Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Tag: fans

  • Our Drivers – So Close and Yet so Far Away

    Our Drivers – So Close and Yet so Far Away

    I grew up in a different era of NASCAR and I’ve recently realized how much things have changed while I wasn’t paying attention. It feels as though I have awoken from a deep sleep, like in a fairy tale, and nothing is the same.

    I look at my wall of autographs and I can almost feel the history behind the signatures.  When I close my eyes I can remember walking up to drivers like Alan Kulwicki, Ken Schrader, Dick Trickle, Jeff Gordon and Michael Waltrip; getting autographs and talking to them. They treated each fan, from the first to the last, as special and you felt appreciated. I was able to chat with drivers at local tracks, I learned so much and made friends with many.

    This was a time when drivers didn’t have any more money than the fans, they were just like us. That was the appeal; they didn’t see themselves as heroes, they were racers. We paid for a ticket and they thanked us by signing autographs until there were no more fans in line. Fans were the car owners, fans were the sponsors, fans were important.

    The NASCAR drivers sought out the fans, anxious to get their name out there. Along with winning races, that is what brought in the sponsors. Today the situation is reversed and the drivers are pretty much owned by the sponsors and their teams. NASCAR has become so commercialized, that the blue collar sport of yesterday has been lost.

    The point I am trying to make is this; the drivers were accessible. It isn’t like today where you run the risk of being trampled by 500 fans trying to get Jimmie Johnson’s autograph when he only has an hour before being rushed away by his sponsor to another event.

    I experienced this firsthand last year when I had a pass for a Nationwide race and thought I would see how hard it would be to get autographs. It was a frustrating experience to say the least. I was wearing a boot that went from my foot to my knee, due to an injury. I bravely stood in the area as drivers walked by and I assumed I would be given a little room because of my foot, I was wrong. Basically I was tackled more than Tony Romo on any given Sunday and I finally gave up. I got some autographs but it took me a week to recover from the ordeal.

    That is when I began to wonder how disabled fans get autographs? How do fans that can’t afford to go to a race get them? How do older fans that can’t stand in lines for hours to attend an autograph session get them? There has to be an easier way for those fans that want to meet their favorite driver but are restricted.

    Then it hit me. Perhaps I can submit an envelope with a picture and a self addressed envelope with postage already paid. Maybe that is now the best way to get an autograph. I did this years ago for a little boy who was unable to write to his hero; Dale Earnhardt Sr. Earnhardt not only sent him an autograph but other items as well.

    I was stunned to discover that it’s not that simple anymore. You can no longer just send in a picture or a hero card and request an autograph. Most major teams schedule driver autograph sessions or you can purchase autographed items from their stores.

    Pay for an autograph? Really? Something as simple as getting an autograph shouldn’t be so hard, should it?

    Autographs are as important to the sport as the fan that will stand in line for hours to obtain them. I understand that, yes, the drivers are pulled around from place to place and do the best they can, but the fans are losing out and it’s the fans who put these drivers in the cars. The fans are the heart of NASCAR and having to pay for an autograph is ludicrous. As it stands now, there is a disconnect between the drivers and their fans.

    I don’t think fans feel very important to NASCAR or the drivers today. Let’s get a show of hands. How many fans feel special these days? No show of hands needed, the empty seats say it all. Look at the stands now and then look at the stands back in the days of Tim Richmond, Harry Gant and Richard Petty. Where did the fans go?

    It saddens me to see those empty seats and I worry about the state of the sport in general. Fans need to feel engaged again, need to know that the sport they love will listen to them and believe that each and every one of them is important. NASCAR needs to remember that without the fans, there is no NASCAR.

     

  • Common Sense Guidelines for Race Fans

    Common Sense Guidelines for Race Fans

    We are all vulnerable to something bad happening to us while on vacation, even the most seasoned vacationers. The problem is most of us think that because we are on vacation, there is an invisible bubble surrounding us, protecting us from harm.

