Fan's Eye View ~ The "Real" NASCAR Fans
04/02/2014
Jim Fitzgerald
It is not too difficult to make it happen. All you really need to do is disagree on a topic about which someone is passionate, and it will usually pop its ugly head out of a hole. Someone will accuse you of not being a “real” NASCAR fan. You like a Toyota driver? We’ll you’re not a real NASCAR fan. You haven’t been to track to see a live race? Well, you must not be a real NASCAR fan. You don’t like Martinsville’s hot dogs? You can’t be a real NASCAR fan, then.
What does it take to be a “real” NASCAR fan? I have my own ideas. For example:
A real NASCAR fan has taken a shower in a self-service car wash while camping at a race.
A real NASCAR fan doesn’t wish for a certain driver to crash. He opts for safety, instead, and he hopes for engine failure. Besides, think “big picture”…a driver can get back into the race after a crash.
A real NASCAR fan is able to take a little friendly ribbing from others because he likes a certain driver, and in turn is able to dish it out in a friendly manner as well.
A real NASCAR fans comes to Race Fans Forever on a daily basis, and appreciates all that the site has to offer.
A real NASCAR fan shares with others, be it a beer, a seat, or a camp fire on a chilly night.
A real NASCAR fan knows when to say when, and doesn’t drive intoxicated.
A real NASCAR fan knows that Dale’s real last name is not “Junior.”
A real NASCAR fan watches for the crashes….and the side by side racing…and the single file racing…and the fuel mileage races…and the race where his favorite driver is already behind the wall. A real NASCAR fan watches, period.
A real NASCAR fan, no matter what change is being considered will immediately jump to conclusions and only focus on the worst-case scenario.
A real NASCAR fan smells racing fuel and tire smoke…and enjoys it.
A real NASCAR fan grows the sport, and gets other fans involved.
A real NASCAR fan would like to follow the “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” model, and understands when others cannot.
A real NASCAR fan rises at the track for the start of the race and will not sit down until at least ten laps have passed, and will repeat the process for every restart, and always in a wave formation from the low seats to the high ones.
A real NASCAR fan tries to support the sponsors of our sport, but sometimes needs to save those few pennies, too, and make a different choice.
A real NASCAR fan has made a piece of NASCAR apparel of some type, at some time, and worn it in public.
A real NASCAR fan feels the loss of a member or family member of someone in the racing community as if it were the loss of his own family member.
A real NASCAR fan stands and removes his hat when the National Anthem plays, and places it, or a hand, over his heart, and doesn’t yell the “O” when it is time for the “O, say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave?” line, even if he is from Maryland.
A real NASCAR fan watches races, no matter what level, and finds a favorite, finds someone to root for.
A real NASCAR fan doesn’t insult others just because of a difference of opinion. Opinions are like hearts, and usually stem from them.
A real NASCAR fan appreciates the members of our military, and the sacrifices they have made and continue to make, even if the fan is not in agreement with those who have put our soldiers in harm’s way.
A real NASCAR will let another NASCAR fan, or anyone else, out in front of him to lessen his wait in traffic.
A real NASCAR fan is a fan, through thick and thin, and good and bad, and still watches even though there are things about the sport that bother him. A real NASCAR fan never gives up.
The truth is, we’re all real NASCAR fans, because being a real fan is in the eye of the beholder, so to speak. Everyone has his own ideas about how racing should be, which driver he likes, and which drivers he secretly wishes would fall off the planet. That’s fine, of course, because we’re all different. You also probably have your own ideas about what a real NASCAR fan is, or does, and you should make yourself heard in the Roar of the Crowd section below.
A real NASCAR fan would!
Feel free to leave comments below, and be sure to follow me @RaceFansJim on Twitter, because sometimes I give stuff away!