Just Sayin’: Racetracks Are For Cars, Not Stairs

By Jared Turner

One of the oddest and most inexcusable moments of the 2017 NASCAR season occurred over the weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway when current driver Erik Jones and former driver turned NASCAR on NBC announcer Jeff Burton plowed into a staircase — yes, you read that correctly — while driving the NBC demonstration car on Saturday for a segment airing as part of the network’s coverage of the race weekend. The stairs, which obviously weren’t supposed to be out on the track at that time, are used to let fans and officials get from the stands to the infield when there is no on-track activity. Thankfully, Jones and Burton were unhurt in the incident, but it did leave their car with some significant right-side damage. Let’s hope that whoever left the stairs out on the track was reprimanded appropriately for their negligence, and that such a ridiculous situation never occurs at a racetrack again.

Keep Fighting, Sherry Pollex

While Martin Truex Jr. was certainly happy to continue his stellar season with a victory at Charlotte, all is not OK in the Furniture Row Racing driver’s world. Noticeably missing from his side in Victory Lane was longtime girlfriend Sherry Pollex, who continues her courageous fight against ovarian cancer. Sherry, who hopes to be back soon, stayed home after undergoing her latest chemotherapy treatment just six days earlier. Ruminating on Sherry’s absence, Truex was choked up after emerging from his car immediately after the race ended. “Sherry, I was thinking about her because she’s not here, and I know she really wanted to be,” Truex later said. “I know our guys love having her around when we win, and she’s a fun person to celebrate with, so I thought about that … and I just lost it for a minute.” Here’s wishing Sherry a speedy recovery and return to the track.