Catchfence

A few days had passed since the horrifying wreck that killed NASCAR Mexico Series driver Carlos Pardo, and I had yet to see the video.

I felt conflicted about it. Friends had told me the footage was unbelievable, but I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to watch a wreck that I knew resulted in someone’s death.

There’s some sort of guilt associated with watching videos like that. It’s partly from a morbid curiosity, the same kind of thing that makes people slow down and look at accidents on the freeway.

Eventually, I decided that watching the video was probably necessary. Not something to enjoy or use for entertainment, but as something that should be viewed very seriously.

The video – which can be found in several places on YouTube –- is truly shocking. Pardo was leading the race when he was turned by another competitor, which made the side of his car go straight into a badly-placed pit road barrier at full speed.

- Scene Daily