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With all the cool stuff to see, thunderous noises to wallow in and colorful characters to rub elbows with each year at the March Meet at Famoso Raceway, it's easy to forget how dangerous top-fuel drag racing can be and what incredible guts it takes for anyone, let alone a 65-year-old man, to step into a front-engine top fuel dragster and rocket down a straightaway reaching speeds of 250-plus MPH, particularly when very little money and only pride and satisfaction are on the line.

Unfortunately, it took a violent accident and subsequent passing of popular  top-fuel driver and prolific car builder John Shoemaker last Saturday during March Meet qualifying to hammer it home.

The romance of the nostalgic dynamic to the March Meet almost lulls folks into such a sense of comfort that when tragedy strikes it's doubly shocking and seemingly unfathomable. Yet  the paradox is that the speed, the danger, the oft-chance of witnessing a violent mishap are the very things that draw fans to the March Meet and sanctioned drag racing in general.

The concern now has to be for Shoemaker's family, specifically his wife Judee, his racing partner for decades who witnessed the accident from the start line. Because it remains a mystery why John never let off the accelerator, why he didn't hit the engine turnoff or why his parachute didn't deploy or whether or not he blacked out  for whatever reason as he barreled down the race track, the accident will be talked about for some time.  It'd be nice to bring her some closure.