It amazes me how in these litigious days how ballsy rally fans are... from the races I have watched car routinely go off into the woods... and fans standing around a corner where where cars are sliding sideways at high speed.
I have been to a total of one NASCAR race with a buddy who was a fan (free tickets), Our seats were in the middle of the front stretch. There were large metal posts and cables between us and the track but the cars were shooting by at close to 200MPH. My friend turns to me and says "if one of those gets airborne we are dead" I said "that is part of the thrill!"