Tight Security Helps NASCAR Events Stay Safe (WRALSportsFan.com)

By JERRY BONKOWSKI

Friday's early-morning shooting tragedy in Aurora, Colo., where a dozen people were killed and 70 others were injured by what appears to be a crazed madman, got me thinking.

While I'm not trying to be a Monday morning quarterback, but in a state that still grieves the 1999 Columbine High School tragedy, how can someone reportedly wearing a bulletproof vest also sneak a high-capacity AK-47 type rifle, a shotgun, two pistols and a bag of ammunition into such a public place as a theater – and not be noticed or at the least draw some modicum of suspicion?

No sooner did I think that, though, when another thought popped into my mind, something that many racing fans can readily identify with.

How many times have you gone to a NASCAR race and lamented the heavy police and security presence, seemingly at every turn? How many of us have thought such a large gathering of law enforcement types at a race was, no pun intended, overkill?

How many of us have seen dozens, if not hundreds of uniformed and plainclothes police in and around places like Daytona? How about the way your car trunk or interior is either searched, or how you must endure guards with mirrors inspecting the underside of your vehicle before it's allowed to proceed into the infield of a racetrack?

Or how about the way dozens of police walk through rows of cars exiting Talladega, looking for impaired drivers?

Do you think those cops are doing those kinds of things for their health?

Of course not, they're trying to protect us, not only from criminals and even each other, but sometimes also from ourselves – especially when you or your buddy has had one or two too many. Duh!

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