(Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
No thanks to David Stremme's stellar driving abilities, Kasey Kahne overcame an incident early on and was able to keep himself on the the lead lap and get back up front. This was in part thanks to some great pit stops and good crew chiefing.
And that's where he was riding when the big one finally happened, and my emotions got involved.
Nevertheless, seeing it happen once is almost like seeing a ghost. You ask yourself, did I just see that? Did I see that right? Noooo!! And then, they play it again. And again. And again.
I missed it the moment it initially happened. Good thing for me they replayed it several hundred times, along with some callous commentary to go with it.
It was here that my husband tells me the severity of the accident and I look up to see them replaying it, but me only seeing it for the first time.
My emotions kick into high gear when after several minutes Kasey hasn't responded to Kole's questioning if he's OK. Kenny Francis chimes in and we are finally rewarded with a "that hurt" from Kasey, to which I respond with flowing tears.
Now a new emotion begins to emerge from me as I watch the post-accident coverage.
Anger.
I'm angry that the commentators aren't saying anything about those involved in the worst of the accidents, Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne. Are they OK? How badly are they injured? I really couldn't tell you because they had moved on to the Victory celebration only pausing from top five interviews long enough to show the accident again and again and to offer some ridiculous commentary to go along with it.
Even Darrel Waltrip had enough sense to be emotional, respectful and worried during the accident of the Daytona 500, that took our beloved Dale Sr. Is it unfair of me to ask the same thing of today's commentators?
I'm also angry at Kyle Busch.
I'm angry at him for making such a boneheaded move at such a critical point in the race. Why not just race him clean, door to door? Why the block? When does that EVER have the desired effect going those speeds?
Never.
My anger subsided at the poor doofus looking askew exiting his car to go on a manhunt for Tony Stewart. Why be mad at him? He just did what you would have done Shrub. He raced you fair and square. He didn't lift and kept the nose pointed at the finish line. All things you would have done were the roles reversed. After all that's just racin'.
Who would think to classify watching a NASCAR race as emotional? I guess for some it might not be, but for me, it really is.
Win, lose or draw. Angry, sad, happy or glad—that's NASCAR and that's why I love it!
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