The Budweiser Goes on the 8 Car Not the 24 Car! Crazy Mutant 'Dega Guys!

Beer on the Track, and Another Talladega Saga

Jeff Gordon, who pilots the 24 Dupont Chevrolet, won his 77th race Sunday, passing Dale Earnhardt by 1 in total wins. The crowd went wild, but not in a very nice way. Hundreds of fans thew beer, water bottles, and even toilet paper onto the track as Jeff Gordon performed his burnout. On the cool down lap, Dale Jr. stayed on Jeff's outside as crazy amounts of trash were hurled over the fence from the grandstands onto the track.

Seriously, just how dangerous is it to be on the receiving end of beer cans on the track? The short answer is probably not much. You've got sheet metal over your head, and a windshield that won't break. I'm guessing that the fans in the stands are much more likely to be injured by thrown cans of beer and other debris than the drivers are. In all this confusion, I really worry about the fans more than anyone else.

Think about it. If you've ever been to an actual Cup race. The fences are high along the wall. They are high for a purpose, which is actually two-fold. First of all the high fences are to keep sheet metal, tires, and other dangerous things from bouncing off of you when a crash happens right in front of you. Second, the fences are there to prevent you, the gentle fan, from bombarding your not so favorite driver with the bomb of your choice. The fences are not high enough to prevent lobbing something over, much like young Army recruits are taught to lob grenades, but they are mostly high enough from allowing you, the bomb thrower, anything like accuracy, even from a seat way up high. If you can hit a moving target from row 120, then you should be in the Major Leagues, as far as I'm concerned. Forget Nascar, you've got an arm! For God's sake, use it!

I know that a lot of fans in red inhabit the stands at Nascar races today. Red does not always mean Dale Jr. Most of the detailed pictures of beer cans bouncing off the 24 car on Sunday were blue, and looked suspiciously like Miller Lite. I doubt any good Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan in good standing would be caught with Miller Lite, much less throwing it at Jeff Gordon. Seriously, I doubt any Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan would buy Miller Lite just to throw at Jeff Gordon. It's a thought though!