NASCAR Nation

by Chris Myers

Pit crews encounter risks as well, facing countless occupational hazards during every race. After being driven at full throttle, the car’s tires are hot with friction when it pulls into the stall. The crew has to immediately spring into action. Besides the physical strain that their bodies go through, they have to be worried about possible injuries, which are unlikely because drivers aren’t careless. Nevertheless, if they are, the team will be penalized for it. Carelessness can cost a driver the race. Risk in NASCAR isn’t synonymous with carelessness. In fact, drivers can’t be careless on the track as they weigh each risk against the possible reward in terms of passing, pit strategy, or any other phase of racing. Carelessness can get you, and others, injured. Taking the right risks is the way to victory.

  If drivers want to win the race, they need to know when to take risks and why. They have to know when to make the pit stops, what to ask the crew chief, and how to follow up with critical decisions that can make or break a race. It’s about consistency, intelligence, and knowing when to gamble. Making a pit stop takes valuable time; however, fresh tires can give drivers the extra speed that not only makes up time, but can get them ahead. If the stop isn’t made, they may end up blowing out in the last few laps and sacrificing the race. Tony Stewart offered a classic example of intelligent risk near the end of the race at Kansas Speedway during the 2009 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup when he had two tires changed instead of four, gambling that he’d somehow hold on. He did, and he beat out competitors who changed all four of their tires. It’s a small distinction, but for Stewart, it made all the difference.

  The best NASCAR teams and drivers are mentally and physically equipped to face unexpected obstacles and take necessary risks. With pit crews of trained mechanics and athletes, sharp-minded and confident drivers with strong critical-thinking skills, experienced crew chiefs, and specially engineered cars, NASCAR is an extraordinary display of coordinated talent under pressure. It all may seem like a lot of work to race at high speeds, but the purpose of racing is more than getting to the finish line. It’s a test of talent and of what people are capable of under pressure. It’s a show of skill and a story of perseverance, danger, and success. That’s why NASCAR drivers are seen as heroes: because they are taking risks in order to push the limits of what we think we’re capable.

  It isn’t only the guys out on the track who have to take risks – the people in charge have to be open to new risks and challenges as well. A few years ago, Toyota offered its sponsorship to NASCAR. Initially, there was great resistance to the automaker among some of the fans. I acknowledge the importance of supporting American businesses; however, NASCAR stood to succeed economically from the venture. The organization realized the potential and took Toyota up on its offer. NASCAR realized that what happens on their race tracks is one of the most important factors for their business. Without solid competition, which is what Toyota was bringing to the table, there was a possibility of losing fan support. Fans build NASCAR, but fans want to see competition; without that, the fan base is lost. This change of mindset is vital for the sport to continue to grow and expand. By staying open to a certain element of risk, NASCAR realized that it could think big without giving up its roots – and secured a major sponsor and car manufacturer along the way.

  Whether it’s the corporate masterminds or the individual drivers on the track, risk is fundamental to NASCAR. There are times to play it safe, and there are times when taking a risk is good, natural, and necessary. Within the proper boundaries, risk is as big a part of NASCAR as the race cars themselves – and it can make all the difference.

  3

  PATRIOTISM

  The sky was ominous and dark. Everyone was crossing their fingers and hoping the race could make it to the halfway mark. If only the sun would shine, the race could go the way it always went: the bright sky lighting the track as cars glimmered around the circuit hour after hour, until nightfall when drivers raced beneath the lights and the solemn evening sky. We knew that if we could just get to the 300-mile mark, it would be an official race.

  It was the Coca-Cola 600, one of NASCAR’s crown jewels, but that didn’t stop the rain from coming. It did end up being an official race, just barely making it to the halfway mark before the skies opened up. Still, we never got to the 600th mile that day, and we never got to change the tire pressure in the cars so they could race under the bright lights at night. Yet the day wasn’t about the rain or even the race. It was Memorial Day weekend, and one of the most memorable parts of the race happened before it even began.

  The clock was nearing noon and the sun shone pale in the North Carolina sky. That weekend the national anthem played robustly as American Black Hawk helicopters circled above the Charlotte Motor Speedway. In the wake of 9/11, President George W. Bush had made a peculiar request that NASCAR officials were happy to honor. Despite being hampered by the rain and the tight schedule, it was no inconvenience to stop the race for a moment of silence to honor troops of the past and present.

  In the racing world, everything seems to move at 180 miles per hour, but that day, all the cars stopped in their tracks at the given time, tires steaming. When they screeched to a halt, the fans quieted, and the engines fell silent. It was as if someone had pressed a pause button and the world stopped. In a place where nothing is ever still, there was no motion.

  Though it was only for a moment, it was a rich one. Everyone gave their respect for their country, their freedom, and the brave men and women who fought for it. Just like many Americans got into the habit of doing after 9/11, Tony Stewart placed a small flag outside the window of his car. He later said how special it was to be a part of that moment. I think everyone else who was in the stands that day would agree.

