Jeff Gluck: You can learn a lot about someone through Twitter
Michael Waltrip is one of a several NASCAR drivers that uses Twitter. // Jim Fluharty, NASCAR Scene
COMMENTARY
I never realized Michael Waltrip was so lonely.
He certainly doesn’t seem that way at the track or on TV, which is the only time most people really get to see NASCAR drivers and their personalities.
But you can learn a lot about a person by what they “tweet” on the social networking site Twitter, and a lot of Waltrip’s updates through his account @mw55 concern he and his dog Darla sitting watching a movie.
Apparently, Waltrip doesn’t actually hang out with Ron Capps talking about NAPA parts during his free time.
For example, at 9:05 p.m. on June 30, Waltrip tweeted, “hello friends. me and Darla are in for the night. if anything interesting happens, i will let you know.”
Nothing much did, outside the comedy “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” coming on TV. Waltrip happily quoted the movie (as he often does for various movies) and tweeted at 11:46 p.m., “the wrong kid died dewey.”
Such is the exciting home life of a NASCAR driver, apparently.
Through Twitter, fans have more access and insight into the lives of many drivers than ever before. Much of it is entertaining, some of it seems completely normal and other tweets may be TMI (too much information).
Just this morning, for instance, Elliott Sadler shared his Friday agenda.
“Hangin in Daytona,” he wrote on @Elliott_Sadler. “Pretty simple day. Only 2 laps of qualifying. Going to hang on beach cause I have awful farming tan.”
That’s a mental image I never really wanted, but it’s all part of the Twitter experience, and more and more drivers in the garage are figuring out that it only increases their interaction with ever-loyal NASCAR fans.
If you keep up with Sadler on Twitter, you also would know he’s seen the new Transformers movie twice already – and loved it – and often chooses Cinnamon Toast Crunch for breakfast.
Fans eat that stuff up – lame pun intended – despite the trivial nature of many tweets. But when you follow someone on Twitter, it establishes a personal connection, even if you don’t know them.
Someone out there might say, “Hey, I eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch, too! We have something in common.” Because after all, the human experience is something to which everyone can relate, famous millionaire driver or average joe.
Some of the more humorous tweets come from the drivers who speak English as a second language.
Columbia native Juan Pablo Montoya (@jpmontoya) had a big day on Tuesday.
“Got my ping pong table and now pick it up my car,” he tweeted at 2:25 p.m.
Later, at 5:09 p.m., he wrote, “Playing ping pong and wife went to buy mcdolands (sic) for the kids. I sucked at it but its fun!!!”
By far the most entertaining and joyous twitterer is Max Papis, the Italian driver whose passionate personality shines through on every tweet. His grammar and spelling is not always on-target, but fans still get the point.
“tday I run well in practice tuff track daytona in nascar sideways out of every corner,” Papis tweeted through his @maxpapis account on Thursday.
Papis seems to post Twitter messages about his every move, often accompanied by pictures.
“At BJ's need to be carefull not to buy useless things as I usually do......but is fun here,” he wrote on June 25.
Other Cup drivers on Twitter include @SamHornish, @Bobby_Labonte and @RyanNewman39, though Newman acknowledged he has “help” with his Twitter page and doesn’t actually post himself.
AJ Allmendinger is a fairly recent addition to the Twitter world, though he already seems to have gotten the hang of it.
“Did 2 and half hours at the gym. Some house work for lynne. Damn I am a nice husband! Jk I'm not that nice,” he tweeted through @AJDinger on June 24.
Nationwide Series drivers @BradCColeman and @landoncassill can often be found making tweets from the same location, and the ever-chatty @Kenny_Wallace is also very active. So is Michael McDowell (@mmcdowell47), whose social networking efforts were detailed in a SceneDaily.com story on Thursday.
As a shameless plug, you can also follow writers (I’m @jeff_gluck), though I promise not to tweet about my farmer’s tan anytime soon.
