Fan Commentary

Some Journalists Out of Touch with Race Fans

by Grandstand Bob

Last week, I wrote about the problem of boneheads in the garage, and said that they should be kicked out. Some journalists, though, would like to see all fans, regardless of bonehead status, eradicated from the garage. They seem to see fans as only a nuisance, and when they write with this tone, they show that they are out of touch with the audience they serve.

Every journalist should be a fan before they ever sit down at the keyboard and pound out a NASCAR story. After all, they are writing for fans, and it would help if they knew what it was like to be a fan.

I know what it's like to be fan, because that is how I started in the sport, and I know how amazing a visit to the garage area is to an eager fan. My first garage area experience was at a track with no garage facilities, which forced the teams to work from the backs of their haulers and under tents. My dad and two brothers-in-law were with me, and highlights from the day included standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Earnhardt in the men’s room and handing Bill Elliott’s crew wrenches as they worked on the car prior to qualifying. Because it was a Friday with frequent periods of rain, the garage area was relatively uncrowded, and the drivers were relaxed. Many mingled freely with fans throughout the day.

That’s the type of experience every dedicated fan should have, and that’s why it irritates me to read articles calling for all fans to be banned from the garage. If a ban on fans in the garage had happened five years ago, I would have never had experiences like the one I described above. Likewise, if one happens this week, there will be thousands who miss out on this opportunity.

As I said last week, most fans in the garage area are extremely courteous. As a matter of fact, I believe that most of us, had we been Tony Stewart’s alleged victim, would have gone out of our way to stay out of his way. Then, if we did bump into him, we would fall all over ourselves trying to apologize. This lady, though, wanted an apology from Tony. Living proof that there are as many bonehead females in the garage as there are bonehead males.

There are also some writers who show that they’re out of touch by taking every opportunity to criticize the sport and its fans for being everything from thoroughly drunken to racist. I’m not disputing the fact that you will find thoroughly drunken racists at the races, but that’s not an accurate description of 99 percent of us, and I believe that these rogues are as common at many other sporting events as they are at stockcar races.

Many writers, especially those writing for papers north of the Mason-Dixon line, also constantly cajole the sport and its fans for being exclusionary, and they take square aim at the Confederate flag as a symbol of this. Like or not, the sport’s roots are in the South, where the Confederate flag is more often used as a symbol of Southern pride than a symbol of hate. Doesn’t anyone remember the paint scheme of the General Lee?

Even south of the Mason-Dixon line, there are reporters who are out of touch with fans. This week, in the Bristol Herald Courier, a reporter bemoaned what he perceived as a narrow focus for a pre-race show. It was narrow, in his opinion, because it included Republicans and the NRA, with no representation from dissenting groups. Someone even had the nerve (I would say courage and cause.) to attack the ACLU.

Has this guy walked through a pre-race parking lot or spent any time in the stands? Obviously not, because I guarantee you that most NASCAR fans spent most of the 1990s wondering just what the hell was happening in the White House. Likewise, most fully embrace their rural heritage and inherently distrust anyone who wants to “control” their guns. They’re as likely to join the ACLU as the KKK, because neither group represents them. The prerace show was for them, not for the sake of diversity.

Yes, the demographics are changing for NASCAR, but its core constituency remains hard-working, patriotic, freedom-loving Americans who know how to behave with a garage pass. They are the best fans around, and some journalists need to get reacquainted with them.

Grandstand Bob Profile and Past Columns

note: This opinions expressed in this column are those of writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of ARS Racing Outlet or its parent company, amI, Inc.