Red State Racing
I’m completely serious here : Could someone out there explain the appeal of NASCAR to me? From what I hear, it’s the most popular sport in the country, but to me it just looks like a bunch of billboards driving around in circles. Even if I found any appeal in watching cars race, the fact that they’ll slap advertising on anything seems insulting to the audience. That alone is enough to keep me from watching, yet I’m not going to assume that just because millions of people like something I don’t that it means they’re all idiots. Am I missing something here?
Based on the devotion these drivers seem to inspire, it looks like a personality-driven phenomenon, but when do viewers have a chance to get to know these guys? Every time I flip past it I just see nothing but cars. If you rarely get to see the actual guys who are competing (which seems to be in contrast of every other sport), how can people feel so strongly towards the people who they never see? Are the broadcasts broken up by a bunch of interviews or something?
Another thing that I’ve noticed that makes NASCAR stand out is that the affiliations are by sponsor and not region. I can understand why someone would root for the home team, but there are probably a dozen drivers from Atlanta for example. Their only difference seems to be that one would be sponsored by Pepsi and another by Taco Bell or something. Does brand affiliation play a role in choosing a favorite?
Or does the appeal of NASCAR lie in America’s lust for cars? If so, what makes NASCAR stand out above other forms of automotive racing? Is it that the car’s bodies look like generic Ford or Chevy sedans? Personally, I can’t tell them apart, but is there a car brand rivalry aspect to the appeal as well?
Or could it be that NASCAR broadcasts are more family-friendly than the boobies and beer commercials that are an essential part of every other professional sport? Would the relative tameness of NASCAR be because of the sport itself or because the races aren’t broadcast in prime time?
Perhaps it’s a southern thing. Are NASCAR fans more comfortable watching an event that’s the exclusive domain of white dudes with mustaches and country music as opposed to the ethnic diversity that marks just about every other sport? Not that I’m trying to connote that there’s anything discriminatory about NASCAR fandom, but that familiarity can lead to comfort.
While I’m starting to think I may be on the road to answering my own question, looking back at the points above, I still can’t figure out why the hell anyone would like NASCAR. Obviously there’s something to it, so I’m gonna open this one up to my readers. Do you like NASCAR? If so, why?
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I think the appeal of auto racing as a whole has a lot to do with people’s fascination/lust for cars. NASCAR is the favorite league because right now it’s the only American racing league with its head on straight. The various American open wheel circuits have blown themselves apart by warring with each other, while Formula 1 is too foreign.
And yes, I like auto racing a bit. I find it kind of exciting.
Comment by randomliberal — February 22, 2005 @ 10:55 pm
i’ve never understood it… i’m not into any sports (except tennis, but only because i used to play it), but i can at least understand the appeal of physical sports because there are people doing amazing things. I’ve often thought that if they introduced “secret identities” into the realm of professional sports, i might find it more interesting as it would tap into the comic-book geek in me…. but Nascar baffles me because you aren’t even looking at humans doing amazing athletic things… you’re just watching machines go around in circles.
maybe it appeals to the danger aspect- that the viewer might see a horrific car crash. but even then, the drivers always walk away, so it’s not the fascination with death appeal. i don’t know.
my dad, who is an english/lit professor and probably one of the smartest people i’ve ever known- hardly your average nascar fan, is a HUGE Nascar fan. i’ve never understood it. maybe i should ask him.
Comment by tom — February 23, 2005 @ 12:51 am
I don’t understand it. I’m your basic football and baseball fan. Used to like basketball when it was a team game.
Rednecks driving around in circles has just never appealed to me. It’s big, though, and if you like, you like it. Fine with me.
Comment by Pug — February 23, 2005 @ 6:04 am
Fuck, no, I’m not a fan. I guess it reminds all the rednecks of the good ol’ days when they were outracing revenuers through the hills with a trunkful of moonshine.
Next thing you know they’re gonna say golf and bowling are sports.
Comment by sebastian — February 23, 2005 @ 6:05 am
I’ve been a NASCAR fan for the past 5 years. In 2000 I attended a race in Charlotte, NC and could not believe the difference between watching a race on television and the pure, raw power you absorb witnessing the event live. Also, the closest comparison I can make between NASCAR and any other form of competition is that the duration of the race creates a chess-like game of strategy. As for which driver to support or which team to pull for, I have yet to find a way to determine who gets my cheers. Right now, I root for the drivers from the north. Is that bad?
