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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: News Flash - NASCAR Is Noisy
A recent government study probed the noise made by race cars...
Larry Woody  | http://www.RacinToday.com  |  Posted September 02, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Bristol Motor Speedway is known as one of the loudest stops on the NASCAR Sprint Cup tour. (Photo: Getty Images)
After an extensive study (funded by extensive tax dollars), our hard-working federal government has come up with a stunning discovery:

Racing is loud.

I wish they’d called me before they went to all that trouble and expense. I could have told them what their experts worked so hard to find out.

Scientists and researchers with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health spent countless hours (and dollars) conducting sound tests at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway.

They concluded that automobile racing creates noise.

They even produced a lot of fancy statistics to prove it, in case someone doesn’t believe them. One “research audiologist” used something called a “personal noise dosimeter” to measure track decibels.

He could have saved himself some time by simply poking his head out the window.

According to the Noise Police, the most noise a worker should be exposed to on an average eight-hour shift is 85 decibels. They found that was exceeded in less than one minute for a driver during practice, within several minutes for team members, and in less than one hour for spectators during a race.

They also made another amazing discovery: If drivers and fans use ear plugs, the noise is reduced. (I assume that study was funded by a separate federal Ear Plug Grant.)

From the stories I read, the Noise Police weren’t clear, exactly, about what they expected to be done about the problem. But whatever it is, I’ll bet it will be expensive.

Maybe they could hire some of those PGA guys in the ice cream pants to hold up “Quiet Please” signs while the race is in progress.

Racing and noise have always gone together, and it frequently causes problems. Neighbors living near the old Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway are constantly up in arms (and ears) about the racket, even though there has been auto racing on that site since 1904. That means that only residents 106 years old or older have a right to complain; for everyone else, racing was there when they moved in.

Don’t buy a home beside the airport then gripe every time a plane flies over.
My SPEED is devoted to the passionate fans who celebrate motorcycles, motorsports and the automotive lifestyle.

What the Noise Police apparently don’t understand is that most race fans LIKE the sound and fury. The roar of engines is part of the sport. When the field thunders down the frontstretch at Talladega, aluminum seats vibrate and molars rattle. If the cars ever start humming by like electric golf carts, it won’t be Talladega anymore.

Again, the Feds weren’t clear what they expected NASCAR to do about its noise pollution, but get ready for some sort of government regulation. (While they’re at it they might also conduct a study of race track hot dogs. It’s a busy-body’s double nightmare: A race fan subjecting his ear drums to all that noise while subjecting his gastronomical tract to a track dog.)

Frankly, if I have to choose between noisy and nosey I know which I’ll pick.

It’ll be interesting to see what comes from all the uproar over the roar. Will the Feds try to make NASCAR tone it down? Will drivers and fans support a muffler move? Or will the government’s expensive study fall on deaf ears?

Larry Woody is a veteran, award-winning sports journalist. Woody began working at the Nashville Tennessean in the 1960s and took over the auto racing beat full time in the early 1970s. Larry can be reached at lwoody@racintoday.com.

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Larry Woody

RacinToday.com

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