"Mitchell, Doug (D.B.)" wrote:
>
> I have to agree with Aaron as to the club racing. Also keep in mind
> that the big difference between NASCAR and real racing is that real
> racers know how to turn right!
>
> I enjoy most kinds of racing, including Pro Rally, but I will rarely
> watch (either in person or on the telly) any kind of oval racing.
> That includes IRL, NASCAR, CART. The Indy 500 is an exception.
> Give me a road course any day, and I will try to make some time
> to watch it.
I will weigh in here, briefly, even though I don't have cable, don't
have SpeedVision, and haven't watched television for about three years.
Unlike most of the people on this list, I have been intimately
associated with NASCAR and a NASCAR-sanctioned racing. In the early
`80s, I crewed on a Sportsman-class car at a NASCAR track in Florida. I
had a NASCAR crew license at that time. That track was a training ground
for the likes of drivers such as Davey Allison (who was sent out by his
father's team with a Grand American car, trailer, tow truck and little
else).
In a season of doing that, I found that most of the people in that
racing, more than anything else, wanted national recognition,
sponsorship, or, as likely, local bragging rights. I saw some of the
worst in people in that racing, and very little of the best. Even when
our car had suffered major damage on excursions, no other crew helped us
get it back in shape for the next heat, and saw the amazement in Davey
Allison whenever I loaned him lights and tools when he needed
them--there were lots of people around who wanted to bathe in the glory
of his name and presence, but didn't do a thing to help him when he had
a smashed car he needed to get back on the trailer.
I watched a driver force another into the wall approaching the finish
line rather than let him win honestly. (I then saw, two weeks later, the
driver with his car smashed thank all the people in his community for
helping him get his car repaired and back on the track in two
weeks--that was a good moment, of which there were few.) I saw too many
people in silver lame' driver's suits primping for the press. I saw the
fun of it for the locals destroyed by the desire for celebrity. I saw
the losers take crowbars to the drivers of winning cars simply because
they'd been beaten, fair and square. I saw people cheating regularly and
smirking when they got away with it, and killed by their own stupidity
when they didn't get away with it.
I tried, repeatedly, to keep the driver of the car I crewed on from
doing stupid things which would compromise his safety and the safety of
others. When it became clear that he wasn't listening, because of coke
or grass or simple stupidity, I quit. When I quit, the whole crew quit.
When that happened, the owner of the car retaliated. He used his
position in the dealership for which I worked to have me fired. He was
young, unattached, well-do-to, had a free apartment in an exclusive
building his father built and owned on Pensacola Beach. I was a line
mechanic with two kids to support. That's NASCAR to me. No fun at all.
NASCAR? SpeedVision? Screw `em all. It's nothing but high-speed
advertising and brand-name recognition reinforcement fueled by unlimited
money. Who cares? I certainly don't.
Cheers, all.
--
Michael D. Porter
Roswell, NM (yes, _that_ Roswell)
[mailto:mporter@zianet.com]
Don't let people drive you crazy when you know it's within walking
distance.
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