Burning gasoline for useless digging actually is bad for the environment. And it might not be amazonian rain forest that we're talking about, but an "empty land" is better left untouched than slaughtered like this.

Burning fuel for NASCAR and Formula 1 is also useless to a first approximation, and surely the land used for racetracks could be used for other stuff. But millions of people find it entertaining, and occasionally useful stuff comes out of it, like innovations in engines or telemetry or safety equipment.

How is this any different? It's entertaining plenty of us, it's less fuel than a race and less land than a racetrack, and maybe we'll learn something in the process. Maybe innovations in moderating the futility of online comment systems. ;)

I can guarantee there isn't any gasoline being burned there.

Edit: Not sure why I'm getting downvoted, those three vehicles are burning diesel...

Haha good point :-)

There is no such thing as empty land. From the billions of microbes to the insects, worms; the fungi, the grass... something just lost their home or food

Will someone please think of the grass!