The NASCARification of America: 2008
January 24, 2008
On February 17, the 2008 NASCAR season will open in celebration of the 50th running of the Daytona 500 in Daytona, Fl. If you visit the official website for the race you will find an Internet space intended to trigger images of a past full of glory in an effort to pay homage to the men made the race what it is today. Upon opening, the site presents us with majestic music reminiscent of the NFL Films era of John Facenda, the voice all men who narrate sports attempt to emulate. Old cars with fins and monstrosities from the 1970s slide around various permutations of the Daytona Speedway forming a continuum of time that leads us to the NASCAR Car of Tomorrow that is very much here today.
From the website, the visitor unfamiliar with Daytona, Florida or NASCAR would never know that denizens of that city can still remember days when black people were once “gator bait” for whites, as this author was told. From the website one would never know that just last year NASCAR fans heckled 17-year old wunderkind black driver, Marc Davis with the words, “Go home nigger!” From the website a visitor would never know that once NASCAR and Craftsman Truck Series driver, Bill Lester (a black man) said of the Talladega Speedway - outside of Atlanta, Ga. - infield party scene, “I would never spend the night there.”
From the website one would never know that NASCAR itself is in the midst of a crisis.
At first glance it does not seem possible for NASCAR to be in any sort of financial predicament. It is the second-most watched sport - the NFL is number one - in the United States. It has a fan base of about 75 million people who purchase $2 billion annually in licensed product sales, and generates $380 million in revenue. But in recent years France has seen empty seats at races and lowered television ratings creep into view.
NBC noticed, too, and what appears to be an oncoming revenue recession was part of the decision to pull out from televising NASCAR races at the end of the 2006 season after having broadcast races since 2001. And though the contract has been picked up by ESPN and ABC, they had existing fingers in the NASCAR pie. The NEXTEL Cup is now the Sprint Cup, which will be the Under Armour Athletic Supporter Cup if France does not carefully plot his next few moves.
To survive, France knows he must attract a new audience and expand his sport’s viewership.
Blacks and Hispanics represent 18% of the total NASCAR viewership and they are split down the middle. France knows he must attract one of the two, if not both races to his brand. In 2006, NASCAR’s foray to Mexico was replete with a newcomer to the NEXTEL Cup, South American racer, Juan Pablo Montoya. A Columbian, Montoya was lured away from Indy car racing to NASCAR by fabled team owner, Chip Ganassi. The Mexican crowd embraced a fellow Hispanic driver, but the strain of travel and the lack of quality amenities in Mexico make it impossible to race there more than once a season. Then, there is a language barrier that cannot be traversed unless there is a proliferation of Hispanic drivers into the NASCAR ranks. But that brings into plain sight the unwelcome reminder of illegal immigrants from south of the border flooding the United States eating up jobs in the service sector that were once the domain of rural and suburban white high school students everywhere; that were once the domain of the housewife who is now an economic co-provider for her family because her husband’s earnings are little more than half of what her father’s were for relatively the same type of employment; that were once the domain of the college student needing a night job to assuage the hefty cost of room and board - and spending money for the Friday night.
That brown skin is a stark reminder of what ails our economy while television money analysts tell us the quarter-truth but mostly lie that unemployment has reached an all-time low of 5%. Sure it is true, but when you cannot earn that paycheck and someone who does not speak English is, the truth in the statistic melts away like late April snow.
So then, the black population is what France must turn to for the expanded viewership he seeks.
But how do you court a people who largely feel your sport’s acronym is code for a poorer extension of the Kelly Tilghmans of the U.S.? How can you ask black people to spend their hard-earned money on you when blacks involved in the sport are treated to the redneck Bronx cheer of, “Go home nigger” and do not feel safe amongst the throngs that watch the races live?
Worse, or more important, depending on your perspective, how do you sell the courting of minorities to an existing fan base that would like to see one group of minorities shot as they cross the border and the other group lynched in the infield at night or fed to alligators inn the Everglades?
But this is the tricky part. Brian France in particular and his father before him, Bill to some degree, carefully crafted an image of the average “new” NASCAR fan. That person is firmly entrenched in the middle class, politically a moderate conservative who is reaching beyond his or her white privilege to “tolerate” other races and cultures. He or she is as comfortable in their knowledge of the bouquet of Jeff Gordon’s latest vineyard effort as they are letting their hair down and getting down and dirty at Martinsville.
Unfortunately for the Frances that person, in reality represents a minority of NASCAR fans. The average representative of what is known as “NASCAR Nation” is diametrically opposed to that France-crafted visage used to create valuable advertising revenue. Yes “official” NASCAR demographic information states that about 40% of its audience is female, 75% have graduated from college, and 25% own their homes, and about 36% make %50,000 or more. But 73% are from the South and southeast, 20% live in the Northeast, and the other 7% are scattered about the country. And Bill Lester? Of the 106 NASCAR corporate sponsors, none will share its money with a man who was the first black NASCAR driver in 20 years.
