NASCAR Nation (20 page)

NASCAR is at its core an American sport, a sport defined by American values, American sense of risk and reward, and an American thirst for speed, competition, and achievement. America is a nation of risk takers. We recognize that you can't change the status quo by hiding from possibility, and so we're a nation of people willing to go out on a limb, to take a chance, whether the outcome we're seeking is a more secure future for our children or just a thrilling weekend afternoon. After all, our forefathers instilled in us the power and potential of a little risk. Where would we be if they had decided to sit at home safe and pay taxes instead of taking the risk of speaking out and eventually arming themselves against the British crown?

That tradition has defined the progress of our nation ever since – from Abraham Lincoln risking political popularity for the cause of equality to Henry Ford risking his financial livelihood for the sake of an innovative product that would revolutionize the lives of generations of Americans to come. We know that no gain comes without risk, and we also know that a little healthy risk is just plain fun. America is a place where people can achieve more than they ever thought possible – and it's because we've got the courage to test our physical, emotional, financial, and personal limits. That same spirit is embodied on every NASCAR track in the country. There is no car race without risk – and there is no winner without risk.

America is a land of pride. We honor the heroes who gave us our freedom generations ago, who have defended that freedom over the centuries, and who continue to stand for it today. We are the freest country in the world, a country where the potential of the individual to better himself is celebrated and supported. We're willing to fight for that freedom, and we're willing to stand proud for it. This is our home, the place where we raise our children to bright futures and grow old knowing we've lived well.

In this country, patriotism isn't about posturing; it isn't a performance for the benefit of the cameras. It's something that every citizen feels deeply and expresses spontaneously, and nowhere is that expression more evident than at a NASCAR race track, in the solemnity of the fans standing for the anthem, in the honor the drivers and crew members pay to members of the military, and in the common goal to achieve as much as possible – for the sake of our country.

Americans know how to have fun. We live in one of the biggest countries in the world, where the open road stretches from sea to shining sea. The highway and the automobile are part of our way of life; they represent our freedom and spontaneity. And speed is the essence of the car culture. When we work, we keep busy, we accomplish things, we move from one goal to the next. And when we play, we play hard – we take risks, we watch exciting sports, we drive fast.
NASCAR is nothing if not the celebration of speed. It's the thrill of rubber on asphalt, the nose-to-nose excitement, the adrenaline, the glory. Americans love speed. And speed is what NASCAR is all about.

Our country is built on the labor of teams. We're proud to lend a hand to pull a fellow American up behind us. Sure, we're independent, but from the beginning, we've always known that if you want to reach greatness, you can't go it alone. From the cooperation in our businesses to the smoothness with which our servicemen and women depend on one another to defend the country, we know how to work together, and that's how we achieve high goals that we could never accomplish alone. A NASCAR driver is the face of the team, but it's the whole unit of ownership, sponsors, and crew that makes him great. It would be impossible to win a race – or even finish a race – alone, and when a driver crosses the finish line in first place, the glory belongs with the whole team, just as any one American's victory is a victory for all Americans.

America is a country of industry, a country of healthy competition, and a country where we value hard work enough to reward it. We know better than to judge a person's worth by the size of their car, their house, or their paycheck, but we also appreciate the healthy competition inherent in a capitalist system. At the same time we're practical enough to realize that while the American dream means anyone can
achieve their potential, some people face financial limitations and challenges, while others might have an easier path. NASCAR is an expensive sport, and in some ways that limits access. But it still celebrates the independent drivers who take a chance with the big guys, and it welcomes hard-working, regular people into the stands more so than any other sport. NASCAR rewards the success of its teams – but drivers, owners, and crew members alike are out there for the love of the race, not for the money.

We've always been at the forefront of the world's technological breakthroughs. This country is one that values progress, innovation, and great products that make people's lives safer, easier, more efficient, or more comfortable. We're always pushing the envelope, testing limits, and when we see a problem or a challenge, we find ways to solve it with new ideas. NASCAR is, of course, a sport that depends on cutting-edge technology. Teams are under tremendous pressure to have superb, well-maintained machines at the forefront of the industry. And because there's a certain amount of danger inherent in the sport, NASCAR has adapted technology to constantly improve upon the safety of the drivers. This is a sport where innovation is celebrated – and where good ideas often spread outward to improve the lives of the everyday consumer.

For Americans, family comes first. We value passing on the heritage of our ancestors to our children,
and above all else, we strive to give our children the most opportunities possible. We celebrate the traditions that have made us unique – made us Americans – over centuries, and it's crucial to us to keep incorporating those traditional values in our lives today. At the same time, we recognize the necessity of welcoming progress and new perspectives. We're the most open land in the world, where new cultures are constantly being woven into our own. And it's exactly the same in the NASCAR world. The sport was founded on strong traditions, born in the U.S.A. and built from grassroots, but NASCAR also recognizes that to thrive – and even just to survive – it can't be closed off. It's constantly looking for new venues and new audiences, while never losing touch with the original traditions that made it great to begin with.

America is a big country, and its people love bigness. We eat big burgers, we drive big cars, and in many ways, we're larger than life. It's not about being pushy or showy; it's just one more way of reflecting the enormous and sincere pride we feel in our country and our way of life. That's why NASCAR has huge tracks that seat tens of thousands of fans, so that everyone is welcome to take part in the excitement and pride of the race. That's why the cars are beautiful and gleaming – because it's important to teams that the precision and performance of the engines be reflected on the outside, not hidden and
minimized. That's why every race has an air of fanfare and the national anthem is played to a thunderous cheer from the crowd. The pageantry of NASCAR reflects the heartfelt pride we all feel in the sport and in being fellow Americans. It's a way of showing the world how exciting it is to achieve greatness.

