I should be in Charlotte tonight, I really should. I'm sitting here, doing laundry and the occasional half-hearted attempt at housekeeping, wishing I was there. I am watching the race on TV, but my heart's not in it. I am sad, and sadder still because I am only here because I'm being safe, being practical, counting pennies. Feeling badly that I gave into Adulthood and its responsibilities.
I have not been to a NASCAR® race all this season and it's starting to frustrate me. It must be a sign that I'm getting older or something, because I actually (and it kills me to admit this) have weighed the pros and the cons of going versus my budget. Gasoline prices what they are, and Charlotte still having the shortages they are, I made a conscious decision to not go this weekend. Even though it would be the very last time I would see Smoke (Tony Stewart) drive in the #20 car at Charlotte. Even though it would be the last time I would see Smoke and the simply wonderful Zippy (his long-time crew chief and friend) team up together for this October classic at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Even though...well, hell, even though I've not been racing yet this season. Like I could be any more selfish.
I'm sitting, here, though, writing this and hating that I was practical. Hating that I didn't throw $200 at this weekend excursion of mine (and that's hoping I can find a decent rate per gallon somewhere) and, with it, throw caution to the wind. It is not every year, or every weekend, for that matter when the chances are this good for a lively and competitive race. And while my long-time fave Mark Martin is not competitive this year, and most likely Tony and the Home Depot team won't settle their differences in time to likely be champs this their final run, there is also the camaraderie that exists between us NASCAR® fans, too. A spirit that frankly cannot be replicated at home, watching from a television set. But that is where you'll find me tonight. Finding me hoping I'll be able to go in May next year, instead...really hoping.
So, with a hardened eye at my wallet and a wary eye of the unknown, I decided to not go. The decision, sadly, was not the hardest of ones to make from a purely economical standpoint: Lowe's, despite having plenty of seats available even as late as yesterday, still did not have a fire sale to get the stands filled and instead held their ground for the inflated ticket prices (at least in any areas where you won't risk losing your hearing). Hotel and/or motel rooms still were about as high as they usually are...translation: jacked up some because it's 'race weekend'...and let's not even talk about the gas shortages in and around western North Carolina right now that's pushing fuel prices up to about the $4/gallon range (some help is on the way, though). I know economically we're all having it rough and in most likelihood it's going to get rougher, but apply some common sense NASCAR® (and vendors): sell things for a little less profit margin and get people to come out and be thankful. Or, you can do what you did with me and some others I know and make a difficult financial decision that much easier to rationalize. You help us, we help you.
I'm going to put away my wallet and all of my crib sheets that helped influence me in this decision and try and concentrate on the race instead. Damn, I wish I could be there. Damn, I wish I could try (yet again) to see Zippy at work, getting ready and then stressing and maybe even hear him give Smoke a taste of his own medicine on the radio. Damn, I can almost smell the overpriced beer and tough-as-nails 'soft' pretzels. Earlier this week during qualifying I peeked on the television and saw (approximately) the great seat I had for both races last year. Maybe I can swing the near Martinsville race, maybe that would satisfy my cravings for overblown commercialism, extremely tight jeans (both men's and women's, with both good and bad outcomes), choruses of 'hell ya' and 'JUNIOR!', and also some weird need to see my beloved boys in orange try to take it home one more time. Lord knows it's not been an easy year for me as a fan, but it's been much harder for them (or so it seems, anyway) as a team. I hate to see it end this badly...or at least see it end this badly only through the lens and spin of television.
Honestly, as I write this, I don't know where my loyalties will be next year after the Home Depot team as I've known for so long breaks apart... either supporting Tony or supporting Zippy, as supporting both doesn't look viable at present...but I'm so on the fence it's a bit worrisome right now. In a sport where fan allegiance is everything, I wonder if it's acceptable to jump ship from a fave driver to a fave crew chief?? A wild boy racer called Tony Stewart 'brought me to' Greg (Zippy) Zipadelli oh so many races ago, but it's been Zippy's actions as a man and leader that have kept me a loyal fan when Smoke's actions were unacceptable. I admit I've watched them both with equal emotion over the years, and have been proud to call them 'my' team (although Smoke has not made that easy at times). It weighs on me that a Championship appears nearly out of reach already. I'm heartsick at the prospect of this dynamic duo going their separate ways, and it's not even next year yet.
