“Who’s Running This Show?”- South Carolina 400 Winner’s Blatant Disregard for Safety Riles Up Veteran Insider

The sport of racing is one filled with danger. Even while driving a normal car, there could be accidents at any time, and severe mishaps could follow. The entire fandom was excited about the Florence Motor Speedway weekend. Although the highlight of the weekend was the South Carolina 400, there were other grassroots races that took place throughout these three days. A veteran NASCAR insider was shocked when he saw that one such race cast a blind eye to the basic safety regulations of stock car racing.

The advent of firesuits in NASCAR

In the early days of the sport, there weren’t any hard and fast rules about what a driver should wear while driving his high-horsepower machine. In the 1964 World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, NASCAR racer Glenn Roberts received fatal burns in a crash. Although Roberts survived the crash, he succumbed to the burns and died six weeks after the accident. Since then, NASCAR has been following strict safety regulations. One instance of how these in-car fires could risk the lives of the drivers is Dale Earnhardt Jr’s fire incident during the Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

But, now, even the pit crew members wear firesuits. According to an ESPN article, “Over-the-wall pit crew members are required to wear fire-resistant uniforms with an SFI rating of 3.2A/1, which has a TPP value of six and a protection time of 3 seconds.” To clarify, thermal protective performance (TPP) determines the amount of time the human skin wearing a garment can be exposed to fire before incurring a second-degree burn.

Watch this story: The Unspoken Regret of a NASCAR Legend

But when the winner of the Street Stock Feature in South Carolina 400, Bobbie Tumbleston III, climbed out of his car wearing normal jeans, veteran spotter Freddie Kraft found it egregious.

Fans left divided by Kraft’s sarcastic take on the South Carolina 400’s jeans incident

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Kraft tweeted, “Rules are meant to protect people from themselves sometimes.

Can’t believe at an event as big at the #SouthCarolina400 I just saw a race winner climb out of his car wearing JEANS?!. Ridiculous. Who’s running this show?”

Someone reflected on the $750 cash prize and said, “The real crime here is the fact he only got $750 for the show they put on”

Freddie Kraft wasn’t done with his rant. He replied, “Maybe he can afford the other half of his firesuit now.”

“Unacceptable!” said another.

On that note, a fan typed, “I said the same thing. Jeans and tennis shoes are simply unbelievable!!”

However, another fan urged Kraft to cool down and wrote, “It was for seven hundred bucks let’s relax a little”

“It’s worse it only pays $750, “ commented someone.

Read more: Should NASCAR Continue Running on Road Courses or Limit Itself to Oval Layouts?

Do you think what happened in South Carolina 400 should be handled strictly? Or do you think the dress code was right considering the money that the race paid to its winner? Do let us know in the comments below!