Comment by chris — February 23, 2005 @ 6:13 am
Hemmingway believed that auto racing, bull fighting and boxing were the only true sports because they were the only sports where there was a real possibility of death as an outcome. Nascar is a popular form of autoracing because it’s highly competitive. The oval tracks combined with rules that limit how much technological advantage one team can get over another team means that there is a lot of passing, which means a lot of lead changes, which can mean exciting finishes.
Comment by JDS — February 23, 2005 @ 6:34 am
I’m not really a NASCAR “fan”, but I sure like to watch. Any form of auto racing involves a great deal of skill, both strategic and tactical. If you know what it’s like to drive right at the edge of control, you know that in racing you do indeed see people doing amazing things.
Taking each of Greg’s points in turn:
1 - Yes, they do interviews before and after races to help you get to know drivers and teams. Many of them don’t interview well, though, and it’s really not my thing. But for those who want a reason to love or hate a particular driver or team, it’s there.
2 - Since the athletes on pro sports teams no longer have any particular relationship to the “home city”, what difference does it make? Team identity is still a valid reason to root for someone. E.g., root for the Habitat for Humanity car.
3 - Yes, Americans love their cars. Their cars. NASCAR is so much more popular because they successfully marketed themselves as the all-American auto racing franchise.
4 - I don’t know how much family-friendliness plays into it. I do not quite a few families with young children who really enjoy NASCAR together.
5 - Familiarity is doubtless a big part of it. Racing celebrities tend to come across as “regular Americans” in interviews. Although it is an athletically demanding sport, even non-athletes can identify with driving cars, and perhaps get a little sense of, “I could do that!”. (And to some extent, they can - anyone with a driver’s license can drive their own car in an autocross event, and there’s probably one not too far away.)
For my part, I like NASCAR and other auto races. I don’t care about the personalities, and I tend to root for someone who’s maybe not favored to win but likely to be in the top 10. Mostly, I like it because I like cars and I like driving. I like watching how these professional drivers handle the cars when the going gets tough, like taking a curve three abreast, or recovering from a slip-up, or compensating for some problem or change in the car set-up.
Comment by Matthew — February 23, 2005 @ 6:47 am
I might call it a sport if turning the steering wheel in more than one direction was an option. Grand Prix, baby!
Comment by norbizness — February 23, 2005 @ 7:26 am
I’m not a fan of auto-racing, but I could get into it if they brought back old-style cars with the open tops, and drivers would have to be required to wear goggles and scarves. That would be awesome.
Comment by ChrisV82 — February 23, 2005 @ 11:55 am
wow. a bunch of grown men have a pissing contest, drive anywhere from 200-500 miles and end up right where they started. Pardon me while I take a moment to be underwhelmed. The overwhelming aspect, to me, is just how much of a waste of everything nascar is - time, money, non-renewable resources - to prove quite literally that we amurrikuns are going nowhere fast.
Sport would be if you put gordon and earnhart on bigwheels and let em duke it out for 500 miles while being chased by rabid monkeys. I’d pay to see that.
Comment by FreedomByChoice — February 23, 2005 @ 12:04 pm
I agree with Norbizness. The oval track is boring and I don’t get the appeal. An equivalent might be a two-hole golf course –one fairway in each direction— set in the middle of a big stadium, and the competitors complete nine trips up and back to complete the eighteen holes. I haven’t been to a race in over twenty tears, but have only attended at road courses like Sears Point and Laguna Seca. Part of the fun was being able to wander around to different parts of the course and see the cars relatively close up, negotiating challenging turns. Of course I really could get interested in attending something like the Monte Carlo Grand Prix, with a slinky babe on each arm, then off to the casino for a bit of baccarat afterwards….
Comment by tom f — February 23, 2005 @ 12:17 pm
damn straight norbizness… also, i only watch nascar crashes… its also why i like motorbike races more… more gore.. whats the point in watching stuff if no one gets hurt?
one thing about nascar is that it allows joe sixshooter to think that he can one day be watched and admired on the teevee
Comment by adi — February 23, 2005 @ 12:33 pm
Yes, Chris: rooting for the drivers from the north is bad, because yankees suck. I kid!
But seriously, I agree with a lot of what’s been said so far: it’s a (somewhat) regional thing, it has I-can-do-that appeal, it can be very exciting (the recent rule changes, whatever you think of them, increase the excitement), and from what I’ve heard, live events are awe-inspiring.