Traveling the backloads of the Northeast, and equating them with those of the South and Southeast, where 75% of the citizens have not graduated from college, it is evident that these statistics are skewed, or at best, massaged to deliver a desired effect.
It appears that Brian France has sold his corporate sponsors a bill of goods. It is the same bill of goods the individual car owners bought into and passed on to their sponsors.
And Brian France’s core fan base is in the midst of a revolt.
They witnessed the introduction of NFL-type slickness to the production of NASCAR racing and, at first, welcomed it, and allowed it to creep into their consciousness. The image told the rest of America that NASCAR had arrived. What for four decades was seen simply and sometimes laughingly as “stock car racin’” replete with greasy-faced, wild-haired heroes one generation removed from toothless, moonshine runnin’, outlaws, became legitimate.
The Indianapolis 500 and its open wheel racers that attracted the Hollywood crowd and foreigners both on and off the track became effete in the face of this “real American man’s driving league of Southern gentlemen. These men could just as easily sell their constituents deodorant and charm the Daisy Dukes off a Southern gal as they could hop out of their cars fresh from a crash and beat the crap out of the dude who nudged them into the wall in the first place.
Everyone bit into this new image and swallowed it whole. Television saw it, too. And soon national broadcast stations were lining up and fighting amongst each other to further the NASCAR Nation’s message. The sport exploded, U.S. open wheel racing fractured at its seams into CART and the Indy Racing League and, as a result, committed accidental suicide. Suddenly, no one wanted the Unser family and few wanted the Andrettis, but it seemed like the whole of the American racing world and most of its new converts wanted the Earnhardts and the Pettys and the Waltrips.
The idea of “The Redneck” came out of the closet and presented itself to America - a new and more conservative nation. And when this Brian France-created image checked itself out in the mirror, it found out that “Redneck,” was kind of cool.
As France pushed his slick redneck image to America the core fan began to feel left out. Racers like Jeff Gordon, never exactly a favorite with the grassroots NASCAR fan, became a pariah to all but his most loyal followers as he purchased vineyards and began to sell his wine to the well-heeled. At the same time France was stopped racing in several smaller Southern markets and took those races to major metropolitan areas like the Chicagoland Speedway race in Chicago, Illinois and Montreal, in Canada. Gone were races at Dover Downs, Delaware and Rockingham, North Carolina.
NASCAR Nation faithful began to feel betrayed by these developments. The scene became more and more corporate and less and less fan friendly. The ultimate act of betrayal happened when, in 2004, Magic Johnson came aboard the NASCAR train to lead France’s minority initiative.
Johnson is the owner of various businesses from his movie theaters to Starbucks coffee houses in 65 cities across the United States. Bringing in Johnson made France’s message clear. To core white fans this was France turning his back on them to court blacks. To black fans the France-Johnson alliance showed clearly that neither man was after their hearts; they only wanted black people’s money.
And Johnson’s initial statements to the NASCAR press that were transmitted across the nation let everyone in on the secret. Magic sounded more like Tiger Woods than a former NBA player. When asked, “Do they need to get rid of the Confederate flags,” Johnson replied famously:
I can’t control what happens with flags. You can’t control what people want to put on their cars and so on. Only thing I can control is making sure these programs are run in the correct manner, make sure minorities are touched in the right way. I hope they will feel it’s not offensive to them. And if it is, they won’t be a part of it. I can’t control that. There’s some things that have been going on in NASCAR for years. I can’t change that. I’m not here to change the sport of NASCAR, trust me. I’m just here to try to bring more minorities to be involved in the sport of NASCAR.
In other words, Johnson’s message to black people was, ‘Bring me and NASCAR your money and leave your good sense at home.’
Some Drive for Diversity. That is no way to bring hope to transforming disparate peoples’ feelings about NASCAR.
In the three years since Johnson’s involvement with NASCAR and in the five good years of the purposeful “slicking up” of the sport, fans began to stay away from the tracks and stay away from viewing the races on television.
In 2007, Brian France saw the absentee number grow but also saw a sign that all might be well if he chose to go back to the future. The feature musical performer of the 2007 NEXTEL Cup season was redneck turncoat: former American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson of Houston, Texas. Clarkson was far from her Idol tiny pixie self. She had put on weight in all the wrong places, wore a black outfit that cried angst and she sang a rock and roll lost love song barefoot.
The cheers for Clarkson from NASCAR Nation were underwhelming.