Americans teach their children to honor the heroes who won their freedom. I'm not just talking about heroes like George Washington, but also the everyday men and women who took up arms or built homesteads or founded businesses and schools. We value gratitude and honoring the sacrifice of our fellow Americans, who work and fight to keep our country great. On the NASCAR track, there are heroes of the sport, men who win race after race, or men who pull themselves up by their bootstraps, underdogs who in the last lap nose ahead to take the glory of the win. Sure, we applaud these heroes, and we're happy that our children look to them as role models. But NASCAR is also a sport for everyday people. The men and women in the stands are honored for their hard work and rewarded with an exciting event, a time when they can relax and get lost in the adrenaline and thrill of the race. The true heroes of America are its working people, its backbone – and NASCAR honors that.

And last – but certainly not least – America is a country of survivors. We've experienced glorious highs and mind-boggling progress alongside tragic wars and
weakened economies, and through it all, we remain proud, strong, enduring. NASCAR is, in the most obvious sense, a sport about endurance. Where else do athletes travel hundreds of miles in one race, through high temperatures and extreme pressure, even through crashes? But it's not just on the track that endurance is key. It's also the sport itself that endures – that builds on its foundations and continues to find new ways to reach people, new markets to crack, and new ways to grow. It's that sense of never settling that makes America great and that will keep NASCAR at the forefront of the sports industry for years to come.

The future is bright. I see many opportunities for NASCAR to continue to grow in the years ahead. Already, NASCAR has started to stretch not just toward the northern part of the United States and to cities on the coasts, but also internationally. NASCAR has established the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series that runs solely in Canada, and the NASCAR Mexico Series that runs solely in Mexico. It's easier for NASCAR to reach other countries in North America just because of the practical concern of land transport – getting the cars from one track to the other. But NASCAR has now extended its reach to European soil, and in 2012, NASCAR is sanctioning a series overseas.

The American lifestyle is still a coveted idea, a way of being, overseas. It's not just the sport of NASCAR
that I've seen people in England and other parts of Europe get excited about. It's the ruggedness of the sport and the sense of freedom and possibility that comes with fast cars and open road. They have rich racing traditions, to be sure, but they don't spend their weekends under the hoods of their cars, tinkering and making them faster the way we Americans do. We're still the Wild West in a lot of ways, and our car represents more than mobility. It represents freedom. It might be that NASCAR will never hold the same symbolism and importance there as it does here. But there is huge potential in the European market, and NASCAR sees the new avenues they can explore there. They are proud to be partnering up with European countries to start a 2012 racing series.

As we are slowly pulling ourselves out of the troubled economy and picking up our scattered pieces, NASCAR has also had to figure out a future plan. Maybe international venues or different kinds of sponsorship are two ways of doing that. Another way is just to tighten the belt temporarily, as so many of us are doing in our individual lives. Maybe instead of a new 100,000-seat venue, we'll be looking at a 65,000-seat one. There could be further adjustments and corrections in the number of races or in the ticket pricing. NASCAR and the tracks hosting events have to keep selling out races, continue to keep that excitement and buzz going, and if that's not possible when
you've got 100,000-seat venues and ticket prices where they currently are, adjustments will be made.

As I discussed, NASCAR is all about endurance. And although we all saw the past collapse of the auto industry, there have still been plenty of opportunities within NASCAR. There continues to be a great feeling of optimism in the industry – even while everyone stays in touch with reality and pays closer attention to what is actually happening in the country. Baseball, another tried-and-true American sport, survived through wars and the Depression and an almost-devastating labor dispute. In 2011, the NBA experienced labor disputes and for the first time since 1999, owners imposed a lockout, creating a work stoppage. By the time negotiations were completed, the season had been truncated to a sixty-six game season as opposed to eighty-two, but even this did not deter the fans or the players from picking up their jerseys and posting up, either on the courts or in the stands. Football is another survivor, the gold standard. They have revenue sharing throughout the ownership, a commissioner who's in charge and maintains the real power, and a players' union that isn't stronger than the actual ownership of the sport. They listen to and talk to fans and use technology to their advantage – they're the birthplace of the instant replay, which totally revolutionized televised sports. They get through things, good and bad. And NASCAR has that same spirit.

People live for race day, it gets them through the week, and NASCAR isn't going to disappoint. Over the last century, the development of racing has tied in with the growth of the automobile in America. It used to be that a car was a luxury; it was rare to have one. If you did, it was just a seat and an engine; you didn't even have a seat belt. Now almost everyone has a car, and it's like a second home. You have a navigation system, Bluetooth, a DVD player in the back for the kids. When you think of how essential the car is in our daily lives – most of our livelihoods depend on having a way to get to and from work – it's plain as day that the car culture is here to stay. And if it is, so is NASCAR.

NASCAR will make whatever adjustments it needs to stay around, because it's that much a part of America. Whatever we've been through with the auto industry and the national economy, the sport is strong. NASCAR's future is firmly tied to America's future. And in a country with such strong values and clear vision, the future is bright. NASCAR is America. Freedom and speed are our birthright. The urge to compete and be the best is in our blood. Is the pursuit of happiness best illustrated by the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup? After a decade covering NASCAR, I'd have to say, “Yes.” Wouldn't you?