Stereotypical NASCAR fan

In Sociology: A stereotype is a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group: The cowboy and Indian are American stereotypes.

If you remember in one of my previous posts, I mentioned that I was accused of not being a typical NASCAR fan. I let it go at first but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much I disagreed. What was surprising is this came from someone who has been in and around the sport for many, many years. If anyone should know who or what a typical NASCAR fan is, this person should.

So I asked him why I'm not a typical fan? His response to me was pretty much, you're just not. After talking about it a little more we discovered that his idea of a typical fan is one who wears the likeness or sponsor of their driver everywhere. Hats, shirts, jackets, etc. Me, here I was, in North Carolina on the hunt to meet my hero and I wasn't wearing anything that publically proclaimed my loyalty and support of Tony.


I asked him if that made me a classy fan, and he conceded that I was.

Interesting!

Do I look like what you would call a classy fan? The only thing I'm wearing is a Jeff Burton credential holder to show who I support.










Here are the four auction winners from last August. We each paid quite a large sum of money to ride around in a truck with a NASCAR driver. We travel to races and NASCAR events every chance we get. I would classify us as die-hard NASCAR fans.

So are we stereotypical NASCAR fans? Mind you, I'm the one in the black shirt and here I am, meeting my hero and I am wearing ONE item to show I'm a fan. Bet you can't even tell or guess what it is! It's a sterling silver chain with a #14 pendant.

That's it.

But according to the man in North Carolina, I'm not typical. Why? Because I'm not wearing an immodest tank top with Tony's face, sponsor and number plastered all over it? Because I have my teeth and don't have grits 5 times a day? Because I don't drink beer from morning until night on race days?





What about this person. Is he a typical NASCAR fan?
(Yes, I blacked out his face)

In this picture is a man who seriously dressed like this while waiting to see Tony Stewart on the Chevy stage at MIS this past June.I snapped this picture. He doesn't fit the redneck, hillbilly, blue jean wearing stereotype that I keep hearing reference to! He does have the beer thing going, but still, is he typical?

And next...

What about this guy here? I snapped a picture of him at MIS this past August. Side note - God help our society if the mullet becomes popular again!! Ugh.

Is he the typical NASCAR fan? Shirtless, blue jean shorts, beer in his right hand... as the cars passed in front of him he would raise his hand and proclaim loudly in a drunken slur that his driver needed to go faster or he would flip off Kyle Busch. Comical when you think about it.

I'm sure the drivers, going 200mph, can really see him! LOL


Not only did my independent study start me thinking down this path, my sister told me a funny story last night.

My sister Alisha went down to MIS with me on 8/19/2012. She told one of the lawyers that works in the firm she works for that she was going and what happened. She proceeded to tell him that now her and I (and my mom) are going to Chicago this weekend to see a concert at the Park West Theatre. The attorney looked flabergasted and asked if I was trashy or classy? How is that for stereotyping? I'm trashy as a NASCAR fan and classy if I attend a certain type of concert.

My bad... I didn't realize I was crossing some boundary line!

If you really start thinking about all the different stereotypes that I fall under, I must say that I'm having a bit of an identity crisis.

As a prelude to this blog, I asked a question on FB asking them to tell me what they thought was a stereotypical NASCAR fan. I was quite shocked that most had the same first thought of what a fan is: redneck, hillbilly, beer-drinking, males. MALES! I found that interesting even though some articles I had read hinted that at least 40% of the NASCAR fan base are women!

I leave you with this... are these stereotypes formed because it's the oddball, troublemakers that have a tendency to make the news? I compare it to our current problem with stereotyping Muslims. We distrust all Muslims because of what happened on 9/11 because we associate all the bad things with that day due to watching the news. Doesn't that work the same way for NASCAR fans? Are you going to see a picture of the CLASSY fan make the news or is it going to be the REDNECK HILLBILLY with no teeth, drinking beer with a mullet?

I bet you already know the answer to that one!

Eldora Speedway & short track racing

Have you been to your local short tracks? Have you seen your neighbors on the weekend, racing their pony stock, late modifieds or modifieds? Have you heard the squeal of the rubber against concrete or asphalt? Have you seen the rooster tails of the dirt behind a race car flying sideways on a dirt track?

What the hell are you waiting for? If you like NASCAR, you should love the talent at your local track!

A few miles from me is a 1/4 mile asphalt track called Spartan Speedway. I love watching the local racers tackle this track. The oval racing is great and the figure-eight racing is a hoot and yet terrifying at the same time. These men and women are everyday people who I pass at the grocery store and would never know it. They are living their own dreams by racing on the weekends. Some even hope to work their way up through the ranks and someday race in the big leagues. Go and pay attention, you just might be watching a future NASCAR champion in the making!

