The regional dirt track racing season ended on a sour note last weekend.

Check that. It ended on a horrible note.

Michael "Moose"Polena, the assistant flagger at Lernerville Speedway, was injured during a senseless act of retaliation while serving as a track official at Challenger Speedway in Indiana County.

Polena lined up cars for the start of the race and was standing near the start line when the crash occurred.

A driver, upset over being spun out by another driver during a race, drove his car the wrong way down the track and hit the right wheel of the car that spun him out.

The car he hit was driven into Polena.

Polena suffered knee, leg and other injuries. He will be OK, but Polena faces lengthy recovery and rehabilitation time.

This could have been much worse. Polena has a wife and two daughters. He could have lost his life.

And for what?

This can't be called an accident, not when a guy drives the wrong way down a racetrack.

Even if this was an isolated incident, it couldn't be excused. Sadly, dirt racing's version of road rage has happened before.

This year alone, there have been incidents of tempers getting the better of drivers and/or crew members at other tracks, including Lernerville.

Criminal charges have been filed, including in this incident at Challenger, and drivers have been suspended from tracks for disciplinary reasons.

Frankly, this sport is too good to tolerate this kind of stuff.

After covering racing at Lernerville for more than 10 years now, my experience has indicated that there are plenty of spirited competitors, behind the wheel and turning wrenches, who eat, live and breathe dirt track racing.

They make the sport what it is, an entertaining and thrilling 15-minute block of action from green flag to checkered flag.

Stuff happens in between, including accidents and severely damaged cars. Wrecks are sometimes created by rookie mistakes, overly aggressive driving or a judgment error on the part of a veteran driver.

Such things are part of the game. Dirt racing — any form of racing — is an expensive game. All participants recognize that — and the risk of seeing their cars damaged right before their eyes — when they come to the track each weekend.

There is enough risk involved in racing without hot-tempered, senseless acts of violence joining in.

Tracks must band together in this regard. If a participant cannot keep his head and accept the perils that exist in racing, he or she should be banned from the sport.

Racing doesn't need this black eye. The dedicated people on the track and behind the scenes who make the sport a success don't deserve it.