Brand loyalty: Many people who follow NASCAR have intense brand loyalty to either Ford or Chevy, the two main car companies involved in NASCAR.
Car expertise: A lot of NASCAR fans really know how cars work and how to work on cars. They appreciate the small adjustments to handling and engines that could make the difference between winning and losing.
Regional pride: NASCAR got started in the South, and (white) people from the South are loyal to things perceived as Southern.
Well, I’m not exactly a fan of NASCAR (I prefer to watch rally races when I get the chance), but the appeal for me?
*Watching things go CRUNCH. I hate to see people get hurt, and I know that depending on the kind of race a bad crash can knock a team completely out of racing. (More common in other kinds of racing, from what I know.) But seeing things bounce off… it appeals to the ‘heheheheh- fire, fire!’ bit in me.
*There’s just something about watching the cars go round and round and round and round and round… eyes glaze over
But for me, that’s about it. I haven’t much of a clue about the various drivers or teams, I only know the basics about the guts of a car: NASCAR is something I watch in the hopes of seeing things go CRUNCH and to let my brain idle while doing other stuff.
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Many sporting events leave me cold, but have been exiting when I’ve been there.
I don’t watch NFL Football, but have stood with my toes on the white sideline twice at Super Bowls. The ground really does thunder when they run towards you. Very exciting.
I never watch car racing, but shot a job at Nazareth Speedway in Pennsylvania. Being THAT close to race cars as they competed, was adrenaline city. Watching a car suddenly spin hard against the outside wall and have it’s back…tail…foil…whatever it’s called…shatter into bits was very scary. Yes, it shattered. It wasn’t a fiberglas body, it was carbon-fiber composite layering. It didn’t crack and rip, it exploded into pieces when it hit. Quite something…
I’ve not gone out of my way to follow horse racing but again, I’ve been in priveledged spots. I have stood no more than 10 feet from the inside rail, at 3 years’ worth of Triple Crown Horse Races. Plus, another Preakness in May of 2000. It’s incredibly thrilling to watch horses run by, struggling to speed up and being spurned on by their jockeys.
Again, 99.9% of all spectators at these events did not have the viewpoint that I got to have.
NASCAR thoughts:
I am bored to tears by people who think turning left is racing (try actually driving the car, oh wait you can’t, it’s set up to turn left).
If I want to watch something go around in a circle I will try to flush a Ping Pong ball.
NASCAR does have that certain “redneck soap opera” Wrasslin’ thing to it.
“NASCAR, the WWF of auto racing”.
