NASCAR Nation (15 page)

The pageantry is more than mere spectacle; it's about being American and patriotic. Regardless of what the calendar says, July 4
^th
, D-Day, Memorial Day, NASCAR makes a point to honor this country. The fans are what make the sport. Since so many fans are highly patriotic or tied to the military in some way, national pride is never far away. The sport honors tradition, and no matter how many times the anthem is played, it will never get old for these crowds.

NASCAR makes patriotism a part of its pageantry.
In many other sports, the anthem isn't televised each time it's played, but in NASCAR they know that fans at home want to hear the anthem. There's something very old-fashioned about NASCAR's pageantry. The start of the race with the announcer's booming voice, the anthem, fans standing in reverence – NASCAR may be one of the most modern and technologically driven sports in the United States, but it's also one of the most traditional.

While NASCAR does have a flair for the dramatic, it doesn't mean making a show of your patriotism. Sometimes saying the anthem can feel more like a chore or going through the motions at some sporting events, but when I'm at a race, it's different. It's one of the reasons why you go: because you feel like you're a part of something bigger. Everyone there is very proud to be American and proud of America as a country. These are your supporters, your fellow countrymen.

That's what makes the anthem so special at a NASCAR race. NASCAR doesn't show the anthem each time for the sake of televising it; on the contrary, it costs them valuable commercial time. Yet, NASCAR makes that sacrifice because their fans want to hear it, as do the drivers, the teams, and all of us in the “Hollywood Hotel” (the portable studio we use for the pre-race coverage) or the broadcast booth. NASCAR doesn't make a show of their patriotism; they let it show.

Of course the rubber-burning, car-crashing spectacle of NASCAR isn't all about patriotism and old-fashioned racing traditions. This is a 180 miles per hour, steel and concrete, cutting-edge sport that attracts speed demons and old timers alike – not to mention old timers who are speed demons. There are even some aspects of NASCAR's pageantry that ruffle a few dusty feathers of the sport's more conservative fans. The adrenaline and high energy rock acts shredding the strings of their guitars on the race track may make some older fans turn off their hearing aids, but many fans love the excitement. And the sight of models such as Pamela Anderson showcased beside NASCAR's finest vehicles make for the perfect combination of sex appeal and horsepower. They can get racy at the races. Yet they tend to tone it down for the sake of families.

Music is becoming a bigger part of the races, and NASCAR is finding ways to get everybody's toes tapping. At Daytona they've had acts from the sixties to today, further proof that many different generations love the sport. It shows the progress that NASCAR has made and all the decades that have come and gone since its introduction into the sports world. Started on dirt roads years ago, it has now grown into a sport with its own traditions and spectacular, larger-than-life racing events.

That's not to say that NASCAR made it completely
on its own. NASCAR didn't grow in a vacuum. It is a part of the American sports dialogue. There are certain traditions that it shares with all other great American sports, such as the national anthem. NASCAR continues to take inspiration from other sports as it decides how it can improve as a form of entertainment. One of the sports it looks toward is football. The NFL has been a role model, in many ways, for NASCAR. From a television standpoint, the NFL is well managed. NASCAR followed suit and is now working with FOX and other national networks. That was a smart decision, because now they have a better way of reaching a large number of people and the affiliation of a major network. The new changes that have been introduced to the sport have really been for the best from an entertainment perspective.

Another way in which NASCAR is modeling itself after other American sports is in the spectacle of the show itself. The Super Bowl is the mother of all televised sporting events and there is no American that isn't familiar with the championship game. Our country's best musicians have performed during the pre-game and half-time shows; it is the most watched American television broadcast and Super Bowl Sunday is a de facto holiday. Nobody does a better job with a major sporting event than the NFL and the Super Bowl. So it's no wonder that NASCAR and track officials have been taking notes, adding
musicians and more pomp to the races. The Daytona 500 is now referred to as the Super Bowl of racing, but it's quickly becoming an American tradition in its own right.