I’m not really into it, although I am from Virginia, where it’s pretty damn huge. (My hometown of Richmond got a shiny new track a few years ago, and you’d have thought we’d gotten a pro baseball/football team or something, such was the elation.) My wife’s from Alabama, and she’s not a big fan either, but if ya grow up in the South, it’s just a part of life, like football, kudzu, football, ice tea, or football.
We’re not all hicks/Bible-beaters/right-wingers. Really! I swear!
Comment by Ben — February 23, 2005 @ 12:44 pm
I suspect that, as with most sports, there is a dynamic interaction between competence and salience. The more one is exposed to NASCAR (substitute and sport) and the more one knows about it, the more interesting it becomes. Casual fans get sucked in by the superficial excitement of the possibility of a fiery crash (substitute hockey fight, home run, slam dunk, touchdown pass) and a few hang around long enough to become aficianados. One driver of the dynamic is identity with the culture that the sport claims to represent (just plain folks). Another is the prestige in one’s circle of being knowledgeable about a rather complex sport. NASCAR has done a great job of marketing and associating itself with other memes.
Comment by Dennis — February 23, 2005 @ 2:10 pm
The appeal is simple:
Sometimes they crash.
Sometimes they crash, and go boom. Cooool.
(I used to watch racing, pretty much for that reason. I stopped when I got to be about 14 or so.)
A less visceral explanation might be that NASCAR’s devotees know they can’t slam dunk or throw a pass for shit. But they know they can drive a car.
Comment by Roddy McCorley — February 23, 2005 @ 3:39 pm
It’s a car culture thing I guess. Reptile brain and big powerful motors…. Around here the demolition derby is also big along with Monster Truck shows.
I’m not into any of it, maybe if someone would hold a Monster Truck Demolition derby, I’d go.
Comment by kamachanda — February 23, 2005 @ 3:43 pm
I’m not a huge fan, but I worked in a sports bar for 4 years, and I know a bit about the sport. The personalities of drivers as seen by fans are based on two things: Driving style and the fan’s imagination. Some drivers are more aggressive than others (Dale Earnhardt Sr, Tony Stewart), others less so, and fans react to that.
Also, spending several hours in a car driving at the limits of the laws of physics is an intensely difficult task for the body to handle. The average NASCAR driver sweats away something like a gallon + of fluids during a race.
But yeah, I find the oval and oval-esque tracks less interesting than the road courses.
Comment by JoeF — February 23, 2005 @ 4:54 pm
… but if ya grow up in the South, it’s just a part of life, like football, kudzu, football, ice tea, or football.
That stuff is not “iced tea”…it’s gawdawful mouthpuckering sugarwater with a tea leaf briefly swizzled through it!
Comment by tom f — February 23, 2005 @ 5:37 pm
I thought it had something to do with scantily clad women and beer.
Comment by Mike Stiber — February 23, 2005 @ 7:37 pm
I liked watching cars races for as long as I can remember, and I used to race cars and motorcycles. Let’s consider those my bona fides.
That said, I’m not much of a Nascar fan. They kill far too many drivers and any more the races are as stage managed as possible and still allow them to be called competion.
If you want to see something amazing done with cars you should check out World Rally.
Comment by Allen — February 23, 2005 @ 8:30 pm
I’ve not been interested in motorsports, though I have been exposed to them. The thing that gets me is that who wins always seems to be either the guy who won last time, or his son.
Comment by Dave — February 24, 2005 @ 8:11 am
Note: it’s also pretty common for fans to have radios which can tune in the conversations between drivers and pit crews. There’s a lot of story, narrative, etc involved in the whole affair. It’s a combination of machine-driven specticle and personality-driven contest of wills.
I’m not a fan, but I don’t think I have any right to be snobby about it. To the untrained eye and without any sense of history, baseball is furiously boring to observe.
Comment by Outlandish Josh — February 26, 2005 @ 4:08 pm
That stuff is not “iced tea”…it’s gawdawful mouthpuckering sugarwater with a tea leaf briefly swizzled through it!
How dare you, sir?! I challenge you to a duel!
/Zell Miller Mode
Ahem. I apologize. Seriously, iced tea is great! And if you’ve never had a mint julep…well!
Comment by Ben — March 1, 2005 @ 10:21 am