No one under 16 will be allowed in the pits at Orlando SpeedWorld for the Sprint/Midget show. This is their rules for the event.
Thank you - Jane
I knew I liked the PRI guys…
This is a rule I can agree with whole heartedly.
Bravo PRI and OSW.
I’m sure there are quite a few 12 year old rich kids,with the double-stacker full of Legends cars that are gonna be awful upset about this!
There’s a rule that should be in place at EVERY track nationwide!
In New Jersey, I don’t believe you’re allowed to drive a full-szed racecar until you are 18. At least according to Martin Truex Jr. It goes to prove that you don’t have to have your kid in a racecar at 12 years old to eventually make it to the big time.
Last year Fred Brownfield (Owner & President of the National Sprint Tour) was killed in a pit accident. He had been in racing for many years as a driver & track promoter. It can happen to anyone…
About ten years ago I almost got taken out at Volusia during Speedweeks by a UMP modified that came into the pits HOT!..We’ve taught my 13 yr. old nephew to stay near trailers and always be on the lookout for cars. And don’t get caught standing in one spot too long!
When you have a tight pit area like OSW for a show like PRI, the age limit is a good idea.
That’s my point Haudfan… it IS a dangerous place to be, even for the older and experienced. There are very few kids under 16 that are actually helping on the racecar… they are usually gabbing on the cell phone, racing around on Dad’s 4-wheeler, or distracted in one way or another. It’s not a playground or a day-care center in there.
There are some exceptions, as I’ve seen some very well behaved kids in there… they are not the one’s who are the problem. But next time you’re in a crowded pit area, look around at what some of these kids are doing. For that matter, look around and see if their parents are even paying attention to what their kids are doing.
If Fred Brownfield can get killed in there, can you imagine how tragic it would be if that happened to some 6 or 8 year old kid?
Last year, a Mother and her 2 kids were hit by a racecar while they were standing on their own trailer. Luckily, none were killed.
It’s good to know that there is a series out that has the cahonees to set an age limit for the pits. Am I the only one out here that believes that age limits should be set for the upper divisions of stock car racing or are we as a racing community going to ignor the obvious until a tragedy occurs at one of our local tracks involving a minor behind the wheel of one of these heavy,high powered race cars? Promoters,track owners, car owners, drivers, and fans what do you say about this subject. Lets band together and prevent this from happening to someones son or daughter before it’s to late!
I agree 100%. But with tracks being “back-gate” driven, we won’t get anyone to listen.
If you take your 6 year old to the grandstands, they let them in free. If the same kid goes through the back gate, it’s $25.
As for the drivers, there are so many kids with rich parents that will pay any price for their kid to be the “next Jeff Gordon”, there will always be at least 1 track that’s willing to take their money.
Florida set a terrible precedent when they allowed first Sport Allen, and then Jeff Gordon to drive Sprint cars at 13 years of age. Gordon’s whole family moved from California to Indiana because he would have needed to be 16 to race in CA. The floodgates were opened, and now it’s down to 8 years old that can race a full-sized car.
I’ve said it all along… when some 8 year old gets killed in a racecar, the entire country is gonna say “What the HELL were you thinking?”
One accident like that will change the entire face of racing in this state. It needs to be shut down NOW, before the State of Florida does it for us!
It’s coming…have no doubt.
That day will be upon us very soon, methinks…(that was for you Mark)(lol)
And when it does, the first person the parent will blame(after the driver of the offending race car, of course) will be the track. And then their lawyer will go after any pocket deemed deep enough that was in attendance at that fateful race.
SOMEONE will need to pony up some serious dough to assuage the parent’s shattered dreams for their prodigious offspring. SOMEONE will need to pay for their carelessness and total ignorance of parental responsability and common sense. HOW could this tragic accident have happened? We were ALWAYS in complete control of our kids and knew their whereabouts every minute they were in the pits. We ALWAYS made sure he turned off the Playstation while driving his buddies around the pits in one of the team’s golf carts.
And to think for his 12th birthday we were going to buy him a Pro Cup car…now we’ll never know if he was going to be the next Joe Shlobotnik, or not.
Yeah…right.
SOMEONE will be looking for a new racetrack whose insurance provider didn’t get wind of the other track’s lawsuit woes.
That SOMEONE is the rest of us.
OJ
Just like Frasson said, I see kids on dad’s 4-wheeler “racing” through the pits and are the parents paying attention? Heck NO! I’m more worried about the kids on 4-wheelers hitting me than a race car…I’ve learned to error on the side of safety. I applaud the decision to have an age limit in the pits…However, I wonder if they checked their driver roster before they set the age limit? Hmmmmm.
Just a side note on the age of drivers these days all thinking they are the “Next Jeff Gordon.” Coleman Gullick drove an ASCS sprint car during Speedweeks this year at the age of 14 I believe. Before he was allowed to run with the ASCS he had to be emancipated from his parents. So this one went throught the legal system. I give the kid credit he didn’t do a bad job. And Bryan Clausen had his driver development deal with Chip Ganassi at 15 or 16.
Counting down the hours to PRI tonight!
Keep the little kids in karts, moto cross, BMX, Bandeleros and 1/4 midgets. There is plenty for them to race that is not a full sized car.
Thanks Jans. That’s the way it should be. It’s safer.
How do you solve the problem of tracks being “back gate driven”? Haven’t they always been that away? 
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To KPRacefan… in a one word answer… NOPE!
At one time, and for MANY decades, the drivers got in for a fair price (although it was always higher than the front gate). The drivers weren’t nickle and dimed to death to put on the show that people were willing to pay to see. A whole bunch of drivers were able to afford to come to the racetrack, come SOMEWHERE close to even, and come out to the next track, next night. Maybe even MAKE enough money to buy a right rear tire, or enough gas for the tow vehicle to make it to the next place.
The racing world is different now… sucks, but it’s true. Most teams can only afford a few times a month, instead of a few times per weekend.
When there were a bunch of cars at every show, the tracks had something that the paying fan would faithfully come out to watch. Now, there’s not much of a show, and the tracks have to rely on the participants to pay the bill, when it used to be the other way around.
Like I said… sucks, but true!