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Fan columnist: Season finale brings out the best in NASCAR fans
By Calvin Rowland
Thursday, November 20, 2008
SceneDaily
The majority of NASCAR fans are down-to-earth, humble people. Attending the race at Homestead-Miami Speedway reminded me of that fact.
A colleague tipped us off as to where the drivers enter the garage from their motorhomes. While playing autograph hound in the garage, I noticed a woman crying after she had gotten team owner Rick Hendrick’s signature. Her name was Lisa. She and her husband, John, lost their son approximately the same time as Hendrick lost his son, Ricky, in the 2004 plane crash. This created a bond between her family and the Hendrick Motorsport’s teams. John was the most spry, enthusiastic autograph catcher there that day. Three days at the track and he had not even made it out onto pit road. John waited by the gate, where the drivers were dropped off by golf carts, springing into action when a driver entered the garage. He was more than willing to risk messing up his surgically repaired knee getting a signature for us, but we were doing fine on our own.
In the grandstands my wife, Tara, took a picture of two fans sitting next to us. One was a nondescript attendee – baseball hat, NASCAR T-shirt and a tallboy can of Budweiser. The other was a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan. I know this because one half of his horseshoe shaped mustache was colored red while the other side was blue. In the middle a mini-88 temporary tattoo adorned his chin. Pete, the non-dyed mustache guy, asked if we could send him a copy of this photo so he could remember the race with his buddy. Just as any fan would, I guarantee you 100 percent that Tara will develop and send that photo.
While in the parking lot after the race waiting for traffic to clear, Tara and I were offered burgers by two gentlemen grilling on their tailgate. Both Wisconsin natives, Clark flew from near Sheboygan, Wis., to St. Petersburg, Fla., where his brother Carl now resides. Together they rode in Carl’s truck to the track. They had a few burgers left and offered them to us for no reason other than we had all traveled across the country and were essentially in the same predicament.
Carl was a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan. I noticed that during introductions Junior received a large number of boos, more than I have heard at any track ever. There were a great many cheers, but the boos definitely were rife. I am not sure if south Florida just swings towards many varied drivers or if the fans were expressing their dissatisfaction with Junior’s year. Carl indicated it may have been due to the team and sponsor change. Carl explained: “Junior is Budweiser - some things just fit. I didn’t go out and buy all the new stuff.”
At every race track, fans experience the camaraderie and hospitality of other fans. This is what really elevates the satisfaction level of attending a NASCAR race.
Congrats to Jimmie Johnson and the whole No. 48 team. I am glad I was able to witness the historic event that is his third consecutive championship. Congrats to NASCAR for 60 years of races and running.
Next year looks to be an interesting year. Tony Stewart faces an uphill battle as an owner and a driver. I predict Stewart will say something out of frustration that people will overreact to in 2009.
Mark Martin’s move to Hendrick Motorsports will be one of the more intriguing stories for the 2009 season. I will just go ahead and predict now that Martin will finish second in the championship standings.
Another notable driver for 2009 includes rookie-year contender Joey Logano. Will he be sliced bread or toast? The resurgence or disintegration of Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing with Felix….I can’t event type the whole thing, it’s just too ridiculous….will be closely inspected.
With the 2008 Chase ending, the opportunity for me to voice my comments has ended. I would like to thank SceneDaily.com for cleaning up my spelling errors, punctuation mistakes and innuendos. Thanks to NOS Energy Drink for sponsoring the prize
Winter has come to Chicago. Some characteristics of winter are a pain such as snow-shoveling, ice-scraping and the hacking of a winter cold, but the most torturous thing is that there is no NASCAR.
Thanks so much to everyone for taking a brief moment to read my column. I sincerely appreciate it.
Mentioned Drivers: Carl Edwards
2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings
Driver Standings after the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 6492 |
| 2 | Mark Martin | -108 |
| 3 | Jeff Gordon | -169 |
| 4 | Kurt Busch | -211 |
| 5 | Tony Stewart | -285 |
| 6 | Juan Pablo Montoya | -289 |
| 7 | Greg Biffle | -321 |
| 8 | Denny Hamlin | -352 |
| 9 | Ryan Newman | -411 |
| 10 | Kasey Kahne | -476 |
| 11 | Carl Edwards | -520 |
| 12 | Brian Vickers | -666 |
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8 responses to "Fan columnist: Season finale brings out the best in NASCAR fans ". Post a Comment.
said:
Nov 20, 2008 at 12:02 PMEvery NASCAR race brings out the best of the best, of the best fans (people) in all of sports, that I have ever experienced, period!
Report as AbuseI've been to so many races, North, East, and South, and have shared so many beers, so much food (given and received), met so many NICE people, received medical care from an EMT on his way to the race once, have shared so many phone numbers and addresses, and kept in touch with the race fans (new friends) over the years, it is GREAT!
RACE FANS ARE THE BEST. Rich or Poor, race fans mix, no matter who they are rooting for. All have respect for one another and each others drivers. All fun and puns towards ones driver are respected and laughed at, then recripricated. No harm done.
Then the racin' begins.
I've been on Millionaires row at Charlotte and tented it at Dover. It's all GREAT!
I still get goose bumps when they start the engines.
I love the fans and the atomosphere!!!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportDarlene's Dad said:
Nov 20, 2008 at 2:35 PMNice job on these!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportRobin Rowe said:
Nov 20, 2008 at 7:00 PMMark Martin, 2nd in the championship-very clever. How many times will that be now? The most torturous thing is that there is no RACING - NO F-1, CART sportscars, etc. The wintertime withdrawls are unbearable. Thank goodness for races recorded on my VCR. Our first glimmer of hope will be the 24 hours at Daytona!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportWarren Rowland said:
Nov 21, 2008 at 7:52 AMGreat job on the articles bro. You did some really nice work. See ya at Thanksgiving.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportstar hansen said:
Nov 21, 2008 at 5:19 PMawesome stuff i like the cat and the beer ones the best. are you writing somewhere else for next year?
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» Confirm Abuse ReportGA Bulldogs said:
Nov 24, 2008 at 1:26 PMWell done. Thanks for doing a great job. You definately had a pulse on the fans. Talked about rain early on then evryone talked about rain at qualifying. Kept it interesting and funny even when the chase was a blow out. you never talked down to us or talked about the obvious.
Report as AbuseNascar is over.....Go Bulldogs!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportTeema H. said:
Nov 29, 2008 at 4:54 PMEnjoyed all your columns, Calvin....Felt like I knew you or you sat beside us at Loudon this year....Hope to be reading you/following along,again, next season.
Report as AbuseHave a safe and warm winter in Chicago!
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» Confirm Abuse Reportmyrna perkins said:
Nov 30, 2008 at 6:15 PMGood column. I like e but don't think he can ever be what the fans want him to be.
Report as AbuseRightfully so as he seems to have a practical and realistic view of life; be happy, have fun, help others.
I am first and formost a 48 fan but I have high hopes for Edwards, Biffle, Keselowski and Jeff Gordon next year.
I will be at the gate in Daytona when the haulers come in. Those days leading up to qualifying are the most fun. You can drive into the infield for 10, wallk all around the garages and have a great time. I hope that practice is continued in 2009.
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