ASK THE MXPERTS: ARE THE FANS SAFE AT A SUPERCROSS RACE FOLLOWING THE MONSTER TRUCK DEATH?
Dear MXA,
As a fan of Supercross, Monster Trucks and Mud Bogs I was appalled to read about the death of a six-year-old boy in Tacoma at a Monster Jam event. This leads me to wonder if you think that the fans are in danger at a Supercross race?
To the best of our knowledge no fan has ever been killed at an AMA Supercross, at least when it comes to flying motorcycles.
But, in the bigger picture of motorcycle racing, fans have been killed by errant machinery at location around the world.
Additionally, there was a shooting at the Los Angeles Coliseum years ago which left a spectator dead in the parking lot.
Florida’s Monte McCoy once launched his bike into the stands at the Coliseum. It hit some stadium works and injured one of them severely.
Jimmy Weinert’s bike cleared a fence back in the 1970s and caused severe brain inuries to a woman by the side of the track.
Travis Pastrana missed the big downhill double at Glen Helen, overshooting the landing by 40 feet and flew bodily into the crowd (his bike stayed inside the fencing). The crowd threw him back over the fence.
Miscreants at Livermore rolled a truck tire from the top of the hill down into the crowd in 1975, hitting several spectators with terrific force.
Injuries to spectators have happened. It can happen again and, unfortunately, it will happen.
Do we think it can happen at a Supercross race? Yes. The most likely scenario is in a bowl-shaped 180 hairpin at the end of the straight. The steeply banked hairpin corners, which don’t really add anything to the racing (except center-punching), are the perfect launch ramp for an out of control rider to ghost ride his bike up into the crowd. Although, the stadiums make an effort to clear the rows closest to the track, they have no idea of how far a bouncing and careering bike can fly. Everyone who has raced a motorcycle has seen bikes tumble and flip for incredible distances.
Sadly enough, just the weekend before two juveniles and an adult were injured in a scary scene after a crash at the Kicker Arena Cross show in Louisiania. Lafayette, Louisiania, Police say one of the motorcycles in the event somehow impacted three people. Officials say the adult was treated for injuries at the scene, but two juveniles were hospitalized with what appeared to be minor injuries.
The death of a fan, especially a six-year-old, is a moment of great sadness and should be a call to arms for Feld Entertainment, which promotes both Supercross and Monster Jam, to begin a close review of the possibilities for danger to the fans. There is a tendency at times like this to pull the blankets over our eyes and claim that it will never happen. The sport needs to take precautions, extraordinary precautions, to insure that every base is covered.
Feld Motor Sports, released a statement after the Tacoma Monster Jam accident saying: "This type of incident has never happened before in the history of Monster Jam events. All of us at Feld Motor Sports and all the Monster Jam drivers and crew extend our deepest sympathies to the families involved. We will continue to investigate this incident and will provide additional information as it becomes available."
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