by Chris Myers
In racing, that ideology is physically embodied in two cars racing head to head down the track to prove, definitively, who is better and who is faster. Sure, there’s a macho side of it, but it has everything to do with the fast-paced, capitalistic, competitive American culture that this sport comes from. Whatever the limit is, we have to go a little bit beyond, if for no other reason than to stay on top.
People often try to describe to me what it is they see and feel when they attend the races in person. They talk about the particular sound of the cars whipping past them. The bright colors of the cars blur, as in a photograph when you try to take a picture of something moving and the camera just can’t catch it. But NASCAR, however fast it may be, leaves a lasting impression. It leaves a sensation that you just don’t get anywhere else.
Actually, maybe it does compare to something else. Remember that first go-cart ride, or the first time you drove in a car with your buddies? Or that roller coaster or motorcycle ride when you finally got comfortable and said, “I want to take this a little bit faster”? It’s human nature: we reach a limit and we want to go a little bit beyond it. We’re all sixteen or seventeen, racing on a dirt road with our friends, yelling, “Go faster!” That love of speed, that competitive spirit and fast-paced culture is all-American, and it’s what NASCAR is all about. We love going over the limit.
The question then becomes: How far above the limit can we go and stay inside the lines? How long before we get caught? How far can we go and how much can we get away with? We have our little ones in the backseat, our speed limits and responsibilities that keep our speedometers relatively low. NASCAR, though much less hampered by things of that nature, still has to abide by certain regulations.
Obviously the cars of today are a lot faster than the race cars of yesteryear, but they could be even faster. Restrictor plates, necessary for safety reasons, restrict the horsepower of NASCAR race cars at Daytona and Talladega. A restrictor plate is a thin metal plate with four holes that is placed between the carburetor and the engine to restrict airflow from the carburetor into the engine limiting the amount of power the engine is able to generate, which ultimately reduces the vehicle’s speed.
In years past, race cars were similar to showroom cars and were thus less aerodynamic. (For 2013, the big four car manufacturers are introducing cars to the buying public that are very similar in style and looks to their counterparts on the race tracks and which will be distinguishable from the other manufacturers’ race cars.) At that time it was safer to push the limit. Now cars have to be more closely monitored, which includes having the race car’s horsepower kept in check. As much as we love speed, we have to be realistic about safety and how far we can push the boundaries. Operating within certain limitations means that we have to make certain sacrifices. For that reason, most speed records are usually set when a driver is qualifying. If drivers don’t have to worry about other cars on the road, they have the freedom and the space to zoom around as fast as they like. They don’t have to worry about wrecks or anyone getting in their way. Safety becomes less of a hindrance. As far as speed and safety are concerned, NASCAR has set up a fair ratio between the two, maxing out the speed while keeping the races as safe as possible. Yet still there are those who are tapped on the shoulder by their inner speed demons and can’t resist the urge to go beyond the limit. There’s always that temptation to out-do the competition, to go just a little faster.
In theory, a car could easily be built to go well in excess of 200 miles per hour, assuming that the car makes few turns and is traveling in an unobstructed path the majority of the time. There’s nothing, save for restrictor plates and a set of stringent regulations, stopping teams from doing so. Like all sports and areas of competitiveness in our day and age, there are those who try to get ahead by cheating. Compared with the scandals that have affected some other sports, NASCAR has done a good job dealing with this issue. Since there is no union in NASCAR, officials have more control over the rules of the game and the punishments for violations. If they want to crack down, they crack down. They put the rules out there, and they enforce them the very best they can. We care about the sport and we don’t want to deal with a soured reputation.
In this day and age of steroids, drivers are also being scrutinized for cheating by way of drug use. This baffles many NASCAR fans and outsiders alike. What could a driver possibly take to enhance their performance other than a cup of coffee? There is a list of banned drugs in NASCAR, including particular stimulants. Stimulants are essentially like coffee except much, much stronger. Of course, NASCAR also enforces a stringent anti-drug policy that strictly forbids the misuse or abuse of any drug. This was violated by Jeremy Mayfield when he tested positive for methamphetamine, which probably didn’t increase his ability to drive but did put him and other drivers on the track at risk. This was a very clear violation, but for a while people tried to give Mayfield the benefit of the doubt. Due to the many rules and regulations in NASCAR, sometimes while trying to navigate through confusing red tape or figuring out how to make a repair on a car in less than fourteen seconds, a certain amount of caution gets thrown to the wind. There just isn’t time to leaf through a manual when you’re going 180 miles per hour or jumping over the wall to fine-tune an engine. Just as with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and their recruiting rules, things come up. There are always new rules and restrictions that the team might not have thought of, since NASCAR regulates everything from the height of the roof and the length of the bumper to the specifics of the engine.
Through the course of a race, many pit stops are made. The parts of the car, which were carefully placed according to guidelines before the race, crumble, wear down or break. Teams have to come up with quick solutions under pressure. However, using illegal fuel or car parts, with full knowledge of its illegality, is cheating. That is treated with seriousness in NASCAR, and there’s no excuse for it.