    For instance, many race fans camp in the same camping spot(s) every race and see the same campers each time. They do not think that they are at risk, when in fact it may be the opposite. That sense of knowing everyone causes you to let your guard down and may leave you vulnerable.

    Another thing that no one thinks of is bullying. It happens at the track more often than you think. It could be triggered by the T-shirt you are wearing or the one your son is wearing. Perhaps it’s because someone has had way too much to drink.

    I am not writing this so that you will change your mind about attending races or change your attire. I don’t want you to look at every fan as an escaped convict looking to mug you. I am just sharing some examples of experiences that have happened to some people I know. Some happened to those I don’t know but who wanted their story told.

    A little track etiquette can go a long way as well. First of all, we have all had the jumpers. Yes, we all know the ones that you swear are sitting on a spring, and are up and down like a Jack-in-the-Box. There are times, of course, when everyone will jump up, such as the start of the race or for a caution, etc. and that is to be expected. We all do it but do we need to be standing the whole race? No, we don’t.

    When you are a yo-yo, people can’t see through you. Be aware of your surroundings. Look around you at who is sitting behind you and realize that if they are elderly they may not be able to match you jump for jump. Also, no one wants to pay money for a seat and instead of the race they get to see your butt the whole race. Sit down and be courteous.

    For the men who do this, remember that your wallet is in your back pocket. I have sat through many races watching wallets go to the ground because of the man constantly jumping up and down. I tell men when this is about to happen but many others don’t, and by the time you realize it’s gone, it may be too late. I have seen wallets drop at races and people eyeballing them. Do the right thing if you see a wallet fall and let them know. If you find one, again, do the right thing. Find someone with security and let them take it from there. Men, keep an eye on your wallet,

    Also be careful when visiting the souvenir trailers. If you are pulling out your wallet to buy something it is very easy to have credit cards, ID’s, etc. slide out. The main thing is to keep checking and make sure it’s still in your pocket. There is no worse feeling than losing your wallet. Ladies you have purses and the same thing can happen to you. Leave your suitcase bag at home and get one of those small purses you can wear that hangs in front of you.

    Bullying, the reason that triggered this article, is nothing to laugh about. It once happened in front of a friend of mine at Daytona. A young boy about the age of seven was at the race with an older gentleman, who we believe was the child’s grandfather. My friend and his fiancée came up and witnessed four men, around the ages of 30-40 years-old, all wearing Dale Earnhardt Jr. shirts, harassing and making fun of this child because he was wearing a Kyle Busch shirt. You may ask why my friend didn’t intervene. Well, he was one man against four that, no doubt, had a little too much to drink. I have learned to not wear my driver’s shirts because of being harassed.

    I also go to souvenir row early, buy my things and get them back into my car, because I was also told by another fan that she had her bag of goodies with her and when she picked them up from under her seat someone had poured a beer and thrown nachos in the bag.

    I am putting these things out there because I want you to have a good time. Most of it is common sense. If someone is harassing you or if someone seems to be drinking too much, find security, it is what they are there for. The chances are low that you will have anything happen to you but it’s the same as going to a concert, amusement park, anything of this order, use your head. If you are one of those that stand throughout the whole race, look behind you to see whose view you are blocking.

    The most important thing is to enjoy the race! Hope that your driver wins but enjoy the experience, bring a tent, chairs, food, and a grill and do some tailgating. When you are at the race, close your eyes, feel the vibration, hear the power of the engines as they roar by, because once you go and experience it in person, you will be hooked and that’s a great feeling.

  • A Question For NASCAR Nation – Why Do You Watch?

    A Question For NASCAR Nation – Why Do You Watch?

