Seriously, I just don't get why people like NASCAR. I've even grown up in and lived in the South my entire life, and I've never understood why NASCAR has any kind of appeal at all.
It's a bunch of country dudes who drive around a track. Other than the crashes (which are a bad form of entertainment considering that people can be seriously injured or die), I cannot wrap my brain around how it is in any way entertaining...or can even be called a "sport" without laughter ensuing.
And, how do you figure out who to like/support? Sports teams represent entire schools, cities, sometimes states. So, there's a local pride I can understand there. But, drivers represent Mello Yello, or Napa Auto Parts, or something else stupid and consumerist like that. Why do people have favorite drivers? Because they represent their values ("he's a good ol' Christian boy who don't take shit from nobody!"), or they're from the same town, or the guy is cute, or the person just likes spark plugs and caffeine?
I really don't get the entire thing. So...can anyone explain it to me?
Go get in a car. Drive teh car to some backcountry roads. Bury the speedometer and slide around a few hairpin turns. If this doesn't do it for you, you're lost. NASCAR started with running moonshine on these same roads.
I would say that ninety percent of fans I know are rednecks, but they're as smart and as educated as anyone. They just like fast cars and having fun. Many of them worked on muscle cars as teens, like driving fast, like a cold Bud, like the roar of the engines, and the smell of gasoline and hot rubber.
But NASCAR fans are no difefrent than people who watch any American sport, and they are not just people with farmer tans and missing teeth. That's idiocy, pure stereotyping by people who can't see what's in front of their faces.
We often support a driver raised in our area, or a driver that shows he has what it takes to be a winner. I love football, too, but I never believe for a second that the team represents me in any way. Driving bumper to bumper at 200 miles per hour takes reflexes and courage, and it darned sure is a sport, but only a turd goes to see the crashes. No real fan wants to see anyone injured, let alone killed.
Fast cars, particularly muscle cars, have been a way of life for decades. They're fun to build, fun to drive, and millions of men, and more than a few women, have been involved.
And, Michael, if there's power in knowledge, you're the weakest person on the planet.
