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| Beating the Heat at an Auto Race | by Sharon Fancher
Whether you're a driver, crew member or spectator, you're putting your life at risk when you don't take appropriate precautions to "beat the heat" at the track. hen you're attending a race event, you're exposing yourself to four potentially serious problems, one of them life-threatening.
Sunburn, Dehydration, Heat exhaustion, and Heat stroke (life-threatening), all of these conditions can be prevented by taking appropriate precautions.
Sunburn:
You're a tough guy, right? Time to pull out a muscle shirt and show those biceps. Maybe work on the tan as well. And there's nothing like having the lady of your life draw admiring glances. If that's your philosophy, you're exposing yourself and the special people in your life to a painful sunburn.
Even though the dangers of exposure to the sun have received substantial media attention in the past years, many people disregard these warnings unless they plan to spend the day near the water.
And who needs to worry if the skies are cloudy? The facts are that you're in danger of sunburn whenever you're outdoors for an extended amount of time. You're especially at risk during the hours from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm, prime hours for auto racing activities.
Whenever you're going to be outdoors, take appropriate precautions.
Wear a hat and sunglasses. Wear loose-fitting clothing, preferably long pants and shirts with long sleeves.
Use sunscreen or sunblock with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15 on all exposed areas. This includes face, arms, neck, legs and feet.
Reapply the sunscreen or sunblock regularly. Every two hours is recommended.
Dehydration:
It's easy to become dehydrated at the track, especially when beverages are expensive.
Plus, who wants to leave a seat during a race to head to the bathrooms? You do, if you want to avoid becoming dehydrated.
As a rule of thumb, if you aren't heading to the bathroom every couple of hours, you're dehydrated. Make sure that you have a bottle of water with you at all times and take frequent sips.
If bottled water is expensive and you can't bring your own to the track, plan to purchase one bottle then fill it from water fountains.
While alcoholic beverages such as beer provide fluid, watch your consumption. On hot days it can be tempting to keep drinking cold beer.
Keep your personal limit in mind and supplement alcohol intake with water or other beverages.Sports beverages have become increasingly popular and are a good choice for fluid replacement.
Heat Exhaustion:
Heat exhaustion can affect anyone. It's often the result of strenuous exercise (walking to a seat in the stands can be strenuous!), dehydration and exposure to high temperatures. Unrecognized and untreated it can progress into heat stroke which is a life-threatening condition that requires immediate medical assistance.
If you start to feel tired and weak, get out of the sun and increase your fluid intake immediately. Don't think that you can "tough it out" until the race is over.
Heat Stroke (Life-threatening):
Heat stroke, also called sun stroke, is a life-threatening emergency. It cannot be stressed enough that this requires immediate medical attention! Heat stroke symptoms include headache, vertigo, and fatigue. The pulse is often rapid. Persons suffering heat stroke stop sweating and can lose consciousness.
Get help immediately if you suspect someone is suffering from heat stroke. This is a situation where it is far better to be safe then sorry. People die or can suffer permanent brain damage from heat stroke.
Your Track Survival Kit:
The night before you head to the track put together your survival kit. Since you're often leaving in a hurry and it's easy to forget these items:
Sunglasses (for children as well as adults), hat, sunscreen or sunblock, Water bottle (many fanny packs now include water bottle holders), Cell phone (call 911 in an emergency; they can contact the track emergency facilities),Medical identification for each person, including any medications being taken
With a little advance planning and awareness of these potential problems you can "beat the heat" and help ensure a fun day at the race track for everyone.
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| "Royal Rumble in Racing?" |
Never have I in the 13 plus years that I've been in
racing, have I seen so much confusion between the
drivers and fans. Racing is becoming a free for all
and someone is going to get hurt! It is getting
ridiculous, when you can't take your children to a
track on a Saturday night without having to witness
a "Royal Rumble".
I mean what is racing suppose to be?? I would like to
think if we wanted to see a boxing match or demolition
derby, we would seek a place that had that type of
entertainment and not in the stands or on the race
track. But come on, THIS IS STARTING TO GET WAY OUT
OF HAND.
An innocent bystander is usually the one who gets
hurt. God forbid if anyone does get hurt. But the
tempers raging and attitudes roaring out of control
as I've seen for several weeks now, the inevitable
is surely going to occur!
Racing is a dangerous sport and I'm sure everyone
involved is aware of that. But racers are making it
more dangerous than it has to be. All drivers want
to come home with the win but that isn't possible as
we all know. Once your hands get dirty with knowing
you injured or even killed someone, you'll not be
able to turn the clock back then.
Who wants to go home at the end of the night knowing
they are going to have to do some major repairs to
their car just because of stupidity? And that is what
alot of it boils down to. Being agressive is one thing,
but trying to win on the first lap is ridiculous.
Contact is going to be made on the track, but when you
get drivers who just have to leave their mark on half
the field you know something is wrong. If drivers are
not going to do some major attitude adjustments, I
think that's when these owners and promoters should
step up and take matters into their own hands.
When a driver takes revenge on another driver for an
accident in the real world, it's called ROAD RAGE.
Most people, however, are choosing to call it racing.
Secondly, to seek revenge for an incident of this
nature is not only inappropriate but it is childish.
Drivers who display this type of behavior are behaving
like a nine year old who can't accept the consequences
of their actions and blindly strike out at their
"enemy". Racing is a sport for drivers who are adults.
Drivers definitely should not be at the wheel of a
race car until they can mature.
Hopefully these owners and promotoers will take a
stand! After all, aren't they the ones' in control???
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or send a letter to the editor!
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