The body shop is where some of that monkey business goes on. If that’s the case, the driver is less involved and the fault could be placed mostly on the team or the crew chief. At times, NASCAR teams are like a board room of well-paid attorneys – they look for loopholes and see if they can squeeze through them. In some instances, the driver may not be aware what the team is doing. As the saying goes, he just wants the hamburger; he doesn’t care how you slaughter the cow. It can be hard to tell whether drivers are involved and how much to penalize them. It is plausible for a driver to deny responsibility for rule violations, especially if something was done in the body shop without his knowledge.
Still, many drivers are aware of what’s going on with their vehicles, and ultimately their name is attached to that car and their team. It is their reputation at stake. They have to ask themselves if those extra miles per hour are really worth it, and if they should sacrifice speed for safety. If a driver is branded as a cheater, no matter how fast he’s moving, that reputation will follow him for the rest of his career. It can take a lifetime to build a name for yourself in this sport, and just a matter of hours to lose it. Most teams look for that competitive edge, but they’re not going to cheat to get it. Drivers have too much to risk.
In the early days of NASCAR, the driver was so involved and hands-on that he was part of the team fixing the car. Sometimes he knew the car better than they did. If there was cheating going on, he knew about that, too. However, back then, chances were that he didn’t care. NASCAR was a sport of rebels. The saying used to be: “If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’.” It was an accepted part of the game.
Yet as the sport grew in popularity and the technology advanced, questions of safety began to be asked, and NASCAR started moving away from that mentality. The culture of cheating was very loud and clear, and I have to give credit to NASCAR for cracking down on it. They want teams to be innovative and competitive, but they don’t want to hear that old saying anymore.
Nowadays teams are checking the manual and even studying it because NASCAR has been stri
cter. They know how to bring the hammer down. Their attitude is: if you’re going to play the game, it’s up to you to know the rules.
In the case of flat-out cheating, the athlete has to ask themselves why they’re playing the sport and if it’s worth risking their reputation. The punishments for cheating used to be a lot more lenient; now that’s not the case. As much as there is an incentive to be the fastest one on the track and win at all costs, a team can get penalized very quickly – not only by NASCAR officials, but also by their sponsors and, most importantly, by their fans. It may seem like fans have less power than NASCAR officials, but when you think about who gives this sport its ratings, who buys the memorabilia, and who is essentially writing everyone’s paychecks, it’s the fans. If they collectively dislike a driver, that driver’s career will suffer considerably and could end altogether. Drivers have to choose between getting that extra speed and possibly tarnishing their reputation. They have to figure out how much that quick fix is worth.
That quick fix, however, can be mighty tempting. Let’s say I walked up to you with a pill – something I had cooked up in my basement. Sure it’s illegal and contains all kinds of damaging substances … but what if I told you it could solve all your problems and get you ahead in life? Americans are always looking for a quick fix, a way to beat out the competition fast. Nowhere else in the world are get-rich-quick Ponzi schemes, lose-all-that-weight-in-a-week diets, and miracle pills so popular, which is why our infomercial market is so successful: it’s crammed with fast fixes. We want to throw dinner in the microwave and have it come out as a five-course meal.
Our athletes aren’t any different. If someone could give them a pill that promised better performance instantly but shaved countless years off their lives, they very well might overlook the finer details concerning their health and well-being in order to succeed (even if it was cheating). There’s an old saying that is still whispered in modern locker rooms: it’s fine if you cheat, but not if you get caught. It’s all about whether or not you’re willing to take that risk. And that’s probably one risk drivers shouldn’t be taking.
Sometimes, though, NASCAR drivers would be willing to accept greater risk for greater speed – and they’re not alone in this. Everyone in the sport, from the sponsors to the fans, all want to push things to the max – to go a little faster to really taste danger. Drivers have already taken that pill. The drivers live fast. They agree to whatever rules are set, but some of them aren’t as concerned about their safety as the authorities making the rules. They just want to race. Every weekend they put their lives on the line.
The athlete on the outside of the car who doesn’t understand racing may snicker and say, “Well, you don’t have to be in great shape and train the way I do – you’re just sitting in a car.” They don’t realize the pressure that speed places on NASCAR drivers. They may be sitting in a car, but they’re moving over 150 miles per hour with forty-two other cars crammed on the track with them. Combine that with car wrecks, and it becomes a true test of ability. Even if you’re very good at what you do – even if you’re the best – you’re very vulnerable on the circuit. If someone on the track isn’t good at what they do, you may have to pay for it by avoiding a bad driver, dropping back in the race, or avoiding collisions. It’s a different kind of sport.
Many people don’t realize or understand what it is that these drivers do. NASCAR isn’t just fast driving. In fact, speed is just one aspect (albeit an important one) of racing, just one element that draws people in. Even though it’s important and it’s exciting, a true fan isn’t merely attracted to cars circling race tracks really fast. If that were the case, NASCAR wouldn’t have too many fans. If a driver is going to be successful, they need more than just speed. Fans can watch the races just for the speed and the crashes, but they’ll be missing out on a lot if they don’t come to appreciate the sport for its other aspects.
