What’s with all the NASCAR hoopla?
The Daytona 500 took place over the past weekend. And by the
time all was said and done more than a million spectators had made
their way through the turnstiles to see the 50th edition of The
Great American Race.
What’s with all the NASCAR hoopla?
The Daytona 500 took place over the past weekend. And by the time all was said and done more than a million spectators had made their way through the turnstiles to see the 50th edition of The Great American Race.
If NASCAR has the ability to draw crowds to the Daytona Speedway that are larger than the city of San Jose in the span of a week, I’m obviously missing something here.
Why all the excitement for NASCAR? Don’t get me wrong. I like speed, power and I fully understand that there’s no substitute for cubic inches. After all, over the years I’ve owned four 1969 Camaros – two of them being Z/28s, a 1968 Corvette Roadster, a 1972 Camaro, a 1975 Corvette and a handful of other muscle cars from the 60s/70s era. I like popping the clutch just as much as the next all-American male but I’ve never been a huge fan of NASCAR.
I just don’t see the thrill in watching a bunch of guys make left-hand turns in racecars – built to exact specifications – for 250 laps? I say go back to the days when team engineers and mechanics weren’t handcuffed by compliance regulations. That would make things more interesting.
What is the thrill in sitting in turn 1, 2, 3, or 4 on a track that is so enormous that you can’t even see a quarter of it?
And what true skill is involved if more than one family in this good old boys network is able to have its cousins, fathers, sons, grandsons and grandfathers not only compete at this level but be successful out there? This tells me it’s all about money, connections and the car.
Name one family in any other sport where every male made it big time? In NASCAR, this is commonplace – Petty, Unser, Earnhardt, Waltrip, Allison, etc, etc.
I could watch the Daytona 500 a decade from now and see the same surnames that raced around the same track when I was a kid.
And tell me what is the thrill in waiting for a split-second of action to wiz by your $200 seat at 200 mph?
I remember attending the San Jose Grand Prix one year. I stood on pit row with Jimmy Vassar’s team. You can’t be in a better spot, and I still could see the action. When Vassar pulled in to pit I could feel the heat coming off the engine – that’s how close I was but yet I still couldn’t see the action.
There are so many safety barriers and barricades at these events that without the jumbo screens these races would be nothing more than guessing games. Twenty seconds of nothing and then suddenly the deafening sounds of a swarm of bees buzzing by. That about sums it up. What’s the thrill in that?
Speaking of buzz, I think that’s half the reason why half of these people go – to catch one. Think I’m wrong? Ask yourself, would NASCAR succeed without Budweiser being poured all day long at these events? Answer: No.
Heck, that’s how NASCAR got its start, from running illegal moonshine in cars that were built to outrun the cops. Drinking and the driving is NASCAR’s middle name.
Eventually, I’m going to have to attend a NASCAR race to see what all of the hoopla is about. My guess is that it’s more about women, partying and beer than drafting out of turn number four.