Nor is it the end of this race, but it is the commercial break. Maybe if I find something else I can flip back and forth with on the telly, I won't be this 'racesick' as the night rolls on...
Showing posts with label Lowe's Motor Speedway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lowe's Motor Speedway. Show all posts
11 October 2008
13 June 2007
A Good Sport's Success is Hard to Judge
As many of you know, I am an unapologetic NASCAR® fan and have been for many years. Even before that, I went with my Mama and Dad to the local dirt and/or short tracks (meaning 1/2 mile in length or less) on the weekends. It's a sport that I love, full of drivers and characters and history that I'm proud to recall or know. And unlike other sports, if you follow NASCAR® long enough, you feel you 'know' those drivers and teams you support...it's like an extended 'family' you always want to succeed, be happy, and win. I get a lot of ribbing about my support even here and now: good friends who I speak with almost daily are stunned I even know, let alone follow, this sport. I guess I don't fit the 'image' of what a typical fan should be, or perhaps I should have 'outgrown' my past hobbies by now in their eyes. Any explanation is unnecessary to me: I just love the whole noisy, dirty, and 'everyman' appeal of it all.
My recent trip to Lowe's Motor Speedway© in Charlotte (well, Concord, to be exact, right outside Charlotte) to see the Busch series Carquest Auto Parts 300® and Nextel Cup series Coca Cola 600® races over the Memorial Day holiday only reinforced this, as it was a rollercoaster of joy, recollection and awe for me. For years, I've limited myself to local venues like the times of old, and not making the sometimes long (and expensive) treks to the massive NASCAR® tracks. Needless to say, the massive crowds and hoopla surrounding the Memorial Day weekend races...complete with Presidential candidates, 2 blimps circling overhead throughout, Howitzer gun demonstrations on the front straightway, jammed parking lots, numerous driver-inspired apparel vendors, and the knowledge I had 165,000+ of my closest friends near me...took a little adjustment. And that was all before the cars even rolled out onto the track.
Believe it or not, it wasn't always this way nor this larger than life. Many drivers who are famous and successful in NASCAR® now, I also remember once scraping by back in Missouri and Arkansas on horrible, dusty dirt tracks with virtually no crowds...Rusty Wallace and his brothers Mike and Kenny, Kenny Schrader, Mark Martin...to name a few. These are men of whom I have followed their careers (in some cases) before I could even climb the stairs in the grandstand because my legs were far too short to reach. In one capacity or another, these men were still plying away at their chosen trade in Charlotte. Rusty's a retired legend, but is an TV commentator now, and his son (!) is now also racing professionally. Rusty's brothers have a hard time getting to make it to the 'big' races on Sundays, but still compete as they can in the Busch® series (like the AAA 'minor league' level of NASCAR®) races. Kenny Schrader will still race anybody, anything and anywhere, but has lost a bit of the edge and quickness I remember so well. And Mark Martin (my fave of all of these, who became my hero at age 4 when he kissed my then-golden curls at post race) is still highly competitive but is only running a limited number of races this year. Even in a world where the stopwatch is reset numerous times throughout a day, a weekend, a pitstop even...aging still marches on undeterred. Lord knows I've changed; I'm not sure why I can't readily accept they would, too.
It's easy to get lost in the memories at these things if you're a fan, a situation I couldn't escape as I thought about how much my Dad would have loved to been there. There was always going to be one more race...a big one that Dad and I were going to attend together, excited daughter and enthused father sharing a mutual love for racing. Some really good and big and rowdy place where we could cheer on our heroes in public without Mama nagging us about being too loud for the neighbours. It never happened, though, and to some degree I think that's why I stayed away for so long. (As utterly ridiculous as that sounds, especially as I live in the middle of NASCAR® country, but oh well...) It seemed 'improper' somehow to go enjoy something myself when he couldn't attend now. Maybe it was the 10th anniversary of his death, maybe I just did it without thinking about him this time...who really knows why I went this year when I skipped so many other chances. And it was good to go, although I don't think Dad would have recognized the current landscape. I sure didn't for awhile.
