tyler4DX/YouTube Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

It's hard to imagine that, on seeing yesterday's carnage at Daytona when scores of spectators were hurt after debris from a crash flew a fence, someone at Nascar would have been thinking about a vital matter such as copyright infringement.

Yet it seems that one no-doubt harassed Nascar operative did exactly that and demanded that a video taken by a spectator and posted to YouTube be removed.

As the Verge breaks it down, within hours of the crash, Nascar seems to have insisted to YouTube that the video, taken by someone with the handle "tyler4dx", infringed Nascar's rights.

Yet when the Verge asked for a statement, Nascar insisted that, no, no, this was not the case:

The fan video of the wreck on the final lap of today's Nascar Nationwide Series race was blocked on YouTube out of respect for those injured in today's accident. Information on the status of those fans was unclear and the decision was made to err on the side of caution with this very serious incident.

One imagines that quite a lot of footage of this incident was constantly being shown on TV.

Some might find it odd that Nascar might try to ban a fan video that really doesn't show that much of what really happened any way.

Moreover, fans post many videos from Nascar events, none of which are subject to any objections.

Indeed, YouTube decided that Nascar's attempt to remove the video was, well, against its laws.

A YouTube spokesperson told the Washington Post: "Our partners and users do not have the right to take down videos from YouTube unless they contain content which is copyright infringing, which is why we have reinstated the videos."

Now, of course, YouTube is flooded with videos of the crash.

But some might find it sad that Nascar reacted as it did.

Was it really about preserving respect for the victims? Or might it have been about preserving its own image?