It all happened with less than a dozen laps to go Sunday evening in the 61st running of the Daytona 500. In a period of 6 short seconds, 19 (of the original 40) racing cars locked up in a spectacular multi-car crash. Given that the cars in question had been zipping around the track all afternoon at speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour, the truly amazing thing is that every single driver walked away relatively unscathed!
This crash was then followed by yet another one with only four laps left in which another seven cars were crunched up pretty bad! That crash, in turn, was followed by yet a third multi-car crash involving eight more vehicles with just two laps remaining!
Amazingly, all of this had come after two earlier crashes with less than twenty laps to go in the race. As one announcer put it, after five crashes and two red flags stopping the race, it was beginning to look as if the one car with the best chance of winning was the pace car itself!
Of course, NASCAR works hard to keep the sport of auto racing as safe as possible. Layer upon layer of safety precautions have been put into place over the years, helping as much as possible to insure the safety of the drivers, crews, media, and spectators. Just a look inside the vehicles shows how much safety gear has been introduced.
Moreover, all drivers involved in the crash are now required to have an immediate checkup in the medical area. Unlike what happened in 1979 when the final lap crash resulted not in immediate medical checkups, but rather a fist fight between drivers! In any event, kudos to NASCAR for all their efforts in this regard! Needless to say, safety has greatly improved since the days of “Fireball” Roberts.
Of course, these days, mini cameras showing the perspectives of each of the drivers have also been installed within the race cars. This allows for live streaming as well as instant replays of the action as it unfolds in real time.
As I sat watching these various replays from the interior of each of the cars involved in the two crashes, I could not help but notice one other thing working in the drivers’ favor even as the crashes were unfolding. Each driver has a built-in headset inside his or her helmet. This allows for constant communication with a spotter up above. According to Wikipedia:
A spotter in auto racing is a trained team member whose job is to relay information to their driver, keeping them alert of what is occurring on the track. They are typically positioned higher, atop one of the grandstands or other support buildings, to see the entire track. Spotters keep in constant contact with their drivers via two-way radio communication. Spotters are considered the drivers' "eyes" and are one of the more notable yet simple, safety measures adopted by professional auto racing in the past two decades.
Even as the crashes were unfolding, each driver on the track was in constant communication with his respective spotter up above, who was in turn giving him a constant supply of instructions as to which way was best to proceed, what particular path was open, how best to navigate the carnage all around them, etc…
And in this simple process one can see the illustration of a Biblical principle. As we navigate the roads of life, we sometimes find ourselves in tight spots and/or difficult straights. When these times come, with our own perspective so limited, we also find ourselves in dire need of direction from up above. Whenever this happens, true to His Word, our God (Who faithfully watches over us from above) speaks to us and gives us the guidance we so desperately need.
In Psalm 32, verse 8, the Lord gives us this promise: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”
The reason I know the promise He has made here is true is because I have experienced the gentle nudging of God in my own life in just such times of trouble. So have many of the people I know. One and all, their testimony and mine is that we have each acknowledged the Lord, and He has faithfully directed our path! He will do the same for you. That is His promise.
SOURCES:
NEWS ARTICLES:
https://amp.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article226406580.html;
https://jalopnik.com/massive-daytona-500-crash-takes-out-half-of-the-field-1832690471/amp.
SPOTTER ARTICLE:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotter_(auto_racing).
SCRIPTURE PASSAGES:
https://biblehub.com/psalms/32-8.htm;
https://biblehub.com/context/proverbs/3-5.htm.
This crash was then followed by yet another one with only four laps left in which another seven cars were crunched up pretty bad! That crash, in turn, was followed by yet a third multi-car crash involving eight more vehicles with just two laps remaining!
Amazingly, all of this had come after two earlier crashes with less than twenty laps to go in the race. As one announcer put it, after five crashes and two red flags stopping the race, it was beginning to look as if the one car with the best chance of winning was the pace car itself!
Of course, NASCAR works hard to keep the sport of auto racing as safe as possible. Layer upon layer of safety precautions have been put into place over the years, helping as much as possible to insure the safety of the drivers, crews, media, and spectators. Just a look inside the vehicles shows how much safety gear has been introduced.
Moreover, all drivers involved in the crash are now required to have an immediate checkup in the medical area. Unlike what happened in 1979 when the final lap crash resulted not in immediate medical checkups, but rather a fist fight between drivers! In any event, kudos to NASCAR for all their efforts in this regard! Needless to say, safety has greatly improved since the days of “Fireball” Roberts.
Of course, these days, mini cameras showing the perspectives of each of the drivers have also been installed within the race cars. This allows for live streaming as well as instant replays of the action as it unfolds in real time.
As I sat watching these various replays from the interior of each of the cars involved in the two crashes, I could not help but notice one other thing working in the drivers’ favor even as the crashes were unfolding. Each driver has a built-in headset inside his or her helmet. This allows for constant communication with a spotter up above. According to Wikipedia:
A spotter in auto racing is a trained team member whose job is to relay information to their driver, keeping them alert of what is occurring on the track. They are typically positioned higher, atop one of the grandstands or other support buildings, to see the entire track. Spotters keep in constant contact with their drivers via two-way radio communication. Spotters are considered the drivers' "eyes" and are one of the more notable yet simple, safety measures adopted by professional auto racing in the past two decades.
Even as the crashes were unfolding, each driver on the track was in constant communication with his respective spotter up above, who was in turn giving him a constant supply of instructions as to which way was best to proceed, what particular path was open, how best to navigate the carnage all around them, etc…
And in this simple process one can see the illustration of a Biblical principle. As we navigate the roads of life, we sometimes find ourselves in tight spots and/or difficult straights. When these times come, with our own perspective so limited, we also find ourselves in dire need of direction from up above. Whenever this happens, true to His Word, our God (Who faithfully watches over us from above) speaks to us and gives us the guidance we so desperately need.
In Psalm 32, verse 8, the Lord gives us this promise: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”
The reason I know the promise He has made here is true is because I have experienced the gentle nudging of God in my own life in just such times of trouble. So have many of the people I know. One and all, their testimony and mine is that we have each acknowledged the Lord, and He has faithfully directed our path! He will do the same for you. That is His promise.
SOURCES:
NEWS ARTICLES:
https://amp.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article226406580.html;
https://jalopnik.com/massive-daytona-500-crash-takes-out-half-of-the-field-1832690471/amp.
SPOTTER ARTICLE:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotter_(auto_racing).
SCRIPTURE PASSAGES:
https://biblehub.com/psalms/32-8.htm;
https://biblehub.com/context/proverbs/3-5.htm.