Welcome to Speedway Avenue, across from Lowe's Motor Speedway. This was hours before the race on Saturday, and actually this was as 'slow' with fans as it ever got.
I'm sure I'll get some flak on this, but here goes: I don't know this sport anymore. I honestly don't, and that admission comes rather quietly and hesitatingly. For all of the effort that has been put into making NASCAR® the fastest growing spectator sport in the world, I'm not sure if there is a place any more for 'old school' fans like me. Even the big races I remember from my youth were never this commercialized. One used to be able to bring the family and meet the drivers and see the cars before the races, but instead this time I ran a gauntlet of commercial product hawking to make QVC jealous. I turned away almost all of the sellers and product tents I passed from my distant parking spot to the grandstand and still had shampoo, salad dressing, detergent, and foam pillow samples in my backpack when I finally sat down. If I had been playing along, I could have taken in much, much more and also heard the recruitment speech from damn near all branches of the US military. Along that walk in, I passed I don't know how many dozen souvenir trailers for each and every racing team (and most were just for specific drivers)...something that's been there all along, but just not so over the top as it is now. You don't just 'walk' from your parking space to the race track any more; instead, you walk through a gravel-paved mall.
A baby doll tee for the girlfriend with Matt Kenseth's number? Sure.
A lighter with Jeff Gordon's logo and image? No problem.
An orange rain slicker representing Tony Stewart? Right away. Is that cash or credit?
(Right) One of Tony Stewart's (Home Depot© #20) merchandise trailers; Jeff Gordon's (DuPont© #24) in the background.
I have no idea exactly when it happened, but the racing I once knew in person and thought I still saw on TV has been replaced as a merchandising and product placement circus in real life. The few discounted items were the ones of past victories and championships and stats...items that would have been gobbled up in minutes in the days of yore. No, the hot winners were the ones not boasting an accomplishment or even of a place or time. Rather that feature an image everyone buys into: mostly a stylized number set in bold colors that could be selling toys just as easily...nothing distinguished them as a race mementos, or hell some had nothing to do with racing, period. And that, frankly, as a long-time fan, was depressing to witness. We've not only sold out the sport to God knows how many companies, but we've sold out the pride the fans had in wearing something specific to their driver's loyalties and accomplishments. That hollowed out, 'the-Gap®-as-NASCAR®' mentality stuck with me through that whole weekend and even on my return. I found myself searching for something bigger than a bumper sticker that said something like 'I was at the 2007 Coca Cola 600®'...and I found nothing. Image, it appears, is everything. Stats are far less important now; but instead selling whatever people will buy...whatever that is...rules.
43 cars competing. 165,000 watching in attendance at the track, millions more watching from home. Pre-race laps before the Coca Cola 600®.
Furthermore, I'm not sure my fellow fans at these races are 'my people' anymore, either. I sat in a quiet (read: mostly over age 40) crowd in Turn 1 on the night of the Coca Cola 600®. Public Safety had their hands full even there: we had no less than two fights between rival fan groups (Jeff Gordon vs. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) which resulted in 4 people being thrown out for that, then another 2 people tossed for public intoxication (a high mark to achieve as Lowe's Speedway will let people bring in their own coolers and most everybody did but very few were tossed for being drunk), then 3 more removed for doing modified keg stands in the aisle, and then a female fan escorted out for repeatedly showing her tits (complete with neon orange paint, no bra) to a presumably grateful Tony Stewart every time he passed her by on a caution lap. And these were the people seated in front of me; security seemed to be working overtime in all sections to the left, right, and above as well. True, as it was happening, it was comical and so "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)", to a point...like a large honky tonk full of people looking to get laid or drunk or a fight or all three. But after the first hour or so, it also got a bit more than just simply distracting and/or amusing to the real racing fans who couldn't see while security did their jobs. These seats weren't cheap, but all of the extracurricular crap going on around them sure became that way. This isn't the racing I grew up on and have supported locally. And for the life of me, I'm hopeful this isn't indicative of what makes the tour with the NASCAR® circuit each week (although I suspect from talking to some 'regulars' it is).