NEXTEL was probably very happy 2007 was its final season as primary NASCAR sponsor. Jeff Gordon ran away from his competition as the points leader during “regular season” races. But on the way to the “playoffs” NASCAR Nation got ugly. With each Gordon win, the anti #24 sentiment grew stronger. After winning at Talladega Gordon’s car was pelted with beer cans and other debris during his celebratory burnout. Though Gordon didn’t seem to mind, France surely was fuming. It was not the first beer can incident of 2007, nor was it the last.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wst2cdUgnf8]
But in the end, it was Gordon’s partner, Jimmie Johnson who would walk away with the championship by dominating the 10-race playoff. It was a system brought about by France to add some spice to the season’s final races as often the points race had been sewn up by that time, just as it had with Gordon in 2007. The top 12 drivers are all but stripped of the points they earn during the regular season and everyone starts again anew for the final 10 races. Johnson got hot and won half the events, while Gordon ran out of luck. It was a farce of the highest degree.
Under the old system Gordon would have captured his fifth championship. Instead, he was an also-ran. Because this was a replay of the initial season of this new system for Gordon, he was actually gimmicked out of what would have been his sixth points win. Today he should be one championship behind all-time Cup champions Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt, Sr.
To say the playoff system is a farce is a gross understatement. What it does is protect Petty and Earnhardt from interlopers to the crown like Jeff Gordon.
Also, during the season NASCAR faithful were witness to the implosion of the Earnhardt family. Theresa, the mother, sister Kelley, and Dale Jr. fought tooth and nail over control of Dale Earnhardt, Incorporated (DEI). In the end, Dale walked away because Theresa refused to offer Dale, Jr. a controlling share of DEI. Earnhardt signed with Hendrick Motorsports and joined Jeff Gordon and eventual 2007 Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.
NASCAR Nation was aghast all season as the in-family feuding was played out in public. They were completely dismayed by the fact that their beloved “Junior” (Dale’s nickname) was leaving the company his daddy began and, by death right, passed on to him. It was a season-long Jerry Springer show, NASCAR style.
Step-mama Theresa was seen as money -grubbing so-and-so who refused to take a proper back seat to her son, the star. Privately in DEI circles it was whispered that Dale didn’t work hard enough at racing or the business and did not deserve - and hadn’t earned - control of the company.
With these firestorms swirling around Brian France salvation came on the first Thursday of September, 2007. That evening the Indianapolis Colts began the defense of their previous season’s Super Bowl victory. The pregame “party,” a made-for-television event was eerily familiar to NASCAR’s eight months previous. Finally, it was time for the feature act. The band was on stage jamming alone briefly when the lead singer bounded onto the stage.
It was Kelly Clarkson.
She wore the same black outfit and hadn’t lost a pound. She the same song - barefoot. Forgettable pop songs do not have eight month shelf lives.
But this was the influence of NASCAR on the invincible behemoth, the National Football League. New Commissioner, Roger Goodell, must have seen something he liked in February at Daytona. Goodell had recently finished a six month scorched earth house cleaning of every black face he could possibly use as and make an example of to show America that under his thumb the slave-gladiators would not in any way, shape, or form, run the plantation.
It appeared that Goodell wanted to ally himself and his league with his racially, demographically similar not-so little brother, NASCAR. And in that moment, France was provided with his salvation.
Core NASCAR fans represent the rural, Wal-Mart America equivalent of the hippie clan-family that almost cultishly followed the Grateful Dead before the death of its leader, guitarist, Jerry Garcia. They are slavish in their loyalty to their driver of choice. They will buy the manifestation of every decal associated with that driver and his racing team. They will save their hard-earned dollars, even borrow from banks to attend races they deem important - not so much to them but to lend that extra cheer to their driver; the cheer that might push their man behind the wheel to victory. They are overwhelmingly white, staunch believers in the self-righteousness of their religio-conservative worldview where Jesus, Jack Daniels or a good ol’ American beer, and an enemy to hate are the components necessary to feel alive. They feel ownership of this country and the world because these United States are the greatest God-ordained, man-made creation that will ever be. And they feel, above all, “white equals might and therefore “white” is right.
It is 2008 and these are your people, Brian France; keep those “minority initiatives” in the background and trot them out one month a year- not all the baggy clothes in the world will help you, anyway. See, by following you Brian France, Roger Goodell showed you the way. Keep close hold of your hard-earned might. Keep what you know is right. The NFL does it, just ask Gene Upshaw. Golf does it, just ask Tiger Woods. Despite the smoke and mirrors, the NBA does it, just ask Magic Johnson. And baseball will do it - or die a slow death.
Just take a look at the Daytona 500 website; nostalgia and family. That is the dream of America. These are the good old days… just like the good old days.