    At the conclusion of the Bank of America 500, fans were raving about the finish and seemed generally satisfied. The first 300 laps though featured very little passing with rare, evanescent battles but the enthralling fight for the win still made it a good race in the eyes of many. Talladega on the other hand was a non-stop thrill ride and had everyone on the edge of their seat until the anti-climatic finish that left fans with a bitter taste in their mouths. That begs the question; does the finish make or break a race? Should we be basing the quality of a four hour event simply on how it ends? What makes a NASCAR race a good race and what do fans really want to see?

    I judge a NASCAR race based on four factors. Said factors are the racing, the finish, the wrecks and the unexpected variables that are sometimes described as the “wow” moments. A perfect NASCAR race in my mind has incredible racing from green flag to checkered flag, a photo finish with a winner being someone we don’t get to see much. I don’t want to see any track clearing pile ups but a good dose of spins and small crashes to keep the race from getting dull and strung out. A fantastic race with a disappointing finish like Talladega’s is better than an awful race with a good finish like Charlotte’s in my book although some will argue otherwise.

    I see a contingent of fans out there that only care about the finish and the three hours of racing prior to the white flag means very little in their minds which is very shortsighted and not fair to the race. We live in a society full of people with short attention spans who need constant stimulation of their senses to keep them engrossed in an event and NASCAR is not the kind of event to satisfy those needs. The NFL has a stop-and-go feel to it with an intense few seconds of action followed by a pause and then they do it again…perfect for the people that I just described. Baseball has suffered a decline in ratings just as NASCAR has due to the fact that they aren’t able to hold the attention of these people.

    An idea to keep less people from tuning out would be to shorten the races or do what the V8 Supercar series does for many of its events…they have two or three sprint races over the course of one weekend and the races are always wild. Their popularity has exploded over the last few years because of all the action. Many now call it the 3rd most popular motorsport on the planet next to NASCAR and Formula 1. I would love to see a few (not all) races on the calendar cut down into short, sprint races to add excitement to them and draw in a bigger audience. It works for V8 Supercars and it works for local short tracks so why wouldn’t it work for NASCAR? The sense of urgency would raise the level of intensity and aggression to riveting levels that would entertain both the die-hards and the new age fans.

    There is another contingent of fans out there that I’d like to address for a moment and they kind of tick me off. I’m talking about the ones that love to see large, vicious crashes and watch for that specific reason. When you tell these pervasive people off, they will say you’re a liar and you love to watch wrecks too. My answer to that…there is a big difference between being captivated by a terrifying accident and wishing or cheering for it. It’s no secret that we have a primal instinct that craves violence and brutality; that is why so many people enjoy horror movies, gory video games and also why some of our ancestors went to the Colosseum to watch gladiators fight to the death. When some of us went to YouTube after the Cup race, it was most likely to see Austin Dillon’s airborne crash out of awe, amazement and curiosity; nothing wrong with that but if you only watch racing because you enjoy seeing drivers brush shoulders with death in horrifying accidents, then I say good riddance when you walk away.

    There is so much emphasis put on violence in our culture today and people are becoming numb or desensitized to the reality of it. I don’t think these people that wish for wrecks want drivers to get hurt but they seem ignorant and blind to the fact that it can and will happen. I see a handful of tweets from people every time there is a big crash stating how awesome that wreck was before they even think about the welfare of the driver(s) involved. Then they are disappointed when we go to Talladega and don’t wad up at least half the field.

    With the fast-paced tempo of the world today, the attention span of the average human has gotten shorter and shorter which hinders the growth of sports such as baseball and NASCAR. Like I stated before, a way NASCAR can counter this is by replacing some of the 500 mile marathons throughout the season with short, intense sprint races that last no more than an hour or so. We can either adapt and capitalize on the ever-changing needs of today’s society or be doomed by it…our choice.

    Lastly, next time you tune into a race, I’d like you to ask yourself this question…

    Why do you watch?

    I watch for good, hard racing with hopes of a thrilling finish to cap it off but a monotonous ending doesn’t undermine the greatness of the race itself for me.

    I hope that’s how you feel too.