This is the Statt Mann Baby. It’s time to Scatt a little bit.

The saddest part of Saturday’s Nationwide accident at Daytona is NASCAR’s belief that it wasn’t inevitable.

It’s easy to say after the fact that we’ll study everything to make sure our fans are safe. But after Geoff Bodine’s truck crash at Daytona in 2000, or the Carl Edward’s crash at Talladega in 2009 you’d have to believe Saturday or something worse was on the horizon.

Imagine how little change in trajectory it would take to get the entire car over the fence and into the crowd.
I’m not an expert in stock car engineering or racing safety but I know what I’ve seen and I can imagine what’s possible and it’s not pretty.

So, for NASCAR officials to have watched the last decade of their races and crashes and not done more to protect the fans in the stands approaches negligence.

I’m willing to admit I don’t know everything that’s going on behind the Green Curtain in Oz. But after watching the flights of Bodine in 2001 and Edwards in 2009 and get to Saturday? It’s just hard to imagine.

And I’m willing to admit that changes I’m unaware of kept Saturday from being worse. I read that there were changes in the fencing after the Edwards Talladega crash. I want to believe those changes helped Saturday.

But the fact that Saturday’s carnage is possible is inexcusable and unacceptable.

Peace.