  The NASCAR drivers, fans, and teams have a very close connection to America’s troops. A good number of drivers and crews know people in the military and have an immense respect for the armed forces. Jimmie Johnson drove his patriotically decorated No. 48 car (entirely painted in red, white, and blue stars and stripes like the American flag) to recognize all the branches of the military and honor the military backgrounds of his teammates. Like many NASCAR fans and drivers, I also have a deep respect for our country’s military and history, for which I thank my father, Eugene Myers.

  In World War II, he was stationed on a ship headed to the fateful shores of Normandy. At the time he was only nineteen. He didn’t know he would be a father someday, or that he would inspire his children with his service to his country. He only knew that his country was calling him to a higher duty that required his honor, his courage, and his patriotism.

  My father willingly gave all those things at Normandy, and lived to tell the story to his kids and grandkids. That’s my personal connection to the U.S. military. And I’m not alone. Many fans and drivers alike have personal ties to the armed forces, and even those who don’t have unwavering respect for the men and women in uniform. NASCAR is closely connected to not only America and its ideals, but to its sense of national pride. The level of patriotism that I see in NASCAR is unprecedented.

  At any American sporting event there is a connection between the people, the players, and our country as we stand for the national anthem. Competitors stand reverently, side by side as Americans, and give thanks for our country. There is always a sense of togetherness, patriotism, and pride in those first moments – that never changes. But at a NASCAR race, that sense of patriotism extends far beyond those first few minutes. After the anthem ends, its values remain deeply rooted in the hearts of drivers and fans. Even if they’re just racing on the track, the fact that Johnson will decorate his car to honor our troops or that Stewart will put a flag outside of his window tells viewers and fans that this community honors the country where their great sport was born. You never see a football team decorate their uniform in red, white, and blue to honor the United States, and you never see baseball players attach flags to their bats or balls. There’s simply a strong connection in NASCAR to the military, and a strong connection to the
patriotic values and pride that keep this country strong.

  NASCAR is a tight-knit community that takes its core values seriously, and one of those values is a respect for country and for each other. I’ve heard drivers refer to a crew member who served in the military. Sometimes I’ll see a driver put an airborne division sticker on his car. That sticker will belong to a fan who’s attending the race or who is from the area. These are the types of things that you just don’t see in other sports. And the patriotism exhibited in NASCAR is sincere. I’ve seen drivers and crew members spend time with soldiers off-camera, taking the time to show them around the track. I’ve heard drivers and crew members invite military to their shops during the off-season. The roots that connect the NASCAR community to our country run deep and strong.

  It’s hard enough to get ten people to listen all at once; sometimes it seems impossible to get just one person to calm down. So when more than 100,000 people stand at the same time for the national anthem, without prompting, to show appreciation for their country, it’s clear that they share the same basic respect for the American people and nation. That’s true American pride and patriotism. Those fans enjoy hearing about drivers and crew members who have served in the military or who have family in the service. That’s something that’s important to them, and something they can respect.

  A lot of NASCAR fans are hands-on people. They’re hard-working Americans, many of whom have served in the military themselves. They are the ones who give their lives and bodies to make this nation great. They are the spouses, brothers, sisters, parents, relatives, and friends of people who risk everything for what they believe in. Even if some of them do not find themselves flying in Black Hawks or running in uniform through the deserts of Iraq, they are working here at home doing what needs to be done in order for this country to function. Without them there would be no America, and without them there would be no NASCAR. They’re willing to sacrifice everything for their families and for their country. Those are true NASCAR fans.

  Fans are what build NASCAR; indeed, they are the foundation of all sports. Still, there is a mentality that racing fans share which stems from a strong sense of solidarity and connects them to each other, to NASCAR, and to America. They seem to know that they are working together for the greatness of this country. They see America’s finest cars and sharpest drivers out on the race track, supported and sponsored by our formidable companies and corporate empires, and it makes them proud. NASCAR fans have more one-on-one access to the stars of their sport than any other sport in the world – no one would disagree with that.

  NASCAR fans come from all walks of life: from a poor rural rebel from the South to a rich urban professional from the North. Since the race is on about once a week, usually on the weekends, it appeals to people who have families and other responsibilities to take care of during the week. By the weekend, they can finally sit down for a few hours and enjoy NASCAR’s adrenaline rush.

  The NASCAR calendar is actually designed to meet that very need, with races scheduled around the lives of working families. The campgrounds that surround the race track are there for the same reason. NASCAR is a family sport. I’m often amazed at the number of young fans. They enjoy watching the cars, especially if they see a logo of something they like, such as M&M’s candy. So they root for that car and learn the driver’s names. Sometimes they get into it because their parents are into it. Or they’ll root for Ford because their father and grandfather only bought Ford cars, like many families who’ve been attached to particular brands of American-made vehicles for generations. But after that initial spark, there’s something about the sound of the engines, the speed, the action, and the technology that keeps them interested and tuned into the race.