(Left) The results of the first fight of the evening in my section, 22 laps into the race. The hatred between some Jeff Gordon fans and some Dale Earnhardt, Jr., fans spills over a lot into the grandstands.
There was a time, perhaps long gone now, when fans came to these races and could skip all of this nonsense...and could enjoy the action that was occurring on the track, as it was intended. There were plenty of those 'good' fans there in attendance in Charlotte, no question. But the constant 'something' going on in the stands (and I'm ignoring fan fights, as that has always happened), detracts from the overall experience. I'm contemplating taking in another race this summer relatively nearby to see if Charlotte was just some 'beginning of summer party' fluke. If that goes well, I'll be more than willing to give Charlotte another try again for the fall race in October. But if it doesn't go well in Richmond, I'll doubt I'll go back to Lowe's. I don't think I'm being a prude or anything here, but I'm a racing fan...and if I can't see and enjoy the race at the big tracks, why go at all?
So, the end grade for the weekend was about a 'C'...and it pains me to state the grade. Unfortunately, it's earned. And that's not aimed primarily at Lowe's; they probably did the best they could since so many people were there and a great percentage of them were drunk or had been drinking by race time. (And I enjoy a beer as much as the next person, so absolutely no judgments there.) Nope, instead it's aimed at the dear sport I love so much...NASCAR®...and how far off course it seems to have ventured in recent years. If NASCAR® truly wants to go as mainstream, international and multicultural as its leaders say they want it to, they're going to have a tough time of it based upon what I witnessed. My loyalty is, and should not be, measured in the dollars and cents promoters can get from me...but rather how great the experience was for me, and how badly I want to go back to see the next race...and the next...in the future. True, today's NASCAR® 'is not my father's NASCAR®' (to paraphrase an old campaign slogan), but the jury's still out to see if it deserves to be mine.
My recent trip to Lowe's Motor Speedway© in Charlotte (well, Concord, to be exact, right outside Charlotte) to see the Busch series Carquest Auto Parts 300® and Nextel Cup series Coca Cola 600® races over the Memorial Day holiday only reinforced this, as it was a rollercoaster of joy, recollection and awe for me. For years, I've limited myself to local venues like the times of old, and not making the sometimes long (and expensive) treks to the massive NASCAR® tracks. Needless to say, the massive crowds and hoopla surrounding the Memorial Day weekend races...complete with Presidential candidates, 2 blimps circling overhead throughout, Howitzer gun demonstrations on the front straightway, jammed parking lots, numerous driver-inspired apparel vendors, and the knowledge I had 165,000+ of my closest friends near me...took a little adjustment. And that was all before the cars even rolled out onto the track.
Believe it or not, it wasn't always this way nor this larger than life. Many drivers who are famous and successful in NASCAR® now, I also remember once scraping by back in Missouri and Arkansas on horrible, dusty dirt tracks with virtually no crowds...Rusty Wallace and his brothers Mike and Kenny, Kenny Schrader, Mark Martin...to name a few. These are men of whom I have followed their careers (in some cases) before I could even climb the stairs in the grandstand because my legs were far too short to reach. In one capacity or another, these men were still plying away at their chosen trade in Charlotte. Rusty's a retired legend, but is an TV commentator now, and his son (!) is now also racing professionally. Rusty's brothers have a hard time getting to make it to the 'big' races on Sundays, but still compete as they can in the Busch® series (like the AAA 'minor league' level of NASCAR®) races. Kenny Schrader will still race anybody, anything and anywhere, but has lost a bit of the edge and quickness I remember so well. And Mark Martin (my fave of all of these, who became my hero at age 4 when he kissed my then-golden curls at post race) is still highly competitive but is only running a limited number of races this year. Even in a world where the stopwatch is reset numerous times throughout a day, a weekend, a pitstop even...aging still marches on undeterred. Lord knows I've changed; I'm not sure why I can't readily accept they would, too.
