Quote Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter View Post
"The pioneers take the arrows."

Most people are contained by fear. Fear of hieghts, fear of speed, fear of drowning, fear of a looonnnggg list of perceived perils. A few, very few, push the boundaries of comfort. It's called progress, and it's the rare individual who "discovers" what humans are really capable of and shows the way to those of lesser ambition or willingness to risk. Some pay with their lives, some don't, but we learn what's really possible from them...............that's why we don't live in caves anymore. That's why we don't die from a host of diseases that once plagued mankind. That's why we've been to the moon. That's why we can fly from one place to another. Things our ancestors couldn't even imagine we take as commonplace. All because some brave souls had the willingness to test the boundaries and risk losing as well as winning.

I agree with everything you've stated. The sanctioning bodies, though, have hindered progress occasionally for one reason or another. Granatelli's turbine powered Novis, Nascar banning the 426 Hemi and using restrictor plates, NHRA going to 1000ft because some of the tracks are antiquated, land locked or both and I guess the list could go on and on. Sure, I've seen people killed at the drag strip, it's part of the sport.