Just ask Brad Daugherty.
—————————–
Previously:
The NASCAR-ification of America: What Acts as a Beginning Comes to a Very Different End
Comments
38 Responses to “The NASCARification of America: 2008”
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My Best friend is a Much bigger Nascar fan than me. We attended the Samsung 500 in Fort Worth in April of last year, and will probably attend again this year.
I wasnt uncomfortable, but then again, I was in a Major Metropolis.
My friend has been to races in Bristol, TN and assured me it was a different experience.
NASCAR WANTS a Black Driver BAAAAAAD.
But they cant get the Corporations to back one.
And I will tell you why.
Whomever the MAJOR Sponsor is for that driver, they will go down in history as the Company with the N_____’s car.
Those corporations arent convinced that Black folk will turn out for that Driver.
and you dont wanna sink the kinda LONG dough for what may make you a pariah amongst the fan base at large
I will say this though….when that kid DOES come down the pike. He is going to need our support. BAD.
It is a cold world out there when you got no fans. The first time he swaps paint with a fan favorite and spins them out…it is NOT going to be pretty.
http://www.portfolio.com/culture-lifestyle/culture-inc/sports/2008/01/14/Nascar-and-Race/
dont know if you saw this D. i got it from BigLead about two weeks ago, i think.
ink-
That article has little to do with where I’m coming from…. Plus, there’s this (which I forgot to add to then of this article - it’s there now) that is the precursor to this present article. And then there’s this from October of 2007.
While the Conde Nast article has some merit, it’s is written to meet the beginning of the NASCAR season and little more (I’m not feelin’ people who jump in waaaaay late and halfway and then act like they’re cutting edge - like C. Nast and TBL).
Loved the article. I’m from NC, where Nascar started as a bunch of bootleggers trickin’ out their cars to outrun the law. It’s hard to even pick up the sports section of the newspaper without seeing something Nascar in it, even during the offseason. When Dale Earnhardt, Sr. died, the Lakers (my team) were on tv. I think they were playing the Spurs. Every station had breaking news. I missed the end of that game, and I was pissed. The stations said they switched because it was big news. Charlotte is building a Nascar hall of fame that I’ll probably never go to, but I’m paying for! (It’s being paid for through hotel and rental car taxes.)
Several HBCU’s are teaming up with Nascar. Most of the teaming up is on the business side. There are even a couple of black people racing in the really minor leagues of Nascar around NC. As you stated though, even if one of them is a phenom, they’re gonna have a hard time getting sponsorship. And assuming one gets sponsorship, do you honestly think that they are gonna get a top level car or team?
I think about Lewis Hamilton, the British born phenom F1 driver who just completed his rookie year with a 2nd place finish in points. He said he might want to try his hand at Nascar one day. I feel for him. I don’t think he knows what he’d be up against. I believe that he could get sponsorship. His first problem would be during a race, they’d conspire to keep him from winning, even if it meant crashing him. One of the biggest things I’ve always hated about Nascar racing in itself was the concept of teams. I remember hearing how teams would get one member to crash to keep Wendell Scott from winning the race, and getting their teammate into the winners circle. The second, and bigger part would be the fans. Even down in Concord (a few miles northeast of Charlotte), where Lowes Motor Speedway is, you see alot of Confederate battle flags. And from what I hear, the rhetoric and disdain for minorities is mild compared to places in SC, TN, FL, AL, and TX. I actually would fear for his life.
kos-
Thanks for the props and thank you for the NC perspective (Hamilton had such a great start to the F1 season, I thought he was going to win in a walk - but that’s racing)…..
I’m with you on the “team” deal. However, I see the same thing (without the, I hate you, so see you in the wall, deal because peeps can die real quick in open wheel racing) in F1 and with Indy car racing…. yeah, I think they showed Lowes and the flags in the ESPN NASCAR special they did last year…..
As for sponsorship and a black racer - yup. Wanna lose customers quick and in a hurry? Sponsor a black driver for a Cup season…..
Has Michael Wilbon told Bill Lester to, “…just shut up,” regarding Lester’s comment that he wouldn’t spend the night…oh wait, wrong sport — Wilbon was addressing Richard Williams when Williams said his daughters, Venus and Serena were affected by racism on the tennis tour. You’re talking about NASCAR — well they may be the NHL soon.
It would seem fast cars and cool brothers would be a great marketing mix — wouldn’t ma and pa in ole Texas just love that sh**t.
grace-
It would seem fast cars and cool brothers…”
That is great imagery….