It's easy to get lost in the memories at these things if you're a fan, a situation I couldn't escape as I thought about how much my Dad would have loved to been there. There was always going to be one more race...a big one that Dad and I were going to attend together, excited daughter and enthused father sharing a mutual love for racing. Some really good and big and rowdy place where we could cheer on our heroes in public without Mama nagging us about being too loud for the neighbours. It never happened, though, and to some degree I think that's why I stayed away for so long. (As utterly ridiculous as that sounds, especially as I live in the middle of NASCAR® country, but oh well...) It seemed 'improper' somehow to go enjoy something myself when he couldn't attend now. Maybe it was the 10th anniversary of his death, maybe I just did it without thinking about him this time...who really knows why I went this year when I skipped so many other chances. And it was good to go, although I don't think Dad would have recognized the current landscape. I sure didn't for awhile.
I'm sure I'll get some flak on this, but here goes: I don't know this sport anymore. I honestly don't, and that admission comes rather quietly and hesitatingly. For all of the effort that has been put into making NASCAR® the fastest growing spectator sport in the world, I'm not sure if there is a place any more for 'old school' fans like me. Even the big races I remember from my youth were never this commercialized. One used to be able to bring the family and meet the drivers and see the cars before the races, but instead this time I ran a gauntlet of commercial product hawking to make QVC jealous. I turned away almost all of the sellers and product tents I passed from my distant parking spot to the grandstand and still had shampoo, salad dressing, detergent, and foam pillow samples in my backpack when I finally sat down. If I had been playing along, I could have taken in much, much more and also heard the recruitment speech from damn near all branches of the US military. Along that walk in, I passed I don't know how many dozen souvenir trailers for each and every racing team (and most were just for specific drivers)...something that's been there all along, but just not so over the top as it is now. You don't just 'walk' from your parking space to the race track any more; instead, you walk through a gravel-paved mall.
A baby doll tee for the girlfriend with Matt Kenseth's number? Sure.
A lighter with Jeff Gordon's logo and image? No problem.
An orange rain slicker representing Tony Stewart? Right away. Is that cash or credit?
(Right) One of Tony Stewart's (Home Depot© #20) merchandise trailers; Jeff Gordon's (DuPont© #24) in the background.
I have no idea exactly when it happened, but the racing I once knew in person and thought I still saw on TV has been replaced as a merchandising and product placement circus in real life. The few discounted items were the ones of past victories and championships and stats...items that would have been gobbled up in minutes in the days of yore. No, the hot winners were the ones not boasting an accomplishment or even of a place or time. Rather that feature an image everyone buys into: mostly a stylized number set in bold colors that could be selling toys just as easily...nothing distinguished them as a race mementos, or hell some had nothing to do with racing, period. And that, frankly, as a long-time fan, was depressing to witness. We've not only sold out the sport to God knows how many companies, but we've sold out the pride the fans had in wearing something specific to their driver's loyalties and accomplishments. That hollowed out, 'the-Gap®-as-NASCAR®' mentality stuck with me through that whole weekend and even on my return. I found myself searching for something bigger than a bumper sticker that said something like 'I was at the 2007 Coca Cola 600®'...and I found nothing. Image, it appears, is everything. Stats are far less important now; but instead selling whatever people will buy...whatever that is...rules.
Furthermore, I'm not sure my fellow fans at these races are 'my people' anymore, either. I sat in a quiet (read: mostly over age 40) crowd in Turn 1 on the night of the Coca Cola 600®. Public Safety had their hands full even there: we had no less than two fights between rival fan groups (Jeff Gordon vs. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) which resulted in 4 people being thrown out for that, then another 2 people tossed for public intoxication (a high mark to achieve as Lowe's Speedway will let people bring in their own coolers and most everybody did but very few were tossed for being drunk), then 3 more removed for doing modified keg stands in the aisle, and then a female fan escorted out for repeatedly showing her tits (complete with neon orange paint, no bra) to a presumably grateful Tony Stewart every time he passed her by on a caution lap. And these were the people seated in front of me; security seemed to be working overtime in all sections to the left, right, and above as well. True, as it was happening, it was comical and so "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)", to a point...like a large honky tonk full of people looking to get laid or drunk or a fight or all three. But after the first hour or so, it also got a bit more than just simply distracting and/or amusing to the real racing fans who couldn't see while security did their jobs. These seats weren't cheap, but all of the extracurricular crap going on around them sure became that way. This isn't the racing I grew up on and have supported locally. And for the life of me, I'm hopeful this isn't indicative of what makes the tour with the NASCAR® circuit each week (although I suspect from talking to some 'regulars' it is).
