Road Rage

Usually we see competitors at the race track very cautious in their use of retribution.  Generally there are good reasons as no one wants to intentionally wreck their own equipment or endanger the life of another competitor while trying to settle the score for some past perceived wrong.  Also, there is the consideration for the sponsor and team owner who can be placed in a difficult situation if their driver does something that others see as unjustified or petty.  Add to that the media and you have the possibility for a driver to take some action in the heat of the moment and have it replayed again and again showing in slow motion how they took out another competitor when the opportunity presented itself.

In one situation this year, a NASCAR truck series racer lashed out at another competitor while the race was under caution.  This was in retaliation for a wall scraping incident that happened just moments earlier.  Unfortunately the victim of the retaliation was a NASCAR Truck Series Championship contender who lost any championship hopes after the intentional crash.  To add fuel to the fire, in a post race interview the driver who caused the intentional crash was not contrite or apologetic.  The sanctioning body parked him for the weekend and hit with a $50,000 fine.  Further team and sponsor actions included having the sponsor remove their name from the car for the balance of the season. There were calls to the team owner for the driver's dismissal and replay upon replay of the incident on every news media outlet of this incident and several other 2011 season incidents this competitor had been involved in.  Almost unanimously the fan community felt the wall rubbing incident was just rubbing and racing and that the intentional crashing of a championship contender was completely unjustified and basically on-track road rage.

A good Christian friend told me the story about a road rage incident he experienced.  He is a good Christian man.  He had led a Bible study in his home.  He is highly educated and holds an advanced degree.  He often works with children and is a role model to many.

The event he described to me started out with a car cutting him off and he became uncharacteristically enraged.  He would admit that he had occasional bouts with anger but nothing at this level.  He began to chase the offending driver and soon went on a 10-20 mile road rage chase of this other car at speed, cutting through traffic trying to chase down the driver.  

Now you might think this was a bit surprising and even shocking but I have not told you the entire story because he did this while his small son was in the car with him.  The son was scared to death and screaming at the top of his lungs for his Dad to please stop.  Eventually, the man came to his senses and ended the chase.  

Anger acted out does not make sense and it is not logical. What was my friend going to do if he ever caught up with the other driver?  Ram him?  Run him off the road?  Pull up alongside and give him some inappropriate gesture?  I don't think that he could even answer that question.  This was totally out of character for this man and clearly Anger, un-dealt with, grows at least cumulatively, always earns interest and perhaps is even geometric in its growth.

Although I have not had an incident like my friend’s, I thought about how many times have I received a category 5 stimulus and answered that with a level 10 response?

Here are the telling words of a Christian Marriage and Family Therapist friend of mine, "I actually see anger issues as pretty core to much of what my clients are going through, both men and women.  The genders often display it differently, but the core (issue) is the same."

Often times we will hear someone try to explain and even justify their anger at the track. They will state causes like a blown engine, a pit stop error, a perceived wrong move by another competitor as the cause of their anger.  In reality, these events are just the triggers that reveal what is already resident in our lives.  If we shake a glass filled with root beer, the spilled contents will be root beer.  The anger that bursts forth from our lives is not from an external source.  It is there all the time.  James reminds us in James 3:11 "Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water?" 

Anger multiplies and soon its acid burns a hole in our hearts and then it comes out when we least expect it destroying our most prized relationships.  We then have to go into a damage control mode where we try to somehow put back together the pieces.  Often times it is impossible to repair the damage because we have triggered the hurt and anger of others and we have to just leave the situation, marriage, team, etc.

Anger is like so many things that we can focus on in hopes we can beat it, but alas, while it is easily invited in, it is not easily evicted from our lives. There is a transforming work that must take place.        

Romans 12:2 Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Richard Lewis
Pathway Christian Cruisers
Pathway Christian Church