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Not an Auto Racing Fan? Let me try to explain...
Some people just don’t get it and probably never will. I can’t understand how anyone can go through life and not experience auto racing of some type and not get all excited about it. Now, I don’t like shopping, hair salons, or quilting parties and I try my best to stay away from any kind of baby or wedding showers. So, we are the same in that there are things we like and dislike, but at least I have tried the things I don’t like before I made a decision not to like them. Have you ever watched a race on TV or been to a live race? See, you’ve never given it a chance.
My job as a Staff Writer at A2Z Auto Racing is to keep my racing community informed of the happenings within the World of Auto Racing, but those of you who have never even given it a try are the ones hurting my efforts. I know you’ve heard the race talk around the water cooler, as it were, when racing guys and gals talk about what happened at the track this past weekend. Don’t you ever feel the urge to get into that conversation and let them know what you think? Come on now, never? Well, I’m here to try to change all that. This is the basic, the 101, if you will, about auto racing and why it’s the number one spectator sport in the world now.
Let’s approach this with an open mind, please! This is kind of like bathing a cat, I know. I’ll have to be real careful not to get scratched all up on this, but let me try to explain to you why so many other people like racing and maybe once you see that, you’ll be swayed more in the direction of tolerance rather than disgust when it comes to auto racing. Trust me here; I’ve converted some tough customers before who are now some of my biggest fans. Oh yeah, I've heard all the jokes too. "It's a sport where athletes drive cars in a circle all day long, but never get anywhere." It takes a real driver to handle a race car, go straight, now turn left, OK, now go straight again, now turn left again, now go straight again and on and on".
Let’s start by looking at similarities between what you might like and what auto racing has to offer. Let’s take shopping; most people like to go shopping, so this will suffice. If you like to shop, you probably have your favorite hang outs, right? The local Wal-Mart or K-Mart, if it’s like in my town, everyone in town can be found there within any 24 hour period. That favorite store would be like a favorite track, TV channel, or web site to a race fan. Both are familiar territory so you feel comfortable there. You know all about the place. Where the entries are, where the changing rooms are, or where the frozen goods are. Just like a good race fan would know the shortest lines, where the less crowded restrooms are, and where to get a cold beer without having to wait too long for it, not to mention the best seats and a shortcut route to get to them quickly. My point is, we as race fans have our favorites, just like you have your favorites for what ever it is that you like to do.
Now, lets pretend that there is going to be a really big sale at your favorite store and you plan on getting there early. The store opens at 7 am, but you plan to arrive at 6 so that maybe you can get a real close parking spot and maybe get a cart from the parking lot that wasn't stored properly the night before. You also want to be the first in line. This is not unlike the planning strategy of a race team. Get there early and start preparing for the big race. Now, lets say that there were no carts available outside of the store. You are eyeballing one through the store's glass window that seems to have all four wheels and they look somewhat straight from a distance. It's the third cart in on the second row and it's yours! You've got a real good place in line and you will be the sixth person to make entry into the store. Your plan is to go straight for the cart you are looking at and be the first to get to that sale item that you just have to buy. In racing, this is similar to qualifying for position only it's done on the track in the car. Now that your starting position is set, you strategize over your moves to get you to the limited sale item first. This is the same thinking as a driver and a race team. They want to get to the finish first and make plans to get them there.
