Beyond the News with Katy Lindamood:  The beauty of NASCAR lies in the aggression you see on the track. It’s the attitudes you see after a wreck during the closing laps. It’s the bumping and banging between two rivals fighting for a position. It’s the occasional temper tantrum you see when a driver’s day ends early because of a mistake. It’s the fighting and helmet throwing that occurs when one driver thinks another “put him in the wall.” It’s the wreck that sends one of the top competitors in the sport down the backstretch end over end while everyone holds their breath waiting to see if he will survive. It’s these things we remember year after year. Fifteen years from now fans will still be talking about Carl Edwards’ Talladega crash into the catch fence but most people won’t be able to tell you that Brad Keselowski won the race.

I like a good wreck a much as the next fan. I’m not saying that I sit in front of the television week in and week out with a voodoo doll of my least favorite driver. I don’t send up a silent prayer from the grandstands that he will go flipping end over end or that his car will spontaneously burst into flames. That’s a bit sinister, even for me. You will, however find me sitting a bit closer to the television when a wreck happens. Even if it’s my favorite driver involved in the incident I wait with bated breath for the replays from every angle possible. I might even get online later and watch it again just to see if I missed anything. My husband knows that when I say, “dude, you have got to see this” that he’s about to spend the next several minutes in YouTube land. When I’m at the track I will cheer loudly when a driver I dislike wrecks just as I will cheer loudly when a driver I dislike gets out of the car safely after the incident.

Is it wrong to cheer for a wreck? Some have called it juvenile to cheer when a driver wrecks, but it’s part of the sport. Don’t you think a few of those drivers out there on the track are breathing a sigh of relief when the top competitor crashes? If you think there isn’t at least one guy out there cheering when Kyle Busch has a wreck you are only kidding yourself. You might not hear an audible cheer from that driver, but we all know he’s out there somewhere counting his lucky stars that he won’t have to race the 18 for the win.

Fans cheer for wrecks for a number of reasons. Maybe they detest the driver that was involved. Maybe they see it as poetic justice that he was spun out by the guy he put in the wall earlier in the season. Maybe they are the type of person who thinks the only interesting part of racing is the wrecking. Is it possible that they are just cheering for the wreck in general and not a particular driver involved in a wreck? There is absolutely nothing wrong with cheering for a wreck. I’m not suggesting that you do a victory dance or set off fireworks when someone has a wreck. I’m not even suggesting that you non-wreck-cheerers start now. All I am saying is that you should understand that the guy sitting next to you at the track might be a wreck cheerer. Don’t give him a hard time because he shows a little emotion at the sight of busted sheet metal.

NASCAR isn’t a pretty sport. It’s dirty. It’s dangerous. It’s emotional. I don’t know about you but that’s what makes it worth watching week after week year after year.

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The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and not this website.

Katy Lindamood is a freelance writer, blogger, and self diagnosed NASCAR addict. Her first memory of a race was the 1993 Daytona 500 where she wished for a wreck and got a Rusty Wallace end over end barrel roll down the backstretch. From that point on she was a Rusty Wallace fan and vowed never to wish for wrecks again. Katy co-authors The Biff Files, a NASCAR blog. Beyond the News is an opinion based column devoted to the fan expereicne. Katy can be contacted via twitter.