A Once in a Lifetime Experience, and Not a Good One

By Travis Thornburgh

            February brings many things to an end.  However, for NASCAR, February brings a beginning to a new season and a tradition that is decades old; Speed Weeks at Daytona International Speedway.  February also brings a bit of relaxation time for Miss Raeann Thomas, a second grade teacher at Interstate.  This year brought a bit more excitement than most years.

                As many of you may have seen, there was massive, last-lap crash during the NASCAR Nationwide Series race, which left debris strewn throughout the grandstand at Daytona and over twenty people hurt.  Miss Thomas was a mere twenty seats from where a flaming engine came through the catch fence and into the grandstand, but in true Miss Thomas fashion, when asked about her first reactions about the wreck, she did not answer with making sure she was okay, she responded with, “my first thoughts were to Dale Jr.’s  safety.”

                When asked about how she reacted to the wreck, Miss Thomas stated, “To me it all seemed to happen in almost slow motion but having seen the replay I realize it was all so fast there was no time to really process it.  There was total mayhem on the track and they immediately announced there would be no victory celebration on track.”

                Nobody was seriously injured in the wreck, either in the stands or in the cars, and racing continued the next day.  Miss Thomas said that she would continue to attend NASCAR events and this wreck would not discourage her from going to future events.

                “On the following day before I climbed back into the stands I made sure I stopped by the ticket office to renew my seats for next year.  Where will I sit, first row behind, the fence coming off of turn four just before the start/finish line, exactly where I sat this year.”