Now the moment of truth comes! It's time start your shopping excursion. This is just like the beginning of a race with the prayer, the signing of the National Anthem, and the fly over prior to a race. The store manager stands looking at his watch with the keys in his hand. You feel yourself getting all tense. You can feel your heart beating rapidly. This is almost the same sensation that a driver goes through when they are announced to the fans and climb into their cars. The jingle of the manager's keys in the front door is just like the announcement, "Gentlemen, Start your Engines!" It instantly gets really loud and things start moving. You immediately put your plan into action. You move swiftly towards your pre-selected shopping cart, hoping that you've made a good choice. Drivers take their rolling positions on the track and prepare for the green flag to start the race. As you proceed to your first target, your cart, you tend to stay in the line that you formed outside the store. No need to run over someone just to get a cart, right? Now you've got your hands on the crusty handle of the cart that you want. A race car driver tenses and focuses on the flag stand for the green indication. You throw your purse into the cart and turn for the entry door. Race car drivers get the Green Flag and hit the accelerator and instantly increases their speed. You are through the door and aligning your cart with the isles that lead directly to your main target. Drivers start looking for advantages on the track to increase their position. As you proceed, you are now right along side of the number seven shopper headed for the first turn. You have to figure out where your competitor is going to enter the turn and where they will wind up coming out of the turn. You want to pass this person so that when you get straighten out, you are in front. Drivers are doing this too, with the same determination, grit, and pure driving skills that you are using. Drivers do this time and time again for sometimes over 500 miles during one race. You only have to do it a few times to get to your prize. Now you are approaching your target and there are only two available and one is a demo model. You start to slow down some and set your cart up for a quick stop. Drivers do this too when they are approaching pit road and their pit stop. You don't want to over shoot your planned stop and you sure don't want to stop too short or your competitor, remember shopper number seven, will get to it first. You come sliding in right at the counter where that coveted Maybaline Travel Suit Case, with wheels, that contains a year's supply of top quality makeup that is marked 70% OFF, to the first shopper to get it to the cashier, is located. A driver slides to a precise stop in his pit box and the crew begins servicing the car which includes, 4 tires, a full tank of racing fuel, a wedge adjustment (ask a racing fan friend to explain this) and a windshield peal-off pulled off. All of this happens in about the same time it takes for you to grab the only sealed kit left and chunk it into the shopping cart, about 15 seconds. Now you are off to the check-out line, pushing your cart with the large case loaded in it which makes your cart pull a little to the left. Race cars sometimes do this too. Remember the "Wedge Adjustment" I mentioned earlier? Sometimes an adjustment does just the opposite than what the driver needed. Now you have an understanding of an ill handling cart or race car. You begin to struggle some with the cart not pushing in a straight line. You are having to fight it's wanting to turn to the left. Getting to the checkout line becomes a task! Drivers suffer the same thing, Ill handling cars are slower and take more steering input to keep them straight.
Now the finish is within sight. You've passed the White Sale isle and can see the cashier. This is just like the driver getting the White Flag, one lap to go! You've noticed that others are starting towards the checkout too and you have to figure a way to get there first. Drivers are also trying to figure out how to get to the finish line first. You bump an older lady's cart in order to get by. You scrub up against a lady who has the demo case just like yours in her cart and she is determined to bump you out of the isle. Drivers are pushing, bumping, and scrubbing all over other cars to get there first. You manage to push her cart into another shopper's cart and block her from passing you. This usually happens on the track too. Leaders will use "Lap Cars" as blockades to prevent them from being passed. You step it up and are at a full run now, lined up with the checkout line and nothing is in your way. Drivers who are leading a race hang on for dear life and try to get to the finish line first. You've made it! You are in line first! You've won. The driver who gets there first also wins! You get your coveted Maybaline Travel Suit Case, with wheels, that contains a year's supply of top quality makeup that is marked 70% OFF and a driver gets a big trophy, a large sum of money, and a big wet party in the Winner's Circle.
See, it's all the same! You can take almost any event in normal life and turn it into a race. I have personally bought a weeks worth of groceries for a family of four in only 18 minutes because in my head, I turned the task into a race and I won. The people I ran over and bumped into in the store didn't know that they were being passed or intimidated by James Speedy Jones. They just thought I was crazy. Especially when they heard me adding my own driving noises like revving motors, screeching tires , and crash sounds. The manager was so impressed with the way I threw all of my selections onto the checkout counter that he took my picture and posted it on the Manager's Board. I was so proud until I later found out that my picture was added to the "Banned for Life" Board and I was asked to never enter there again! I used to really like shopping in that store. I sure miss it!
Anyway, see my point? Racing is a fun sport that is filled with planning, strategy, skill, and patients. I just can't understand why some people don't like the sport. It's so close to our everyday lives. It's like me on the Interstate, it's interesting, it's fun, it's dangerous, and it's exciting! I can't wait for race season to start again and neither can my insurance company.
Take the time to watch a race, preferably on TV first. Try to relate it to something that you do on a normal basis and you'll begin to see that it is very similar. Read our articles to Beginners and you'll soon develop an interest in the sport. Before long, you'll be one of the ones who pay $120 for a seat that you don't sit in as you are standing up, yelling your favorite driver's name, in the hot sun at some race track somewhere. You'll be dressed in your driver's colors, advertising the same products that is on his car, and loving every second of it. Careful, this sport is habit forming!
James H. Jones Jr., A2Z Auto Racing ©2004
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