Right, Dwil, but it’s too much for the “market” to bear. Just as the movie studio (Paramount?) insisted, days before shooting began, that Richard Roundtree, a young fashion model cast in the lead as Shaft, shave his mustache (luckily for us, director Gordon Parks walked in on Roundtree just as he was about to shave the first whisker, stopped him — and cussed out the studio), in an attempt to “soften” his image, I don’t think we’ll ever see “..fast cars and cool brothers,” promoting NASCAR. Unless of course they are acting the fool — the “market” can handle that. They won’t tolerate speed, control, suave and black man all in one bite. Just too much. Just too much.
Dwil, Read the article only out of curiousity, as I do not care much for NASCAR. To the extent that I do, I root for Jeff Gordon, only becasue he’s anti racing establishment, meaning they don’t like him.
I can see where you would say that France is cooking the books as it relates to his demographics. The 75% “attended college”, given the rate (25%) of home ownership and ($50K) income level, I would surmise that the college graduation rate is significant lower that the attended rate. I will also suggest that he is using income form the northeast to get to the overall income level of $50K . I think the bulk of NASCAR fans in the S.E. are semi-literate, with income just above the national poverty levels.
Sponsorship is a problem for any local Black driver, but an international driver such as Hamilton could bring his sponsors with him. But it’s sad commentary that an American brother or sister cannot get domestic sponsorship. We should know better that to expect anything else from corporate america, social responsibility has never been their thing.
Imhotep-
Hamilton will have a hard time bringing that European sponsorship here because we do not purchase their goods. Adn if he is not in Europe and is not accessible to Euro-people, doing a Euro-profession they don’t care about the sponsors, either. So, unfortunately he needs U.S. sponsorship and/or global sponsors that translate here as well as Europe; for whom NASCAR is not some kind of turn-off like it is presently in Europe.
The far Northeast where I am is as poor as the Southeast. So I think he gets some of his demographics from the “Golden Triangle” area in NC (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill), affluent areas in the South (the Buckhead County, Ga. types), and the Sonoma County, Ca. types…….
And it is interesting that a lot of black people I know like Gordon. I like dude because he’s versatile and could easily do F1 or Indy if he chose….
Also, thanks for reading the article despite your lack of care for NASCAR.
I’ve always found most Southern white folks hatred of Jeff Gordon laughable. Charles Barkley brought this up one time on TNT. He said that Jeff Gordon is everything they claim to want in a sports hero. He’s clean, doesn’t get in trouble, in short, he’s a golden boy. A lot of the people I talked to that didn’t liked him said something about him being born into a rich family. That’s total b.s. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was born into a rich family, doesn’t win, and they love him. I’ve always figured that the biggest thing they have against Jeff Gordon is he’s educated, not from the South, and he had almost instant success against Dale Earnhardt. They are just big time hypocrites.
kos-
Yup….
“From the website one would never know that just last year NASCAR fans heckled 17-year old wunderkind black driver, Marc Davis with the words, “Nigger go home!”
And from your website one would never know whether that statement was ever uttered by anyone at any time.
In short, you gave no link or attribution and when searching various combinations of the sentence, or sections of it, the effort turns up exactly nothing except your blog.
I may be wrong, but it leads me to believe the faint smell of bovine excrement is in the air.
“‘From the website one would never know that just last year NASCAR fans heckled 17-year old wunderkind black driver, Marc Davis with the words, “Nigger go home!’
And from your website one would never know whether that statement was ever uttered by anyone at any time.
In short, you gave no link or attribution and when searching various combinations of the sentence, or sections of it, the effort turns up exactly nothing except your blog.
I may be wrong, but it leads me to believe the faint smell of bovine excrement is in the air.”
I smell it too, but it’s not coming from D-Wil. The link is in the Conde Nast article (http://www.portfolio.com/culture-lifestyle/culture-inc/sports/2008/01/14/Nascar-and-Race/)
“And Hickory, 50 miles northwest of Charlotte, North Carolina, is Nascar bedrock, America’s oldest continuously operating motor speedway and the hallowed minor-league track where such legends as Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty cut their teeth. It attracts a hardcore following, an overwhelmingly white crowd that was perfectly happy when Nascar was just a backwater redneck sport. So though Davis had already proved his Nascar mettle by winning six races at Hickory that year, his tangling with a white driver caused an uproar among about a hundred fans, who stormed a fence surrounding the track, some of them chanting, “Go home, nigger!” Several were ejected from the stands.”
marc-
Actually, it’s “Go home nigger!”
And you may be wrong because you are…..
dwil - “Actually, it’s “Go home nigger!”
And you may be wrong because you are…..”
Cute, real cute. The quoted passage in my first comment was cut and pasted directly from your copy, yet now the epithet allegedly hurled Marc Davis’ way is now something slightly different.