It was kind of cool that Michigan International Speedway took out most of the turn 3 and 4 stands and gave one to Spartan Speedway. It's so much better now watching the racing and not falling off (or through) the old wooden bleachers! LOL

www.spartanspeedway.com



My first ever experience at a dirt track was many, many, many moons ago at the I-96 Speedway in Ionia. The only recollection I have of that race is the fact I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see and I was filthy when I left. I never went back, partly because I lived 4 hours away and partly because my first experience there was not the greatest.

So this year of firsts for me included a visit to Tony Stewarts 1/2 mile dirt track called Eldora Speedway in Ohio. I figured it was going to be just like any other race track, but boy was I wrong. I would be there every weekend if it wasn't a three hour trip from my house.

www.eldoraspeedway.com/

In my quest to meet and get to know more about my hero, I chose to buy tickets for the June running of the 8th Annual Prelude to the Dream. I took my father and my little brother for Fathers Day. Don't be fooled though, it was just as much for me as for them!

The Prelude is a charity event with a host of famous drivers from NASCAR, IRL, World of Outlaws, etc. It's one night during the middle of the week where the stars of the auto racing world come out to play. It is in the middle of the week, but since we were not going to stay the night, it was no big deal.

We left Michigan early Wednesday morning and headed down I-69 to Fort Wayne and cut across on 30 towards Lima, OH. Now word to the wise, don't let the damn GPS tell you how to get there. My suggestion is you plug the GPS in for reference but you get a good old fashioned road map to follow. I kid you not, we were in the middle of mile after mile after mile of corn fields, grain fields and whatever else it is Ohio likes to grow. I started to feel quite a bit anxiety as all civilization melted away and here we were on a one lane road with farm land surrounding us like "amber waves of grain." Yes, I now understand the reference in the song!

Finally, after traveling down a road that had a stop sign every freaking mile, we were suddenly stopped in our path by a lovely sign that said "BRIDGE OUT." Happiest damn day of my life as I quickly turned left and out of that agricultural nightmare! Much to my surprise, the GPS had us running parallel to State Route 118 which Eldora is on! So down 118 we go and finally we arrived at the track.

It's a great facility. Clean, great layout and just an overall nice area. The track staff were very friendly, the seating options were unique and welcomed and the concession prices were very reasonable. But the best part of all was the track. What an awesome facility.

We found our seats, which were 3 rows from the bottom of the stands. But don't be fooled, we could still see the whole track which is what makes it so much fun. We put on our protective eye wear and waited for the show. I really wasn't sure what to expect.

Do you know what was an absolute blast? Waiting for the racing to start and watching in the pits to see who we could pick out in their street clothes. I think the mark of a true race fan is when you can identify people when they are NOT in uniform. I was impressed because my father saw the first one. He picked out Ray Evernham.

My brother and I decided to take a walk and as we walked out the back, we walked by another racing legend. I mean literally, we were 2 feet from him. I recognized him right away and I whispered to my brother look, there goes Darrell Waltrip! He couldn't believe it. He asked me if we should ask for an autograph and I said it just didn't feel right. He was was walking fast and looked like he was on a mission so I told him no. But it sure was fun getting close to him!

We did catch him and Larry MacReynolds in the pits later.

After about an hour of people watching, they finally started broadcasting live on HBO Pay-Per-View. They start to run what everyone was calling Hot Laps and afterwards, the guys would go out onto the track and make marks in the mud on the wall. Some guy told me it was so they drivers could tell the difference between the wall and the track. Makes sense.

They went through driver introductions and all the drivers posed for a picture in Eldora's victory lane.

This is only part of them, but it was the most important part to me! LOL

So the intros are done, they pile in the back of trucks and make a parade lap around the track. They are right next to the fence and for me it was the first time seeing up close Danica and Jimmie and Kyle and Kurt and all the others that raced that night. And something I noticed about their faces... and it really didn't even hit me until now after seeing all of them down at MIS. At Eldora they were relaxed and having fun. It was as if the weight of their responsibilities was lighter and they could just be men (and a woman) in fast cars racing just for the pure joy of it. It was awesome to see.

Now it's on to the racing. Wow, I love the dirt late modifieds and the way they go around that track always on the edge. To go fast, you have to be out of control or at the brink of losing control. What a rush.

I grabbed a decent pic of Tony and Ryan after a run. I'll just post a few pics to tell some of the story.