Certainly the first-time viewer may have trouble picking up on the finer points of racing. For example, in a race at Dover, Jimmie Johnson was racing head to head with Tony Stewart. This isn’t anything out of the norm, but it’s exciting to watch if you know who is driving. To a first-time viewer, it just looks like two cars racing. But if you know you’re watching the top drivers, it’s exciting. Johnson and Stewart are two of the best drivers in terms of the fundamentals of what they do under pressure, how they handle the lead, and how they handle a bad car that’s dropping or a good car that’s in front. It’s more than how fast they can go, even if they know how to pick up speed. Johnson and Stewart aren’t alone in their abilities; certainly Jeff Gordon joins their ranks, along with many other drivers, including great drivers of the past. Being a winning team is about more than how fast the car can go.
People often wonder how much skill is involved and who deserves credit for winning the race: the driver or the car he’s racing. I’ve never been a driver and I’ve never been a crew chief, but after years of NASCAR broadcasting experience, and after getting to know racing intimately, I can say that if a driver wants to take the finish line, he has to have the skill to do it. That skill is tested when things go wrong. It’s just like any other job. Whether you’re a pilot, construction worker, doctor, mason, engineer, or working at a fast-paced office – no matter the business environment – the person who is most skilled is the one you want to work with and the one who can handle an emergency. When everything goes wrong, to whom can you turn? Who handles problems the best and who knows how to respond?
That’s knowledge and that’s skill. That’s what separates the best drivers from good drivers and the men from the boys. If a coach is able to handle injuries on his team with efficiency and make the necessary adjustments to get through the game, that’s good coaching. If a pitcher is having an off day, but manages to pull through, that’s a talented pitcher. If there’s a wreck or a mechanical crisis on the race track, the talented driver is the one who has the know-how and skill to handle his vehicle with grace.
In a major crash, it can be difficult to tell if anyone handled their vehicle with grace. It’s hard to say who was reckless, who was being a speed demon, and who just got caught up in a bad situation. I’ll see a wreck and at that moment I’ll think I know whose fault it was, but when I go back and watch the replay enough times, I’ll realize that the car was set up to crash. It may be an adjacent driver’s fault or someone near the driver who swerved the wrong way or made a wrong move, which led to resulting mishaps on the part of other drivers. Sometimes drivers will even apologize to each other for mistakes like that. They know that they could have handled themselves better.
For the most part, the drivers in this sport know how to handle themselves. A good driver with a decent car and well-timed pit stops will make their way through the race with mild success. If the driver’s car isn’t the best or has problems or needs adjustments, that, when his true skill shines. If someone causes a wreck and he has to navigate his way through it, his abilities see him through.
The United States is no different. As we face difficult times, our leadership is tested; our country and all its actions are scrutinized. Anyone can be a great leader when the resources are available and foreign relations are on the up and up. But when the going gets tough, that’s when we’re tested. That’s when we have to shine. It’s not about speed and how fast the problems can get solved, although that is important. It’s about how we handle ourselves under pressure. It’s about really addressing and resolving issues. That’s the test of a good driver and leader. At one point or another, we all have to face that kind of test.
People in other sports may just see a guy sitting in a car pressing a pedal, but here in NASCAR we know that the truly skilled driver is constantly testing himself and is constantly succeeding – and succeeding at a lightning-fast speed. For the first-time viewer, that may not be quite as clear, but the speed and the action are. The spectacle of speed, from the first time a fan sees a race on television to when they finally buy those tickets and see the cars f
lash by with their own two eyes, is a spectacle that never tires.
The sense of shock a first-timer has when confronted with the speed of the cars whizzing by and the noise of the engines roaring past can inspire both awe and fear. Some fans wonder, how fast can these cars go? The idea of one mistake, at those speeds, is more than scary. Some people get a little shaken at their first race, especially if they’re up close. Others fantasize about being in the car and think about how they would drive, the turns they would make, and the feeling they would have behind the wheel. Once everyone adjusts to the race, they love the fear factor and the speed. People get comfortable with the idea of speed and will do whatever they can to get close to it, short of sitting behind the wheel themselves. The initial experience of going to a race can be life-changing. It certainly was for me.
Before I even reached the tracks I could see how massive the scene was going to be. Whether it’s Martinsville, Virginia, or Talladega, Alabama, the track takes over the city. Cars fill the streets. I didn’t realize before I went to races how big of a spectacle it truly is. Of course, I’d heard the numbers, but it didn’t hit me how large the crowds really were until I stood in a crowd much larger than any for the Super Bowl – and that was at a regular race. People need golf carts just to get around the track because it’s so massive. It’s a microcosm, a city in and of itself.
When I was outside of the track, I felt like I might be at a circus or carnival. There were souvenir trucks and vendors selling food of all sorts. I could smell the rich, savory aroma of good American barbeque roasting in the campgrounds. Some fans had passes to go see the cars in the garage. That surprised me. In few other sports could fans see players before the game or get that close to the action. To me it was like opening the door to the New England Patriots’ locker room before the big game.
