Saturday, August 02, 2003
There's a fascinating article in today's Washington Post about NASCAR Dads, who could be to the 2004 election as Soccer Moms were to Clinton's victories in '92 and '96. I have issues, however, with this characterization by Wayne LaPierre, the CEO of the NRA:
"NASCAR Nation is NRA Nation," LaPierre says. "The people at NASCAR races are your hard-working, average tax-paying Americans that are raising their families and putting their kids through school. They are patriotic. They own guns. They hunt, and they go shooting and they love the Second Amendment, which is what we're about, also. It's where America is, to tell you the truth. If you want to find mainstream America, go to NASCAR."
My problem with it is it that if marketers - which include politicos, certainly - are crowing so loudly about the diversification of the NASCAR audience -
Once confined to the rural Southeast, NASCAR has exploded in popularity over the past decade, drawing race-day crowds of more than 100,000 in such markets as Miami, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles.
- then why are people like LaPierre and Graham treating it as if this generation of NASCAR fans is the same as any other, i.e. tobacco-chewin', beer-drinkin', gun-shootin' rednecks from the south? I love NASCAR myself; it's strategy, skill, and excitement, without so many of the overpaid crybabies featured in the NBA, say, or the NFL, even. Part of its appeal to me is that most of the NASCAR drivers seem like regular guys. Sure, they race cars really fast for a living, and some of them have mega-endorsement deals (most notably, of course, Jeff Gordon and Dale, Jr.), but they're not hanging out in overpriced bars' VIP sections with AI and Allen Houston. They're, well, folks like us (me?). They seem real to me, like they could be guys I grew up with. If NASCAR hopes to continue its phenomenal growth, it's got to somehow, somewhat shake off that deep south redneck portion of its image, and continue to expand (and in those terms, the new sponsorship deal with Nextel effective next season should help immensely). I'm part of the NASCAR Nation, too. [And have y'all seen Gaytona.com, the site for NASCAR-loving 'mos? It's a little campy, and a lot of good stuff.]
"NASCAR Nation is NRA Nation," LaPierre says. "The people at NASCAR races are your hard-working, average tax-paying Americans that are raising their families and putting their kids through school. They are patriotic. They own guns. They hunt, and they go shooting and they love the Second Amendment, which is what we're about, also. It's where America is, to tell you the truth. If you want to find mainstream America, go to NASCAR."
My problem with it is it that if marketers - which include politicos, certainly - are crowing so loudly about the diversification of the NASCAR audience -
Once confined to the rural Southeast, NASCAR has exploded in popularity over the past decade, drawing race-day crowds of more than 100,000 in such markets as Miami, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles.
- then why are people like LaPierre and Graham treating it as if this generation of NASCAR fans is the same as any other, i.e. tobacco-chewin', beer-drinkin', gun-shootin' rednecks from the south? I love NASCAR myself; it's strategy, skill, and excitement, without so many of the overpaid crybabies featured in the NBA, say, or the NFL, even. Part of its appeal to me is that most of the NASCAR drivers seem like regular guys. Sure, they race cars really fast for a living, and some of them have mega-endorsement deals (most notably, of course, Jeff Gordon and Dale, Jr.), but they're not hanging out in overpriced bars' VIP sections with AI and Allen Houston. They're, well, folks like us (me?). They seem real to me, like they could be guys I grew up with. If NASCAR hopes to continue its phenomenal growth, it's got to somehow, somewhat shake off that deep south redneck portion of its image, and continue to expand (and in those terms, the new sponsorship deal with Nextel effective next season should help immensely). I'm part of the NASCAR Nation, too. [And have y'all seen Gaytona.com, the site for NASCAR-loving 'mos? It's a little campy, and a lot of good stuff.]
# posted by Thomas : 7:35 AM
