NASCAR fans loud, proud
JOLIET — For every NASCAR fan in the seats at Chicagoland Speedway this weekend, there are probably three others — a neighbor, spouse or guy at the office — who thinks the sport is simply about cars making left turns.
Or, worse yet, hillbillies watching other hillbillies go in circles.
Rob McKinnon, a St. Joseph, Mo., resident said he’s heard the redneck stereotype before.
Still, watching racing is better than more pedestrian sports like football or baseball where fans can cheer on only one of two teams at a time.
“You get to see all 43 cars, or teams, on the track at the same time,” McKinnon said from the parking lot of the Chicagoland Speedway, where he and three buddies were prepping for tonight’s Dollar General Nationwide Series race.
(John Patsch/Staff photographer)
(Michael R. Schmidt/Staff Photographer)
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Don Russell, a downstate Normal resident, said he came to the races for some reason that he couldn’t quite think of: “It’s just something we’ve always done.”
Redneck stereotype or not, NASCAR has serious appeal. It’s the No. 1 spectator sport — holding 17 of the top 20 highest-attended sporting events in the U.S., and is the second most watched season sport on television, behind only the National Football League.
And Saturday’s action under the lights is expected to give the Chicagoland Speedway another sellout of its 75,000-seat grandstand.
Gary Lacy, of downstate Bloomington, said he think’s NASCAR’s popularity stems from the driver’s relationships with the fans.
“It used to be that you could access the drivers and get autograph’s pretty much all the time,” Lacy said.
Unfortunately, the multi-million dollar sponsorship contracts also mean the driver-fan relationship is taking a back seat.
“You have a lot of corporate types that are getting the pit passes and garage passed,” McKinnon said. “It’s getting away from the fans.”
Having a party
For others, NASCAR provides something that other sports don’t: the chance to tailgate...a lot.
“It’s a party,” said Dama Barker, a Anderson, Ind., resident who was drinking beer and playing bags in the infield Friday afternoon with friends.
“I just want to see cars flying around the track,” said her friend, Sean Lawrence, who admitted he was nursing a headache from partying a bit too much at the infield camground the night before. “What other sport do you have the smell of burning tires and race gas?”
For a group of 16 male friends and family members from Iowa, the sport is about a vacation.
“We come from all over the state,” said Ron Andreason. The group travels on a school bus converted with bunk beds that they have named the NASBUS.
“It’s a chance to spend time with family and relax,” said Mike VanPelt.
The group carries a box of beads, which it hands out in exchange for a certain sort of entertainment.
“This is Mardi Gras, NASCAR style,” Mike Schuur said. “All you need is beads and beer.”
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