By Jane Smith

After many weeks of being rained out, New Smyrna Speedway lucked out last night and got to race. To bad that what could have been a very good night for all, turned out to be not so good for one. What everyone calls "get you" happened last night and not because the driver was purposely taken out of a race like Aric was at Ocala last night but because of nameless messages on a message board and taking for granted that your fellow drivers wrote those messages.

The night started out really good with heats (2) in the Late Model division. But the second heat was in our Mini-Stock division which turned out to be very costly for a friend of mine. Because of what was said on the message board about this driver and his car, he came to the track according to a friend, "out to get everyone he thought said the remarks."

Whether he purposely took out this young driver, I cannot say. I was told that he could have lifted and given her room but chose not to. But in the end, she was taken to the hospital with a broken right wrist, something a high school student does not need the weekend before school starts. So needless to say that when it came time for the Mini-Stock feature race, instead of watching the race, many were watching to see if this driver did take out the rest. Luckily, nothing happened but this is exactly why posting on a message board under some fake name causes trouble.

As for what happened at Ocala and the #14 SARA Modified, I can only read what you do. But I have met Aric and his family and I have never seen Aric drive dirty and make someone want to take him out. If he was put into the wall on purpose and a member of his crew (which is usually family) came out to his defense and was arrested, I can only say that I would have probably done the same thing. Aric is only 14 or 15 and yet can drive just as good or better than the older drivers. But to see him purposely put into the wall, I think I would be fighting mad also.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me" does not always hold true especially when it involves racers and their cars. Next time someone wants to post something negative about a driver, try and think about who will pay for this post. Hopefully not someone who when they do post, does use their own name.

Jane Smith

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