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Okay… There are a lot people that write and talk about Nascar Sprint Cup racing out there talking about the “Event” for this weekend and I understand some of their complaints and comments. Many of them don’t speak highly of the “race” this weekend (which is why I call it an “event” in quotes) but I certainly don’t agree with all of the negative comments I’ve read and heard over the past few days.
I think the biggest problem I have with many of them is that I just look at the race a bit differently than they do. From my view as ‘Just A Fan’, this race is an “event” in every sense of the word and when I look it up in the dictionary, I find it says an event is, “1 a: something that happens, b: a noteworthy happening c: a social occasion or activity.” I look forward to this event every year simply because IT IS something different; something that is almost impossible to foretell the outcome of and I definitely believe it is something worth seeing.
I also disagree with the notion that this is a race that makes it hard on the little guys. That may be the case from a someone with a narrow viewpoint, but I really don’t think those “little guys” feel that way about it. I think they show up ready to race see if they can compete with the “big guys” and even show them they can drive as well as they can. In my opinion, this race is about the smaller names and teams trying to be better known and about the larger names and teams because they are the ones out-performing the others. Personally, that’s why I believe they call it, “The All Star Race”.
I have to tell you, I’ve been a fan of stock car racing since I was about five or six years old. I loved to frequent the dirt track in my home town when I was a kid and my friends and I used to ride our bicycles by some of the homes and gas stations where some of the cars we watched race on Saturday nights were stored and worked on. I was always in awe of those guys. Later, when I got the chance to race, it became even more of a part of my life and it stuck with me. It was always a family event with my dad, mom, sister, cousins and myself. Later on , when we had our own car, it was an event with my wife and daughter along with the rest of the family I just mentioned.
You see, I went racing and attended races because I loved racing. I loved the excitement, the people, the smell of burned rubber and the sights and the sounds of the cars with their thundering horse power. It was a family outing and a time to get together with friends of like interest. We all loved it and still do…its just a little different now. Now, we WATCH much more of it and actually DO less of it.
That’s why I’m a fan of the All Star Race (uh… I mean… ‘event’.) It doesn’t matter to me so much what the others may say about it … I just like it. I like it for all of the reasons I mention here and more. I don’t really mind so much it isn’t a points race, in fact, that just makes it more like the Saturday nights I remember. When we went to the races, we didn’t have any idea who would actually win or who was leading in the points. We saw some great races with all the trimmings…Hot tempers, pay-backs and wheel rubbin’, spark flyin’ excitement…No holds barred… just like the All Star “event” usually proves to be.
Tonight, I have no idea who is going to win but, I’ll be watching and I’ll be watching all of it, from the opening coverage to the interviews in victory lane. I have my favorite(s) and I’ll be pulling for them to take it to the other guys, just like I used to at the home town tracks on Saturday night. I don’t care how much they make for winning tonight and I really don’t care what the other pundits think about tonight’s race. To me, this is about racing… and I love it…
See ya next time…
Rusty
(all opinions and views expressed are strictly those of the writer)
© May 2009 – all rights reserved
Just A Fan’s View and Rusty Norman