  In addition to being a sport for American working-class families, NASCAR attracts the scientifically minded engineers – the gearheads and hands-on brainiacs who are interested in figuring out how a team repairs a cylinder problem or what their technical strategies are. The team owners, some of NASCAR’s biggest fans, are particularly involved and interested in engineering, cars, and the mechanical side of things. Take Rick Hendrick, for example. He’s driven out on the track and worked in the pits, and he is now the proud owner of not only one of the largest automotive chains in the United States, but of one of the most successful NASCAR teams: Hendrick Motorsports. They’ve won close to two hundred races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and countless other victories in other series. Their automobiles are some of the greatest cars ever to hit the race track and are carefully constructed from beginning to end in North Carolina, deep in NASCAR country. Their drivers, from Jeff Gordon to Jimmie Johnson, are greatly revered. Dale Earnhardt Jr. left his late father’s company, Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI), to sign with Hendrick Motorsports. In 2012, Kasey Kahne started racing for Hendrick Motorsports. The team is considered to be the New York Yankees of NASCAR, and it all started with Hendrick’s fine leadership and commitment to the sport.

  Jack Roush, another owner, exemplifies what NASCAR is all about. He walks around the track wearing a hat that he never takes off and is affectionately known on the circuit as “the cat in the hat.” There’s something endearing about him; he’s not just a businessman or a sportsman but someone who has dedicated his life to what he is passionate about: cars. He knows them inside and out. Roush has been engineering and designing parts for motorized vehicles for years, and has worked with Ford and Chrysler. He’s now the co-owner and founder of Roush Fenway Racing, as well as the owner of his own engineering firm.

  Richard Childress, a former NASCAR driver, owns RCR (Richard Childress Racing), which fields teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and other NASCAR-sanctioned series. Childress’s first race was as a replacement driver in the 1969 Talladega 500. This kick-started his career, and soon he was racing as an independent driver, registering in the top ten for many years. He ended his racing career when he saw the opportunity to pick up Dale Earnhardt and a sponsorship from Wrangler Jeans. They won championships in 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1993, and 1994. Childress began expanding his racing empire from that moment on, until RCR eventually became the first racing team to win all three of NASCAR’s national championship series.

  There’s also Roger Penske, the owner of Penske Racing – the team that took the Daytona 500 in 2008. But his interest in cars and racing goes back a lot farther than that: he’s been racing, buying, and selling race cars professionally for his entire life.

  The team owners’ high level of interest and involvement in the racing world is unmatched by their counterparts in other sports. They are major fans who decided to do something about it. It’s these guys, along with hard-working American families, gearheads, and strategically minded NASCAR fans who tune in religiously every week, who make up the NASCAR community.

  To an outsider, it may seem like a community formed around cars crashes. When I first got into the game, I wondered what people were looking for. Then one day, I realized: anyone can drive a great car well, but when something goes wrong, the question becomes, how are they going to handle it? The answer makes the mechanical side of NASCAR so fascinating. So I started watching the cars during the pit stops. I listened to the radio conversations between drivers and pit-crew chiefs discussing whether they should keep going, gambling with worn tires and low fuel, or whether they should lose precious seconds to recharge. Before I got into it, I saw cars just going around in circles – so many wrecks, so many wins. But once I paid closer attention, I realized that there really is something for everybody.

  Football and many other sports have, in some ways, become corporate America’s sports. That isn’t to say that they aren’t American or that they aren’t great. I’ll always be a football fan and I’ll never waver in my love for baseball. However, professional football games are too expensive for many Americans to attend, and tickets can be really difficult to attain. The ordeal of getting tickets, snagging good seats, and taking the family along for the experience can be too much of an obstacle for many
working Americans.

  The campgrounds and the cheap seats at the local racing events make it much easier for NASCAR fans to bring their families along with them to experience the sport. A NASCAR event can be turned into a camping weekend and an all-American family excursion. Although ticket prices have gone up (like everything else), they are still low enough that the stands are full of everyday people. In fact, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races average larger crowds each week throughout the ten-month racing season than the Super Bowl does every year.

  If other sports don’t enjoy the same size of crowds that NASCAR does, it may be because of ticket prices. NASCAR fans can afford to be fans. The Daytona 500, like the Super Bowl, has its corporate tie-ins, but tickets are a lot easier to get a hold of. If traveling to a major race like Daytona is too much of a hike, a fan can grab a ticket in a small town or city nearby since NASCAR has locations from North Carolina to California. NASCAR makes it very easy for fans to get involved because it knows that it is nothing without the fans. The organization is big on honoring its roots and tries hard to respect the small-town folks who started it all. NASCAR wants to be not only a family sport, but an affordable one.

  Another reason NASCAR is America’s sport is because of its singular defining aspect, the invention that makes the sport possible: the automobile. The car defines America. The United States, out of all the countries in the world, has the greatest car culture. Most countries rely much more on mass transit than the United States. From Italy to Russia to Japan, public transportation is generally regarded as more efficient, affordable, and accessible than it is in the United States. This is because of our nation’s great automobile industry and our love of cars, both of which stem from the sheer size of the country.

  Now, some people will argue that improving our public transportation would do a lot for the country, and I agree. It would open up more stable jobs for drivers, conductors, and mechanics; reduce pollution; cut down on the back-breaking cost and hassle of insurance and constant repairs; get people around faster and easier for less; and help the economy during this never-ending energy crisis. All of those things are true.