NASCAR Defined for the TV Only Fan
They are legion, the TV era of NASCAR has spawned a cadre of fans that have never been to an event, all they know are bobblehead booth denizens, “wall-cams,” and endless commercials.
The “REAL” is missing. The real as defined in this fans quote offered while sitting atop a bus in the Talladega infield this spring:
“I never even liked NASCAR,” Jason Baty of the Smyrna, Tenn. says. “Then in ‘84 I went to a race in Atlanta and saw that. Every time the cars go by - it’s like your shirt’s being sucked off. I was pretty much hooked then.”
Amen brother!
Although he fails to mention the swirl of dust and little rubber bits that engulfs your being as the green flag falls. Not to mention the low rumble that threatens to shift the position of your feet and register on the Richter Scale.
The quote is contained in an article penned by a NASCAR neophyte the Associated Press apparently sent to Talladega to file a report as a first-time attendee.
It’s a semi-interesting piece but contains a fatal flaw.
Never having attended a NASCAR event she looked around and came to the conclusion fans are “overwhelmingly Southern - and many of them, judging by the variations on the Confederate battle flag that fly over the RVs, are zealous guardians of their particular interpretation of Southern heritage.”
Well duh… what do you expect deep in the heart of Dixie?
The AP needs to extend the writers tour to include Fontana (Tofu anyone?) or Watkins Glen (”Look Ma Canadians!”).
UPDATE: Here’s another writer with generally the same thoughts on NASCAR. Actually same thoughts, but MUCH stronger, as in never, no-way a horse couldn’t drag him into a NASCAR event.
The interesting thing is he claims NASCAR “crowds of 150,000 gather at speedways to take it all in (aided, I’m sure, by the occasional beer).”
Yet when offering a last of better things to do on a Sunday afternoon he suggests, “key the letters ‘MPG’ onto an SUV.”
Which raises the question, is he also aided by the occasional beer or is he naturally a destructive SOB?
NASCAR, NEXTEL Cup, Sports, Auto Racing, Motorsports, Full Throttle
I’ll avoid the temptation to turn this into a political discussion, but if NASCAR has a glass ceiling, it’s the perception that it’s a “redneck” sport. In the golden days of open wheel racing in this country, its popularity was both broad and deep, from coast to coast and border to border. NASCAR has never accomplished that, and it’s interesting that with the success of drivers outside the stereotypical demographic, their popularity seems to be on the wane at least slightly. Of course I still attribute that more to the boring racing than the accents of the race winners.
Paul:
Then you need to look at the latest demographics of the sport.
Its fastest growing segment is of the female gender and approx 40% of it’s fans come from households that earn far above the national average. Hardly “rednecks” or based in the south.
As far as TV ratings and attendance go, there’s a lot more factors than any perceived dissatisfaction with the sport in play.
First and foremost is the idea that NASCAR would grow a fan base until all of America and the globe would become fans, that’s obviously a nonsensical stance to take. It had to peak at some point, maybe nows the time.
To use last year and what MAY be a continued trend this year a third of the way thru the season is too early to base a decision on.