Ilan Bental (69x) launches through the air in a pileup during Saturday’s Danger Ranger on Dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway. There were no major injuries.
Carl Edwards flips after hitting Ryan Newman, left, on the last lap of the Aaron's 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 26, 2009. The spectacular flips have become commonplace at the drafting tracks of Daytona and Talladega.
Ilan Bental (69x) launches through the air in a pileup during Saturday’s Danger Ranger on Dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway. There were no major injuries.
Earl Neikirk / BMS
Keith McGee (1776) leads Kameron McConchie (22) to the finish of last Saturday's Danger Ranger on Dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Earl Neikirk / BMS
Carl Edwards flips after hitting Ryan Newman, left, on the last lap of the Aaron's 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 26, 2009. The spectacular flips have become commonplace at the drafting tracks of Daytona and Talladega.
Motorsports are dangerous by nature, but races at Bristol and Talladega last weekend proved to be too close for comfort.
The Danger Ranger on Dirt race featured a mixture of professional drivers and YouTube personalities racing Ford Ranger pickups on Bristol Motor Speedway’s converted dirt surface. With the Ford Ranger’s high center of gravity and the inexperience of some drivers, what could go wrong?
Jeff Birchfield is a sports writer for the Johnson City Press with a lifelong passion for motorsports. The father of two attended ETSU and served in the Tennessee Army National Guard.
