Rick Dahrens: My relationship with NASCAR

Fact: NASCAR stands for National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.

   
   While some might like to call it the “non-athletic sport created around rednecks”, I simply like to call it NASCAR. It’s been a part of my life since 2001, and will always continue to impact my life. I even have aspirations to somehow incorporate NASCAR into my career.   

   I can still remember my first race I watched in full. It was an October day in 2001. The racetrack was Phoenix International Raceway. I watched with the mindset of it being mundane and repetitive. What I discovered, however, is an exciting 20 minutes at the start of the race, and another exciting 30 minutes at the end.
   Being a diehard NASCAR fan, I tend to not understand why people can’t get excited for cars going 300 laps at 180 mph. When I pause and think back to previous experience, however, I can see why. It’s in the same category as golf. It’s great for taking naps, especially when you wake up with 50 laps to go.


   After watching that particular race at Phoenix, I started to follow the sport for the last month of the 2001 season. I didn’t watch another race until 2002, but I followed the headlines. I knew Jeff Gordon had the championship sealed, but I took interest in the silly season. It was enthralling to see all the drivers switching rides and debuting brand new paint jobs the following season.
   From 2002 through 2004, I slowly built up my knowledge of racing in general, not just NASCAR. I hardly watched a race in full, yet I hardly ever missed a finish. Every week I’d be all over racing forums and websites to follow the headlines. For some reason, those headlines between races intrigued me.    The rivalries between drivers, the early season driver swaps, and the fines from previous races started to put the sport together for me. Sure, some people just love the fast cars and loud noises from the engines, but most found that NASCAR has great story-lines to keep an interest.    It wasn’t until 2004 that I got to experience my first race in person. It was a breezy fall day at Talladega Superspeedway. I sat about three rows up, straight across from the entrance to pit road. The first thing I noticed when I sat down was the massive amounts of track from my seat to the backstretch. The television doesn’t put into perspective just how big these tracks are. The banking was another thing that caught my eye. It seemed as if I was looking straight down to the apron. I don’t think I would have been able to walk up the track very easily. 

Talladega, also known as racing fan's Mecca.

   
   The engines fired up to start the race and I was immediately impressed. Then the green flag came out and the cars whizzed by, practically piercing my ears. It was an incredible adrenaline rush I had never experienced before.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. ended up winning the race. This race is what sparked my true
interest in the sport.
   Since that race, I watch every race I can from start to finish. Whether it be the Camping World Truck Series or Sprint Cup Series, I follow every headline and can practically name the hometown of every driver. While it might not be the most useful bit of knowledge, it’s something that I’ve imprinted in my brain from years of watching.    Now that I truly understand the sport, I can honestly say I enjoy the racing. And by "racing", I’m talking about the 250 laps between the start and end. I understand why some people cannot enjoy it, because I have been there. I can’t stand watching golf or soccer, but that’s because I hardly understand the sports. I’m sure if I sat with someone who has a great understand of either sport, or if I went to an event in person, my mind would be changed. 
   I’m not writing this post to sway anybody to watch NASCAR. It’s a personal preference of mine, and it gives me something to look forward to when the week is over.  My suggestion to you is if you have any slight interest in racing, just start following the headlines. Check NASCAR.com every week and see what happening. NASCAR is like a soap opera. Every week there is something new to follow or something dramatic happening.


Rick Dahrens is a writer at Students of the Game. He is currently enrolled at Troy University, majoring in Psychology and Criminal Justice. You can find more of his work at troytrojans.com.