Indiana Jones and the Arca race at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Sometimes, when time is short and the checkered flag is about to fly at Daytona International Speedway, it appears as if half the field is crashing and yet no one spins or hits the wall. The cars jostle, bump and wiggle.

                The word is "hairy." Or perilous.

                When the Automobile Racing Club of America holds races at Daytona, quite the opposite occurs. During Saturday afternoon's Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 - if you know what slick mist is, you're smarter than me - three crashes occurred that seemed to take minutes, though, undoubtedly, they were seconds.

                The first crash began in the third turn and kept right on - well, it can't be trucking until the Camping World series gets here - uh, happening until crumpled cars were littered all the way to turn one. That's a mile or so.

                In the second crash, a car sat sideways at the exit of turn four for what seemed like an eternity - an eternity is five seconds in a multi-car crash; this might've been 10 - until another car just roared over its right side.

                The Dukes of Hazzard looked more proficient. If "slick mist" had been bubbling out of every car on the track, it would've explained a lot.

                ARCA has been the butt of a lot of jokes over the years. A Sprint Cup races, when a rash of crashes occurs, someone invariably says (or writes), "All of a sudden, an ARCA race broke out."

                The witticisms are harsh in that most ARCA drivers really aren't bad drivers. They're just inexperienced at yawning, high-banked speed palaces like Daytona. With a few celebrity exceptions - Joey Logano was here, leading several to start singing "What's a nice kid like you ... doin' in a place like this?" - when ARCA comes to Daytona, it's country comes to town. It looks like the cast of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World" at Daytona, but these guys put a different kind of hurting on each other at tracks in DuQuoin, Springfield and Toledo.

                It's dangerous. It looks like it ought to be against the law. But races like the Slick Mist 200 are necessary. It's sort of like going to war with untrained recruits.

                Where's a young driver to get experience on superspeedways? It's like practicing how to catch a bullet in your teeth. It's like taking a few laps around a roller rink, then signing with the National Hockey League. It's like learning how to drive on I-95, then learning how to race at Daytona.

                Think you can handle this, kid?

                "Well, yes, sir, I've got my learner's permit and everything."

                Contact Monte Dutton at mdutton@gastongazette.com.