Nascar is so much more than 500 miles of left turns
Monday, August 31st, 2009It is so much more than 500 miles of left turns, any real NASCAR fan will tell you.
It is all about rivalries, about passion, about hating Dale Earnhardt Jr., and loving Gordon even if he does not win. NASCAR has torn families apart. Most of the time, it defies logic and common sense and prudence. I mean really 500 miles of left turns, but still 100s of 1000s of people come out to see their driver pass the finish line flipped over or right side up.
Sometimes, I do not get it, but whatever gets you excited, I suspect is alright, as long as it is legal.
I suspect it is like the arguements I had with my father over which Yankee team was the greatest or which baseball player was the best. The arguements are really not based on statistics as much as it is based on the emotional attachments we develope with the participants themselves. The more we associate with them, the more likely we will overlook their failures and accentuate their successes.
Often, the failures, when circumstances appear to be the greatest against them tend to pull harder on the heartstrings.
Regardless, NASCAR has seen them come and go, and like all sports, the passions are high, the opinions are strong, and the intensity can reach a boiling point. But what are the ingredients that cook up a NASCAR champion. Winning is obviously one of them, but winning in and of itself
is not the only factor.
How they perform, who they defeat play as much of a role in magnifying
the intensity of fans and who they embrace.
NASCAR champions are as real to NASCAR fans as with any sport, so make sure you have the powder dry and the sheilds in place because when the conversations start over who is best, the fireworks are only just beginning.