.<\/p>\n<p>We owe all that not only to those who race today, tomorrow and in the future, but also owe it to the memory of those who tragically died doing what they love.<\/p>\n<p>Their lives and deaths should never be forgotten.<\/p>\n<p>Follow me on Twitter <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JerryBonkowski\">@JerryBonkowski<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>The death of Moto2 racer Luis Salom last week is a grim reminder that in spite of the safety protocols in place, racing still remains a dangerous sport.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":27938,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17,3470],"tags":[4578,4008,3384,4579,4581,4580,4314,4576,1632,4577,3723],"class_list":["post-27937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-column","category-news","tag-dale-earnhardt","tag-guest-column","tag-jerry-bonkowski","tag-luis-salom","tag-moto2","tag-motogp","tag-motorcycle-racing","tag-race-related-deaths","tag-racing","tag-racing-accidents","tag-scott-kalitta"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Luis-Salom-Feature.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-7gB","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27937"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27937\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27996,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27937\/revisions\/27996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}