Funny that. What’s also funny is your assertion that a link exists within the body of this post to the Conde Nast article.
And BTW, from that article (linked in comments, not the post) it states that about one hundred fans were part of this alleged incident. The track has a seating capacity of over 10,000. Having one tenth of one percent, assuming a packed house, be party to this is mighty thin gruel to pass off as a sport wide environment.
You note Bill Lester as the only Black driver and his inability to land a corporate sponsor. But the question you fail to explore beyond your racism angle is why?
Lester is 46 years old. Just in the last year two very prominent drivers both over the age of 40 lost their rides to younger drivers. The sport and it’s big monied sponsors have consistently gone after drivers under 30 years old in the this decade but that fact apparently doesn’t fit the narrative you want to push.
Is there some racism in the sport? Sure just as there is in every major sport or business.
Furthermore your assertion that NASCAR is attempting to gain a Mexican audience (in Mexico) via a yearly event run there is misleading, at best. (“but the strain of travel and the lack of quality amenities in Mexico make it impossible to race there more than once a season.
The sports Mexican efforts are two fold, first to promote local stock car racing via the NASCAR Corona Series.
Secondly they are courting the 40-million-person Hispanic community in the U.S. The yearly trip to Mexico is just the means they have chosen to achieve those goals.
So
Marc implies the quote was made up, then when he finds out it actually did come from a story, he points out that it was only a mere 100 people out of 10,000.
Funny how that works.
marc-
Look, just because you’re butt-hurt because you run a NASCAR site, keep your B.S. far away from me.
My assertion about Mexico comes from the words of drivers and crew chiefs (you do the homework, since you’re so down).
And I never implied nor did I attach numbers to how many people telld at Davis…. just like 10K people didn’t throw beer cans at Jeff Gordon, but thew 100 or so who did gave the sport a black eye.
And thanks for failing to contextualize how long Lester’s pursuit of being a NASCAR racer is… like he just began racing at 40, or something.
Look, I understand that at your site, Full Throttle, is pro NASCAR. But that’s not my problem. The problems I air here with NASCAR have been aired in part and over time for decades.
You should know them well.
And if you have a problem with the quote that originally drew your ire so, take it up with Conde Nast.
Allen - “So
Marc implies the quote was made up, then when he finds out it actually did come from a story, he points out that it was only a mere 100 people out of 10,000.
Funny how that works.”
Yes I did, and with no link to the quote and zero hits on Google except from this site, that’s a reasonable deduction and reasonable question to ask.
And note I was correct, the post contained no link to it.
Funny how that works.
dwil - “marc-
Look, just because you’re butt-hurt because you run a NASCAR site, keep your B.S. far away from me.”
Funny that, it would seem the reasonable thing would be to discuss this issue with someone that does run a “NASCAR” site. Not to mention nearly every other form of racing.
You know… to get the perspective of someone who has followed the sport on a daily basis for a very long time.
But that’s apparently not true, it looks for all the world you have a greater desire to lord over an echo chamber and to hell with dissenting opinion.
“My assertion about Mexico comes from the words of drivers and crew chiefs (you do the homework, since you’re so down).”
I have, and did and in all likely hood far in advance than you have. I’m well aware of what both U.S. based and Mexican drivers have said.
I disputed your assertion that NASCAR was trying to build Hispanic following by being there. Then you jump into the deep end with ludcicris notes on the immigrations issue.
That’s only partially true, they don’t want to race there any more than once per year due to the logistics involved. What they desire is to use the event as a bridge to Hispanics of all nationalities in the U.S.
But what to hell, based on your thoughts they went “the black route” of gaining market share because the immigration controversy.
“And thanks for failing to contextualize how long Lester’s pursuit of being a NASCAR racer is… like he just began racing at 40, or something.”
Do YOU know how long he has been in NASCAR? I have my doubts.
1999 (age 39) for a single event on a road course and 2000 again for a single road course event because of his expertise on those type venues..
His first full-time ride was in 2002 and was sponsored by the Dodge Dealers, followed in ‘04 with Toyota sponsorship. Hardly being blackballed by his race I’d say.
His loss of a ride, as stated, was his age just as it was for Joe Nemechek and Stirling Marlin who lost their rides for 2008.
Hey you gotta dispute with that fine, but show me another diver of any color, race or creed that has done better when they started at the age of 39. (lotsa luck)
“Look, I understand that at your site, Full Throttle, is pro NASCAR. But that’s not my problem. The problems I air here with NASCAR have been aired in part and over time for decades.
You should know them well.”
I previously stated I do know them well, that’s not the issue, it’s some of the examples you use, or misuse, to state your case.
As for being “pro NASCAR,” whatever!