The Daytona 500 is the Great American Race. The 500-mile, 200-lap race is the pinnacle of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It is the race that determines a driver's greatness. Held on the 2.5-mile tri-oval track in sunny Daytona Beach, Florida, the Daytona 500 is always eventful. It has seen everything from unexpected victories to brawls between drivers. There's always something to see. A lot is at stake; Daytona carries the largest purse of all the races. It is the most watched race and one of the most peculiar competitions in the sports world. Most sports have their major competitions at the end of their seasons, but this race is at the beginning. The Daytona 500 may seem like an unconventional Super Bowl alternative, but it has been around longer than the Super Bowl itself and is becoming just as popular.

Like the Super Bowl, the Daytona 500 has its own traditions. The winning driver is presented with a trophy in Victory Lane. The first Daytona 500 was held in 1959, at the very same place it is held today. Today, a few things have changed, but the race stays true to tradition. Teams have to race in order to set the starting grid. The event is the pinnacle of Speedweeks, two weeks of racing that includes the
Budweiser Shootout and two 150-mile races, which are held on the Thursday before the big race.

With all its pomp and excitement, the Daytona 500 has seen great wins and suffered great losses. Its first winner was Lee Petty, father of NASCAR's arguably greatest driver, Richard Petty, who took the win a record seven times. This jubilant race, for me, also holds an ironic sadness to it; since it is also the race where Dale Earnhardt wrecked in 2001 and died as a result of the accident. The same track that has borne both greatness and tragedy has seen the unexpected victories of underdogs, such as Bobby Allison's win 1978 win. Allison was trailing behind –
way
behind – in thirty-third place. Then, as if by magic, he blasted through the competition and ended up leading by lap 72 of 200. It was the biggest comeback at that time.

But one of NASCAR's most popular races came the next year. If we're going to talk about the show and spectacle of the Daytona 500, we have to talk about the 1979 race that put NASCAR on the map. Perhaps the 1979 race isn't the best example of the all-American sportsmanship that NASCAR seeks to embody, but was certainly historic. It became one of the first races that people really talked about on a national level. It was also the first Daytona 500 to be televised live in its entirety. As fate would have it, a huge snowstorm was covering most of the eastern United States, confining many Americans in their
homes with television as a primary means of entertainment. That means that most of America saw the entire race, from beginning to finish – and there was a lot to see.

The multi-championship winning Richard Petty stole the win once again, so there was no surprise there. The thing that got everybody talking was what happened
after
the race. On the very last lap, Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison were head to head, competing for first and the generous purse that accompanied the fame and glory. On the backstretch, the two drivers edged in front of one another, competing for the lead – until something went wrong. Yarborough and Allison crashed in turn three, and Petty swooped in to steal first. Yarborough and Allison walked away unharmed … or at least, they got out of their
cars
unharmed. Angry after a stolen victory, Yarborough and Allison got into NASCAR's first nationally televised brawl. Donnie's brother, Bobby, stopped to help him out when the fight erupted. It wasn't NASCAR's most honorable moment, but it was certainly one of its most popular. Yes, the spectacle of the Daytona 500 has seen great losses, crushing defeats, and even fistfights.

People are drawn to the races to see more than cars. The Daytona 500 attracts some of the most sought-after celebrities and performers in the country. The pageantry and the pomp are high. Everyone from
Keith Urban, a native New Zealander, to the U.S. Air Force Thunderbird squadron has made a debut at the Daytona 500. Between hearing Urban sing his heart out and watching fighter pilots perform a traditional military flyover, fans who are able to get to Daytona quickly realize that this event is just as big as the Super Bowl. Though it may have less hype, NASCAR has made the great race one of America's greatest sporting events.

Daytona attracts masses of fans, and those that can't make their way to the race set aside the day to watch it on TV. Just like many fans put aside time to enjoy the Super Bowl, NASCAR fans have made the Daytona 500 a national holiday. They invite their friends and families over, prep the recliner and couches, order pizza and buffalo wings, and make it a Daytona 500 Day. The event has earned its own title in the sports world, not as the Super Bowl of NASCAR, but as a premier sporting event in America.