This picture (below) is actually of when Darrell Waltrip cam out and got into the passenger side of one of the cars and Tony drove him around the track a few times. OMG, that was awesome. Later I heard what DW was saying in the car and I couldn't help but laugh. I would LOVE to have taken Darrell's place!!

Anyway, the moral of this story is that you really don't get to see the talent of these drivers until they are out from under the 'heavy-hand' of NASCAR. Man, they can drive. At the end of the actual final feature race, Tony made this move that earned me a mouth full of dirt. I wish I could have taped it. It was incredible. Here are all these cars flying sideways along the top of the track and out of no where comes Tony. He passes a bunch of cars on the inside (he's kissing the inside corner) sideways. I couldn't stop my mouth from hitting the ground which of course is NEVER a good idea at a dirt track.

It was the first time I ever had the opportunity to truly see his raw talent. I have a tremendous amount of respect for his driving after my little dirt track experience.

Our drive time down and back is about three hours each way. In order to afford to do things like this I try to avoid staying overnight when at all possible. So we headed up US 127 at about 12:30am.

Don't do that, ever. That road is a nightmare at night. Just saying.

On 7/13/2012 I went back to Eldora for the second time. I took my friend Kecia with me because Tony's fan club was supposed to have a fan appreciation day. They ended up cancellng it, but since we had bought tickets to the World of Outlaws Knight before the Kings Royale, we ended up going anyway. It was great! The sprint cars were what I saw at the I-96 speedway. Boy, they are fast and Google tells me they have more horsepower than the NASCAR stock cars do! Tony raced that night too but he sucked. LOL But now I can say I've seen him drive a few different types of cars!

The fan club did give us a great little goodie bag for coming. It had a lugnut from one of Tony's race cars which was pretty cool.

I guess for this story I just want to encourage all of you to start visiting and supporting your local tracks. They are the birthplace for the next generation of heros! Also, if you get the chance to see the NASCAR stars on the dirt, DO IT! I believe Tony is right. They need to add a dirt track to the current Sprint Cup schedule!!!

A trip of "firsts" - Part 3

I could go on and on about Michael Waltrip Racing but I'll just say that a trip to his shop is a pilgrimage every NASCAR fan should make. Michael really took the time to cater to the fans of this sport and even a semi-veteran like myself learned a few new things! The staff were very pleasant and seemed very happy to be working there so to me that says it all.

I did stop and get Michael's autographed book from their gift shop. It's titled, "In The Blink of An Eye". I laughed and cried while reading it. It's Michaels story of his colorful rise to becoming a NASCAR star and that day in February 2001 when he won the Daytona 500 and lost his boss and good friend Dale Earnhardt at the same time. It's an eye opener and if you don't get choked up once or twice, you're not a true NASCAR fan!

These drivers become a deep part of every fans lives so when something happens to them, we feel as if we lose a part of ourselves. I hoping that by doing this independent study this semester I can start to figure out why its like this. Why did I get so instantly angry when Tony talked about dying to me in the truck? Why did legions of fans mourn for the loss of Dale Sr when most of them never even had the priviledge to shake his hand? I think I started to get the answer while writing this blog, but it's going to take more research and just deep soul searching to even begin to uncover that answer.

Anyway, on with the tour!

Did I mention that our tour guide was Stan Rabineau? That man knows his stuff and everyone seems to know Stan! I think that is what made our tour so much fun. We didn't feel like outsiders looking in, we actually felt part of it for just a brief moment. I think Stan has met everyone and their uncle and has a story to tell for each stop we made! So, book a tour with them and I promise you won't regret it!

(I hate this picture of me, but it's the only one I have of Stan!)







So, after Michael Waltrip Racing, I'm a little fuzzy but I believe we went to lunch. I could be wrong but oh well, it's my story so we'll go to lunch next. We went to a place where many teams go. The rule is, you cannot ask anyone for an autograph or even talk to them or you will be asked to leave. Hey, I'm all for it! I think it's a great idea. I'm one of those rare fans that will only approach a driver or team member, etc when they are at the track or at a specific NASCAR function. I think they are entitled to have a part of their life free of the demands that fans place on them. I can easily respect that.

So, we did see Marcose Ambrose and Aric Almirola at lunch. I don't know how to describe them except for... maybe... exotic? LOL I think that sounds funny when I say it, but it's not like when you would see Jeff Burton or Tony Stewart in street clothes. They look normal and approachable. Marcose and Aric looked... exotic. Yup, I'll stick to that word. Now go find them in street clothes away from the track and see if you can figure out why!

Our next stop on the tour was Stewart-Haas Racing. Yes, this was my special request. Obviously at this point I'm still on a mission to meet Tony so I figured this would be a great place to try.