All that shows is you spent so little time there (assuming you did) to not notice the reality.
“And if you have a problem with the quote that originally drew your ire so, take it up with Conde Nast.”
The only problem with the quote was first… the lack of a link in the post, a pretty normal function in the blogosphere and important when ref’ing something as controversial as racial remarks
Secondly, was the implication I quoted it wrong when it was a direct cut & paste from your original copy that has thirdly.. been cunningly edited by you to reflect what the link truly shows.
Pretty sad episode I’d say,,, but oh well, it just comes from a NASCAR apologist who has invaded your “space,” or more correctly, your echo chamber.
marc-
You come to my site, accuse me of creating a quote out of wholecloth and think I’m going to receive you nicely?
How fucking pompous of you!
As far as the quote was concerned I misquoted it: “Go home nigger,” “nigger go home.” All I did was correct it and tell you what the correct quote was. But you want to recontextualize what I wrote. Again, how pompous of you! And I’m sure if the crackers at the speedway said “Go home nigger,” they said, “Nigger go home,” “Go back to Africa,” and some more shit.
And yes, when you come here with lame accusations and attempts to diminish the words screamed at Davis because there weren’t 10K people screaming them, I can comfortably say that not only are you a NASCAR apologist, you are an apologist for racists as well - which puts you in the same boat as the people who screamed the words at Davis.
And this is not the place to come with racist rhetoric.
Then, to top it all off, you want to go to other sites with your lies!
On Topic, Slightly, REALLY!
Of course I have to spin, twist and otherwise render unrecognizable your ref to LGM’s and their omnipresent Uni-Mind into something totally different, but here goes anyway.
Read thru this post (The NASCARification of NASCAR: 2008) and check my thinking. To me, while some truth is to be had, it’s far too much slanted to paint NASCAR as a bunch of racist bigots. (Oh what a Capt Renault type shock that is)
And note my first comment, then a response that claims the passage I quoted was incorrect. And SURPRISE(!) my cut & paste of the section was changed in the text. Nice people, they’d fit right in at Gawker.
Thanks, you can shoot me a emailed response if that fits the occasion.
This is wonderful - and you are exactly the kind of person on which Brian France needs to focus his attention. Good luck to you and yours of “NASCAR Nation.”
dwil - “Then, to top it all off, you want to go to other sites with your lies!”
Which lies would they be? What part of what was posted in an effort to check MY THINKING on this post is a lie.
Quote them, but don’t strain yourself, fiction is sometimes the hardest genre of writing to master.
“You come to my site, accuse me of creating a quote out of wholecloth and think I’m going to receive you nicely?
Your reading comprehension skills match your ability to assess the current state of race relations in NASCAR, and dare I say the southeast as a whole.
A piece of advice, if you don’t want your little echo chamber of horrors invaded by others with FAR more experience than your self in the subject at hand sorry for ya, but when posting a piece of utter gutter trash will little to no basis in fact and what fact is suggested is stretched far beyond reality don’t open comments.
If you do techorati isn’t your friend, ’cause sooner of later someone of reasonable intelligence will happen by.
And from your website one would never know whether that statement was ever uttered by anyone at any time.
In short, you gave no link or attribution and when searching various combinations of the sentence, or sections of it, the effort turns up exactly nothing except your blog.
I may be wrong, but it leads me to believe the faint smell of bovine excrement is in the air.
Your quote. Your accusation.
And like this accusation anything else you’ve written here is also a baseless lie. I find it interesting that you base you entire “attack” on the veracity of a quote, but provide no facts, to refute anything I wrote in the piece. Additionally, because you want to twist this so that I must defend myself against the words you typed here, I’m done.
That’s for you to do, if your satisfied yourself, bully for you
like ive posted here before… auto racing!!! BLARGH yes an extremely ridiculous and eco-destructive endeavor at this point in the mini-history of human ascendence on this planet… and im not even a humanist… but i am a ’southerner’… which actually empowers me to say… marc, fuck off… you tailpipe sucking cunt.
How can anybody seriously attempt to imply that Nascar-culture is anything other than hostile to African Americans? Just because Nascar is transitioning from the Dukes of Hazard stereotypes of Buddy Baker, Junior Johnson, and the Allison brothers to the current generation of Ken Dolls, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Carl Edwards, does not necessarily make Nascar anything than what it has always been. Hostile to Blacks.
Every Sunday for 36 races plus the All-Star weekend and the Bud Shoot-out 43 Cars line up. How many black faces are in drivers meetings? How many black faces do you see on the over-the-wall crew manning jacks, catch-cans, impact wrenches, and tires? In the observation tower? Spotting for drivers? In the garages and engineering shops?
It takes two things to get into Cup Racing.