(Left) The results of the first fight of the evening in my section, 22 laps into the race. The hatred between some Jeff Gordon fans and some Dale Earnhardt, Jr., fans spills over a lot into the grandstands.There was a time, perhaps long gone now, when fans came to these races and could skip all of this nonsense...and could enjoy the action that was occurring on the track, as it was intended. There were plenty of those 'good' fans there in attendance in Charlotte, no question. But the constant 'something' going on in the stands (and I'm ignoring fan fights, as that has always happened), detracts from the overall experience. I'm contemplating taking in another race this summer relatively nearby to see if Charlotte was just some 'beginning of summer party' fluke. If that goes well, I'll be more than willing to give Charlotte another try again for the fall race in October. But if it doesn't go well in Richmond, I'll doubt I'll go back to Lowe's. I don't think I'm being a prude or anything here, but I'm a racing fan...and if I can't see and enjoy the race at the big tracks, why go at all?
So, the end grade for the weekend was about a 'C'...and it pains me to state the grade. Unfortunately, it's earned. And that's not aimed primarily at Lowe's; they probably did the best they could since so many people were there and a great percentage of them were drunk or had been drinking by race time. (And I enjoy a beer as much as the next person, so absolutely no judgments there.) Nope, instead it's aimed at the dear sport I love so much...NASCAR®...and how far off course it seems to have ventured in recent years. If NASCAR® truly wants to go as mainstream, international and multicultural as its leaders say they want it to, they're going to have a tough time of it based upon what I witnessed. My loyalty is, and should not be, measured in the dollars and cents promoters can get from me...but rather how great the experience was for me, and how badly I want to go back to see the next race...and the next...in the future. True, today's NASCAR® 'is not my father's NASCAR®' (to paraphrase an old campaign slogan), but the jury's still out to see if it deserves to be mine.
26 May 2007
Gone racin', folks
I'm gone today and tomorrow to the Queen City of Charlotte to Lowe's Motor Speedway and to go watch the NASCAR® races there.
© Lowe's Motor Speedway
Along with 164,000+ other fans it would appear. Which works out to be a bit more than 10 times the average population of my old hometown in its heyday. The parking alone will be staggering to be sure.
The weekend promises two good races into the night, and I'm hopeful I can make it to the three 'meet and greet' sessions with my faves and their fans...which may lay a lot of pressure on the roads and traffic situation for all the holiday travelers. I'll try and take some pictures of all the festivities both on and off the track...including the standard 'man wearing double-sided beer can sipper cap' and the obligatory 'catfight in the stands between profoundly busty women who choose to go braless' to these events. For what it's worth, I will dress appropriately, namely because (a) I still have yet to get the season's first sunburn in, and the first one is always painful, and (b) gravity and my back necessitates the bra.
I said it once before, a couple of years ago, and I'll say it again now : Indianapolis can have the Indy 500 on Memorial Day (or any day, really), but their fans never seem to have as much fun. Nothing quite beats 'down home' chariot races...nothing.
Along with 164,000+ other fans it would appear. Which works out to be a bit more than 10 times the average population of my old hometown in its heyday. The parking alone will be staggering to be sure.
The weekend promises two good races into the night, and I'm hopeful I can make it to the three 'meet and greet' sessions with my faves and their fans...which may lay a lot of pressure on the roads and traffic situation for all the holiday travelers. I'll try and take some pictures of all the festivities both on and off the track...including the standard 'man wearing double-sided beer can sipper cap' and the obligatory 'catfight in the stands between profoundly busty women who choose to go braless' to these events. For what it's worth, I will dress appropriately, namely because (a) I still have yet to get the season's first sunburn in, and the first one is always painful, and (b) gravity and my back necessitates the bra.
I said it once before, a couple of years ago, and I'll say it again now : Indianapolis can have the Indy 500 on Memorial Day (or any day, really), but their fans never seem to have as much fun. Nothing quite beats 'down home' chariot races...nothing.
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