Who doesn't love the juicy gossip of dirt track racing? Who doesn't love getting an inside look at when there's a scrum in the pits or on the track? Who doesn't love an overly emotional driver responding in the heat of the moment? Well, most people do and streaming providers are more than happy right now to oblige with this demand. However, this might not exactly be the best thing for the sport as another driver was caught on a hot mic describing their competitor using the "R" word last night at the Tulsa Shootout.
This was the second extremely noticeable event where a driver had done this in the last month as Ricky Thornton Jr. described Tyler Carpenter with less than appropriate/culturally sensitive wording. This happened when Ricky was waiting for a tow after being wrecked by erratic driving of Tyler Carpenter. All the while, the announcers and producers had to do the PR move of saying, "We're sorry for that." Ricky was quick to apologize to the fans for his behavior describing it as inappropriate and in the heat of the moment. However, the only person who took a hit throughout the entire ordeal was Ricky. The camera guy and interviewer weren't punished or viewed in a negative light by the fans, the producer, or the sponsors. No, it was only Ricky who had to apologize and had to worry about sponsor issues.
Fast forward to last night's race, where one of the tow vehicles pulled away with a driver and the car, a crew guy ran up and started cussing out the driver. Naturally, the driver started arguing back and the live cam/hot mic picked up the driver calling the pit guy an f'ing "R" word. Once, again the announcers did the same old song and dance and stated, "We're sorry for that." Again, the villain is the driver and the camera guy gets a pass for shoving a camera in a bad situation with an angry driver. From this situation there was a fight in the pits where again there was a camera being shoved in angry peoples faces. During the fight at some point the camera was jostled and fed was broken. At this point the producer and announcers were upset about the camera losing feed in the middle of the action. Yet, at the end of the day it was the driver and pit crew looking like the bad guys.
This isn't just an issue for dirt track racing as NASCAR had similar incident this year as Kyle Busch used the "R" word after a Martinsville race during the chase. Yes, these drivers are held at a higher standard as they are professional drivers who race strictly for a living when compared to the weekly local racer. The real questions are when did this become acceptable and should something be done to help protect the sport and drivers?
The first question really can go back to when video cameras started creeping into the sport. Looking back to old NASCAR pit row interviews where emotions weren't held back clearly shows that a live cam and a hot mic have been around for awhile in racing. However, looking strictly at dirt track racing we could look at no further than Jack Hewitt and his tirades on camera. Jack never being one to hold emotions back let everyone know how he felt and was more than happy to say it in the mic. From there it really became noticeable during the World of Outlaws races where a red flag would be out and the Dirt Vision crew would have a roaming pit reporter interview drivers. This came to a head when Donny Schatz would be interviewed and he was less than thrilled to have to deal with the interviewer when he was trying to communicate with his crew. After this moment, Donny took a lot of abuse by fans and media people for being less than pleasant to deal with. From this point on, the driver had to do the interview or they would be viewed as the bad guy and the media person being the victim. So what needs to be done?
Well, looking at what we have laid out there really isn't much that can be gained from a driver or team perspective that would be considered good by having the hot mic and live cam in a heated moment. Only the media provider gains from it and it is often short lived and is glossed over for the next "big" moment. The sport of racing also takes a black eye each time this happens and it is happening at a more frequent occurrence. So again, what needs to be done? It is going to come to a point where cameras or hot mics are going to be banned from the infield or pits unfortunately. While the views and insight that they provide are very useful and are fan friendly, these incidents are not sponsor friendly. These heat of the moment times also can be extremely detrimental to the driver and race team as drivers have lost their rides and major sponsors. It may sound extreme but it's the truth and yet the media providers walk away free on the deal with little to no harm from it. This doesn't mean that the drivers and crews aren't responsible for their actions or what they say but it does put them in an extremely difficult position. So drivers and crews, if you see a camera in the area after a wreck or an altercation just be careful as you never know who might be watching.
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