When you walk into the main lobby, the entire wall in front of you is glass. It's the viewing area for the floor of the shop. It was nice to see, but obviously not as fan friendly as MWR was. There were race cars for Tony, Ryan Newman and Danica Patrick as well as murals on the wall showing Tony and Ryan racing gokarts as kids.

My first impression of the shop was how cold it seemed. It was a beautiful facility. New and shiny but it held no warmth and was void of a welcoming feel. If SHR is looking for modern decor, I would suggest some type of water wall or water feature. I think it would add a soothing, natural feel to a very "steel" oriented room! But what do I know. I guess I was just expecting something different knowing the drivers and owners. Don't get me wrong, it was a pilgrimage of sorts for me and I'm super happy to have seen it!!

Off to the right of the main lobby was the gift shop. Now here is the source of a comical story. I hate to even admit to it but it's all part of the fun I guess.

We wandered around the shop area and I decided to buy a TS license plate frame for my car and a bottle of Tony's BBQ sauce. I heard mixed reviews on it so I had to try it for myself.

So I'm checking out and Stan says (rather loudly) that this sauce is some good stuff. "Just don't drink it too fast."

Yes you read that correctly. Don't drink it too fast.

I look at him and must have had this look of horror on my face as I said quite loudly myself... "you drink this stuff in the south?"

Well, that had everyone laughing out loud at me. I fell for it hook, line and sinker. I mean, seriously, there are some weird customs in the south. At least they are weird to Northerners like myself! Take boiled peanuts and grits for example. Why the hell grits have to be eaten with every meal is a complete and total puzzle! Ugh, I hate grits. Yuck.

Well, after thoughtfully providing a chuckle to Stan, Kecia and some of the staff at SHR, we moved on to the next stop on the tour. Oh and as you guessed, Tony was not in the shop that day but we did see Greg Zippadelli. If you don't know who that is, that's why God created Google. Google him and you'll see the history of Tony and Greg which is a great story to know!

Ok, so on to the next shop - Earnhardt/Gnassi Racing.

At first I was impressed... than I wondered where was the grease? Tools? Sounds of the air guns? People?

It was such a waste of space to see white from the floor to ceiling and cars on display. I quickly became disgusted. This is not what a race fan wants to see! This is a veiled attempt at placating a fan by showing them a huge vast EMPTY space. It was the shell of the sport prominately on display. Sorry, slightly beautiful but truly sterile and BORING. I couldn't get out of there quick enough.

I had to put this pic in of Kecia. She actually put the helmet on! I just couldn't get past how many other heads had been in it, so I passed. LOL

(Sorry, I'll fix the pics later. I used the wrong size!)



Our next stop was Roush-Fenway Racing. Not really a fan of them anymore. I used to be when Jeff Burton drove for Roush. Roush is big here in Michigan, but I'm no longer all that impressed with him. But, he's part of this sport so we paid ommage to him on this journey.

Know what "ommage" is? Google it and laugh right along with me at my attempt sarcasm.

The museum was great, but they only allow a small viewing window into the actual race shop. Damn the teams and their attempt at keeping secrets! I wonder sometimes if they have a secret spy agency that attempts to infiltrate each shop and exploit their secrets? Roush is locked down like Fort Knox for cripes sake.

Anyway, as I said, the museum was good. Lots of history and good information that any NASCAR fan should know.

I think for this stop I'll just post some pics and let them tell the story.

(I'm super glad Matt Kenseth is getting out of the Roush organization next year!)

Anyway, we left Roush after Kecia hugged the gigantic AFLAC duck in the lobby. Again, ewwww. How many sweaty bodies have touched that damn thing? But hey, she survived so it's all good.

Our next and last stop was Hendrick Motorsports. I could start it now, but I think I'll make this trip of firsts into a four part series. Hendrick deserves a blog all of its own just for the sheer size of the facility. I learned a few neat stories a long the way too that I'll just hint upon.

The finale is coming soon! I promise!

HOW'S THE BUCKET LIST GOING?

NASCAR Contenders Live

Well, in about 12 days I'll be heading to Chicago for a day trip to the House of Blues. They are having their first ever NASCAR Contenders Live event sponsored by Toyota and Sprint.

The 12 Chase contenders will be on stage and they will take questions from the fans. I think this will be a great opportunity not only to see something different and unique but to get some great material for my independent study at Olivet.

http://contenderslive.nascar.com/event_info.aspx


What is NASCAR CONTENDERS LIVE℠?

