|
From Insider Racing News July 21, 2004 by Jodie Strait This is my first column for Insider Racing News and since it is an off weekend I really can’t talk about what happened at the track so I ponder what to discuss. It is the first time you will read my opinions (hopefully not the last) so I need to make a good impression.
I could discuss the Chase for the Championship…but everyone does that. What about Tony and his Terrible Temper? Nah hasn’t everyone discussed that ad nauseum? Oh I know the green and white checker finish. Nope too boring.
So as I sat and pondered, I thought of race fans and how people become fans and how they pick their drivers. Why some people are race fans and some are driver fans and how they pick the driver or drivers that they follow.
Some choose drivers by geographic area of residence, some by the products they endorse, the driver’s bloodline, how they look without a shirt (I call this the Hottie Factor) heck even because of the person that owns the same make of car.
Many people are drawn to the big names, the ones who seem to run up front all the time. Then there are those who seem to enjoy the self-induced pain of rooting for the Underdogs of the sport. I am one of them. So on this off weekend I choose to discuss the Underdog Fan.
My story is not unusual; I became a NASCAR fan when I was drug to a race in Sonoma. I lived in the wine country above San Francisco and a friend had an extra ticket and an extra guy - I refuse to call it a blind date.
I have always been a sports fan but back in the dark ages NASCAR did not get much play over on the left coast. Since I was off showing my horse on weekends, the little racing that I saw was well…not much.
If my memory serves me it was one of those normal days; blue skies, not too hot, not too cold. The “extra” guy was some headcase (you learn living in San Francisco that half the guys are gay and the other half that are single and straight usually have some psychological impairment) so I settled down to read the program.
Skimming the drivers and their bios, something caught my eye. Among the various southern towns ending in 'burg and 'ville was Salinas, California. Now being a snob from the California Wine Country I laughed. That area of California is not what people expect; in fact when my husband and I drove through there when I moved to North Carolina he did not believe that Salinas was part of California.
That was it, Ernie Irvan was my driver. Anyone who had the guts to admit to being from Salinas had to be cool.
I followed him from a distance and I only truly got emotionally involved after his horrific accident. During his comeback winning was not quite so easy and people had doubts. Not me, I still believed and so did Ernie. When that first victory came it was so awesome. Euphoric even.
I became hooked on the Underdog. The guy that has to work twice as hard and have three times the luck and I began following more and more of those drivers. Forget wins, a top ten was a victory.
It is like a sick sadistic addiction. Some people smoke, some eat chocolate, some do various illegal activities. A select group of us cheer on driver’s who are long on talent but short on funds or luck or both. Cub and Red Sox fans know exactly what I am talking about.
When Ernie retired I had the chance to switch allegiances. I could have picked anyone and there would have been no backlash. Earnhardt, Martin, Gordon, heck even a Burton or Labonte or two. The illusive free pass. But no not me, if Ernie had been an underdog then my new favorite was an Uber Underdog
His souvenir trailer was parked on the outskirts, it was plain white and had about five or six items. If I ever saw someone else in my driver’s t-shirt the two of us would get big smiles and it was like a secret club.
I added other drivers to my stable of Underdogs. It was the thrill of the chase. I could not wait for the “through the field” segment because usually my guys only got on television when they wrecked or that flash of brilliance. But all of that effort and belief paid off. When my driver finally won it was an amazing feeling. I sat and cried as he pulled in victory lane. David can defeat Goliath. YES!
People who follow a top driver who is on television every race have no idea how much better racing is for the Underdog Fans. Now that I am living in Charlotte, the Mecca of Motorsports, I see so many of those “other” fans and they just don’t seem to have too much fun.
At an October Busch race Jeff Gordon got taken out early and a whole huge group of DuPont jackets disappeared. Huh? Of course I was sitting in the GM section so all of the drunken Earnhardt fans began taunting the Jeffiekin’s fans. The games people play.
Last year at the Winston and even at this year’s Nextel All Star Race (the race formerly known as the Winston) when Junior had a bad night you would have thought that the world was coming to an end. Grown men threw temper tantrums that my Kindergartener would have been impressed by. Their faces as red as the shirts they wore, huffing and puffing out of the stands because Bud Boy would not be soaking up the suds in Victory Lane. Boo hoo.
I watched a sea of red leave the grandstands; at that moment I knew how Moses must have felt during the parting of the Red Sea. Uh hello, this is the best race of the year but since your guy won’t win you take your cooler and go home? What a waste and they didn’t even leave a few adult beverages for the rest of us. The nerve.
At that Busch race that Jeff got taken out early, my husband and I became Hermie Sadler fans. From the first lap he was down a cylinder. Did he give up and take it to the garage? Nope. He drove his tail off and kept digging. I do not remember who actually won that race, but I remember Hermie’s determination. That to me is what NASCAR is all about.
I truly feel sad for these people who cannot enjoy the races simply for what they are. Nope, if their driver is sucking then by golly the whole thing sucks. I wonder if those sitting at home pout and stomp like the ones in the stands.
If he stinks it up on road courses then road courses stink. Can’t get the feel of a flat track then the weekend is ruined. His car has the aerodynamics of a dump truck so dump Dega.
Big freaking babies. Try being a Petty fan and watching for a flash of your car on the screen, hoping for a top twenty and to not hear the words ‘in the garage’ are not mentioned in conjunction with the car number. How about a Michael Waltrip fan when he was still 0 for four hundred and something. Heck Ricky Craven has had an awful season, but his fans still are out in force determined to see the Tide Ride in Victory Lane.
When you are a fan of an Underdog you ride the rollercoaster with your driver. You do not give up and run to the nearest store to buy a Junior jersey…it is war and you are on the frontlines.
You want drama, stop watching the front of the points and see what is going on mid pack. Try being a Robby Gordon fan eagerly anticipating the road course race to see your driver drive the wheel of his car. Literally.
I have NASCAR In-Demand and I watch all the races from the in-car. Chicago’s last ten or fifteen laps were WILD right around tenth place. Three wide, FOUR wide, scrambling, clawing, and fighting for position. That’s racing. But if you watched the network all you got to watch Tony cruise after he bruised Kasey. Bor-ing.
My husband refuses to watch the races with me as I drive him insane with my in-car. If my driver is having a bad day and is four laps down in 36th I am still watching from his camera. It doesn’t matter if he is in the lead or negotiating with Mike Skinner at Atlanta to run together so his car will be up to minimum speed.
I am with him lap after lap. Sometimes the car gets better; sometime worse, sometimes he just gets punted (this year it has happened a lot) but I am there with him, thick or thin. Flat track, high banked, cement, asphalt, short track, restrictor plate for richer for poorer…oops wrong guy. But you get the drift and I would not change it for the world. The lows are low but the highs are incredible.
So for those of you who never rooted for an Underdog, I dare you to go to a race and pick out someone not in the top twenty and follow them. I guarantee you that you will have the time of your life. Underdogs rule.
|
On the Web