Even though the Daytona 500 is the sport's greatest race, NASCAR makes each of its races a show of pageantry and American pride. Patriotism is never lacking at the races; neither are fast cars, campgrounds, motor homes, barbeques, foods of all varieties, and thousands of the world's most rambunctious fans. The colors of the cars and the sounds of the engines are enough to get these fans on their feet. The crowd makes the race. Everyone is pumped; they
create a high-energy atmosphere that makes the event exhilarating. The drivers arguing with the crew chiefs and fans booing their favorite driver's competition are all a part of the spectacle.

Sure, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points race may take place thirty-six weeks a year, but some fans see it as the only time when they can let loose. They work hard all week and look forward to the race on the weekend. They're filled with energy that they don't get to express from behind their desks or on the shop floor. They're ready for speed and glory. The fans bring every race to life.

Whether it's football or Formula 1, every sport has pre-game activities, but none compare to that of NASCAR. The fans are really the source of all the commotion during the festivities, camping out days in advance. To them, the race is really just one part of a major party. They go around to vendors as if they were at a carnival and buy collectibles of their favorite drivers. There are hundreds and hundreds of cars, and even more people filling the parking lot. Everyone is there to meet each other, have fun, get their adrenaline pumping – and eat. With countless portable grills and vendors, no one goes hungry at the NASCAR races.

Food isn't the only thing that will catch your eye at the race; you'll see a lot of shining medals and uniforms, too. Some of our military's finest attend the races, and they both give the honor and have the
honor of mingling with NASCAR drivers and fans alike. Before the race, drivers will parade around the track for the fans to see them. Before or after this, there will be a performance of either local or national talent. Then, after all the hubbub, the real NASCAR pageantry beings.

Military officials present the American flag. Drivers and team members remove their hats in reverence to pray and sing along to the national anthem. There may be some dispute in this age of political correctness as far as whether public prayer should be allowed at a sporting event. These fans, for the most part, are not only comfortable with praying before a race: many of them would insist upon it. It's a demonstration of personal and communal reverence. Prayer before a race is part of NASCAR's pageantry. It's their way of asking God to watch over the races and make sure that everybody gets to the finish line safe and sound.

The person praying for the group will do nothing more than ask for good weather from the heavens, protection for our drivers at home and our military abroad, and a great race. I think everybody can say “Amen” to that. It isn't that NASCAR doesn't respect the different religious perspectives of its fans – far from it. In truth, the prayer is included precisely because they
do
respect them. NASCAR makes prayer a part of its races because so many of its fans want and expect it to be part of the pre-race pageantry.
After the prayer comes the national anthem. After that, military planes fly over the track like metal angels to bestow their blessings and to prepare every fan and driver alike for the show of glorious man-made, aerodynamically engineered automobiles to come. Then, those famous words, “Gentlemen, start your engines!,” and the great green flag. If fans got a chance to go to a pre-game show for baseball, football, hockey, Formula 1, or any other sport in the world, and then rated that experience against the NASCAR pre-game show, there would be no contest: NASCAR would emerge as the undisputed victor.

Many people may wonder how all this began; if NASCAR created all of these elements of the race unprompted, or if fans asked for them. It is, after all, a race, as well as a great sporting event and spectacular show. It's hard to say how it came together to be what it is today, though fans are really the ones to thank for the show. All the patriotism that we see and hear at the races – the military men and women, the planes flying over head, and the sweetly sung American anthem – are ultimately there because fans have, over the years, made the races a place where they can be proud to be American. In fact, they've made a fantastic show of it.

The military men and women are oftentimes big fans themselves and are there to enjoy the race – don't
let their uniforms fool you. As for the vendors and merchandise sellers, they're part of most U.S. sporting events; business will go where the customers are. The campgrounds, barbeques, and family-oriented atmosphere have more to do with the fans than with anything else. A lot of NASCAR fans are country-loving folks, the type of people who appreciate the great outdoors and wouldn't dream of going to a fancy hotel with their family when they could take their motor home instead. Maybe, in the early days, this started when a couple of people heard about the races, decided to make a weekend of it, and hopped in their motor homes. It's not hard to believe that it quickly became a popular idea. Over time, these traditions have become what we know today as NASCAR's pre-race celebrations.