NASCAR CONTENDERS LIVE, is the start of the most intense and competitive time of the NASCAR season. Live on stage, the final 12 Contenders will have the opportunity to interact with the biggest supporters of NASCAR, the fans, and also share their strategies and insight on how they plan to win the ultimate prize: the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Trophy! Rivalries will be formed, bragging rights will commence, and there is no telling what will happen once the sparks begin to fly! So “boys have at it!”

When is NASCAR CONTENDERS LIVE?
•Wednesday, September 12, 2012
•Doors open at 12:30 p.m. CT
•NASCAR CONTENDERS LIVE begins at 1:30 p.m. CT

Where is NASCAR CONTENDERS LIVE?
•House of Blues - Chicago 329 N. Dearborn Chicago, IL 60654

A trip of "firsts" - part 2

I left off having just finished with my first trip to the Darlington night race. I admit, I thoroughly enjoyed the race and enjoyed getting "close" to my hero even if it was unintentional.

I was thinking about something too last night. I remember I kept having run-ins with rainbows. Now everyone knows that the NASCAR logo has the colors of the rainbow on it so I was quite surprised to see a rainbow in a sunny sky on the way to Darlington on the motor coach... (look close and you can see the colors just above the trees)

And again on the way home I saw one UNDER the plane.

How often can you say you flew "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"?? Sorry, I couldn't resist! I kept looking out the window waiting for the Wicked Witch and her damn flying monkeys to try and hijack the plane!








Anyway, back to the rest of the trip. We were going to stay in Myrtle Beach on Sunday and make the long drive up to Charlotte, NC Monday morning, but we decided against it. So Sunday, we packed up and decided to drive our Silver Dodge Charger rental car up to Wilmington, NC to see the Battleship North Carolina. It was about an hour and a half drive or 72 miles.

http://www.battleshipnc.com/

What an amazing piece of our history! We had a great time! We wandered around deck before attempting to go below. If you are claustrophobic at all, avoid going below deck! Kecia decided to wait for me on deck and I went below on the self-guided tour. I was totally freaked out. A couple of times I was alone and it just felt like there was something on that ship that didn't want me there. It was creepy and only after I got to the gift shop later did it come to my attention that the ship is haunted. Well you certainly didn't have to tell me!! The goosebumps covering every inch of my body was proof enough.

I love the way they have the rooms staged to give you an idea what life aboard the ship was like. I highly recommend that you take the journey. If anything, it will increase your respect for our men and women in the armed services.

After spending some time in the ship, we decided to head for Charlotte. Now that was a 3 and a half hour journey or 200 miles across NC. I was actually really looking forward to it since I'm in love with that State and really wanted to see more of it. Except for the milder winter and red soil, North Carolina is very similar in appearance to Michigan.

Kecia's driving had us safely to Charlotte that evening and tucked away in our hotel room real close to Charlotte Motor Speedway. I have never seen a race at that track but I have taken a track tour which consists of a drive around the track in a great big conversion van. I flew out to Charlotte by myself back in 2001 for a long weekend to see if I was interested in living there. I was, but that's not in the cards yet so it's still an item on my bucket list!

Anyway, we had to be up the Monday morning (5/14/2012) for our VIP tour with Garage Pass Shop Tours.

We had no idea what to expect, but during my communications with the company, our guide Stan told us he had kin who lived in Michigan. I think that set the tone of our visit!

We sat in the hotel lobby and planned out our route. The tour lasted basically from 8:30am-5:00pm or was it 4:00pm, now I can't remember. All I know is it was a long day but one I would glady repeat!

We started the tour at Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR). There is only a viewing window available for fans to look down onto the already fabricated race cars. We were able to see them vinyl wrapping Kyle Busch's car. I guess I'm not that big of fan because I didn't realize that most teams have their cars vinyl wrapped now and not painted. I was told it was lighter than the paint and that the teams don't generally do it themselves they hire a company to do it for them. It is most certainly an incredible skill to have. It was amazing to watch them applying the decals to NASCARs specifications so quickly!!

Michael Waltrip Racing was our next stop. That facility is one that every NASCAR fan should see! Michael lets the fans close to the action and even into the Fab shop where they literally are constructing the chassis and molding the sheet metal into the shape of a stock car. It was absolutely amazing. Of course, no pictures are allowed in the Fabrication section but in the other parts of the shop you can take as many as you would like.

This is Kecia and I out by the haulers that had just returned from Darlington. You can see the backup car still at the top if you look close.




Michael Waltrip took an old movie theatre and created his race shop. It's a unique facilty, much like its owner!

STAY TUNED, MORE OF THE TOUR DETAILS TO FOLLOW VERY SOON....