A couple of weeks ago during the long and arduous Daytona 500, Brad Keselowski who races in the Sprint Cup racing series for Penske racing caused quite a stir while the cars were parked on the track during a red flag. He tweeted from the track. What did he tweet? Pictures from his vantage point on the track of the aftermath of fellow driver Juan Pablo Montoya’s collision with the jet fuel powered track dryer.
Technically, there was likely no danger until you consider that in order for Brad to have the phone to send these tweets, he had to have it on his person as he was driving around Daytona at 200+ MPH speeds. Now I know he tweeted during a relatively safe part of the race but the fact that he could pull the phone out at any time in the car would be enough that it should cause NASCAR some concern. Now I applaud Brad for reaching out to a fan base on twitter. NASCAR itself has a twitter account. However, I think the phone should stay OUT of the car when the driver is in race conditions. We all know how tempting it is to reach for a phone when we’re driving and while Brad is a consummate professional, I still don’t think it’s a great idea to have the temptation sitting in the car.
Since the event, NASCAR has stated that Brad will not be penalized so Brad is off this time. NASCAR has also made no rule regarding mobile devices in the car. Brad started carrying his phone in the car in 2007 when he wrecked at Fontana, CA.
So what do you think? Should they be allowed to carry their phones in the car? Is it a good idea or is it an accident waiting to happen?