The tragic accident involving a race truck competing in an off-road race in Southern California is about to have a ripple effect on anything to do with horsepower and the usage of public lands.

Eight people were killed when an off-road truck crashed into a crowd during a Mojave Desert Racing Association event northeast of Los Angeles. Twelve others were injured and the driver of the race truck is undoubtedly scarred for the rest of his life by a tragic development that took place in a split second in the California desert.

Truth be known, those who have been involved in off-road racing events have known for years that the sport of off-road racing was destined to experience a tragedy like the one which made national news last week.

As a former sports writer who has covered several off-road racing events in the past 30 years, I, too, have wondered how the sport has been able to escape unscathed until now.

You see, fans –- especially those consuming alcohol and living in an “XTreme” world -- have been cheating death for decades. While promoters of off-road racing have tried hard to separate race fans from race drivers and race vehicles, those close to the sport knew a terrible outcome was just around the corner.

For instance, while covering the Mint 400 Desert Race in the 1970s, I recall one event when a fan driving a brand new Chevrolet Suburban while fueled with alcohol decided to cross railroad tracks in the Nevada desert.

The bad news was that the Suburban became high-centered on the rail road tracks and a Union Pacific train just happened to be headed toward the scene. The conductor on the train had no time to stop and instead plowed into the Suburban drop kicking the vehicle off the track upon impact.

The good news was that the driver of the Suburban was able to escape before the impact. The bad news was that the driver reportedly won a lawsuit over the railroad company although the owner of the Suburban was obviously wrong for putting himself in the situation to begin with.

Off-road racing has been chaotic since the day it was invented. The late Mickey Thompson – an off-road racer himself – invented stadium racing knowing that desert racing could not go on forever since fans and race machinery don’t mix and because of that, a tragedy such as the recent one near Los Angeles was bound to happen.

You see, while it has been stated that alcohol was not a factor in the deaths of the MDR event, it must be pointed out that while the driver of the off-road truck was clean of any mind-altering drugs or alcohol, some of the fans probably were not.

Race fans love good racing and they love their alcohol while attending desert racing events. As hard as off-road promoters try to keep fans in restricted areas, it is many times virtually impossible to keep stupid fans out of harm’s way when it comes to desert racing.

Race fans have been killed at events like drag races where tires and wheels have come loose and struck innocent bystanders. With no barriers between fans and race machinery, off-road racing could escape a tragedy for only so long.

The Bureau of Land Management which issues permits for such events is now faced with the reality that an event it permitted was the scene of multiple deaths and injuries. You can bet the BLM is going to become more restrictive whether talking about an off-road race in California or Nevada; or a rock crawling event in Utah.

Then, too, the BLM is going to start restricting or governing snowmobiling or quads or motorcycles or off-road race vehicles simply because the agency wants no part of what happened recently in the California desert. In fact off-road racing could be eliminated all together at least in the open desert.

If you own anything that is used on BLM land, get ready for restrictions no matter where you live. The BLM is reportedly going to review any event scheduled for federal lands.

It was only a matter of time and now anything related to the usage of federal lands is in jeopardy.

Carmel Hopkins - August 23, 2010

Right on, Mike! You know how to hit those nails on the head.

Mary Hausch - August 23, 2010

Well stated, Mike.

Alexis Burke - August 24, 2010

It's a shame that the national media gave such one-sided coverage of the event. Hardly ever was there an overtone of 'tragic accident' instead focusing on drumming up public outcry. I'm saddened for the families, the driver and our beloved sport. When did personal responsibility go out of style? My family races in these events and we have always been taught to respect the sport. Others who choose to risk it all by spectating so close must accept the reality of that risk. I wish that our society would allow for accidents and not turn to reactionary solutions. These desert races bring an enormous amount of commerce to small town all over the Southwest and it will be a shame to harm not only those towns, but all the small businesses that support the desert racing industry. In an economy like this one, the last thing we need is more regulation. Thanks for posting Mike, we need to keep educating people about the sport so generalizations don't take away a longstanding pastime for thousands of Americans.