1) Lots of Money. Tons of money. US Army Money. US National Guard Money. Budweiser Beer Money. Dupont Chemical Money. Pepsi Money. Dewalt Tool Money.
2) Membership in the Lake Charles, N.C. Good Old Boy Club.
Now how many Black folks have those two things. Or even influence with somebody that does. Or how many anybodies of any color have those things. It is the most exclusive club in the world. Only somebody with those two things can make it happen in the current construct of Nascar.
You know . Maybe there were only 100 out 10000 spewing epithets. What the hell were the other 9,900 folks doing? I suspect the same thing that most folks do when they see thugs gang up on victims. They rubberneck and stare gape-mouthed from a safe distance, hoping that the thugs do not notice them, or silently give thanks as somebody else does the dirty work for them.
Nascar has been around for over 50 years. And they are making the same mistake the Army Air Corps did in World War II, keeping African Americans out of pilot training, until they finally turned loose the Red Tails of the 332nd Fighter Group - the Tuskegee Airmen, on Hitler’s Germany. The best pilots of an entire culture and generation in one P-51 Fighter Group. And it required a hell of a lot more talent to fly and fight in a P51 than turn left in the abominable looking and handling Car of tomorrow. It was an all-star team. The first real Dream Team. Nazi pilots greatly feared the Red Tails, and often times simply turned away from attacking the Bomber Streams when confronted by the distinct tail markings of the Tuskegee Airmen, flying close escort. White Bomber crews were notorious for specifically requesting 332nd FG fighter escorts. (almost unheard of in other theaters of the war) Fearless, skilled, highly intelligent, great physical stamina, mental toughness, emotionally mature, unsurpassed motor skills, highly trained, great equipment, great pride yet truly humble, and with something to prove…the deadliest of opponents.
I don’t know how Roush Racing or Joe Gibbs Racing, or even the Toyota billionaires think they’re even going to compete against Hendricks Motorsports in the future when they feature four drivers like Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Casey Mears, and now even Dale Earnhardt, Jr. himself. But, if I was a guy with
1 Tons of money
2 Membership in the Lake Charles Good ol Boy Country Club.
3. Looking to win.
I would be drooling over the opportunity to seek out, and recruit the best of the best. Afterall, if the Defense Department figured it out in 1941, maybe some rich connected guys will figure it out in the early part of the 21st century. I wouldn’t hold my breath though
Great follow-up to last year’s column, D…sitting here looking at my off-white wall is more exciting than watching NASCAR to me but I can understand the appeal the ’sport’ has for some people. I’m somewhat torn if there should be a Black phenom in the sport though. All people in this country should have the chance if their skills warrant to compete on the proverbial level playing field but spending most of my life in the South I know from experience and observation that many in NASCAR Nation will spew all kinds of vitriol at a Black driver. There will be a Tiger Woods in NASCAR one day but just like the Woods in golf he’ll be an apologist for his sport by glossing over the institutional racism of it.
Oh, also Bill Lester is no diletante to racing and has degrees in engineering on top of his other life accomplishments. As sad as it is to say in the post-Civil Rights Era, he was just ahead of his time for everything to fall his way.
Jeff Gordon gets a modicum respect in the Black community too because of the mention in the Nelly song from a few years back and doesn’t come across as one of Bull Connors’ deputies. He seems like a straight shooter but he got that dog in him as proven by that divorce case with his ex over his philandering ways. Join the club though.
@E, great post…historically accurate way to draw a parallel
Marc-
My reading comprehension???!
“And thanks for failing to contextualize how long Lester’s pursuit of being a NASCAR racer is… like he just began racing at 40, or something.”
You chronicle his NASCAR years not Lester’s pursuit of becoming a NASCAR driver, but hey, I’m wrong once again for you failing to properly read my writing.
You:
The only problem with the quote was first… the lack of a link in the post, a pretty normal function in the blogosphere and important when ref’ing something as controversial as racial remarks.
I’ve been her long enough - it is not for you to come here and “blog police” - in fact, it’s rude as shit… and then to accuse me of bullshit as a result is , well, bullshit.
You:
Secondly, was the implication I quoted it wrong when it was a direct cut & paste from your original copy that has thirdly.. been cunningly edited by you to reflect what the link truly shows.
I never “implied” anything. As you can tell from my article and the article I linked to at the end of the piece, or any other writing here, I am perfectly capable of , and have no problems conveying exactly what I mean. That you attempt to assign a different meaning to the words written than what they read is your problem, definitely not mine……
And no, I’m not obsessed with measuring my popularity on the Internet, particularly not with people like you.
Finally, thanks much for the “gutter trash” review of my work….
Stay classy, home boy.
Harvey-
Thank you…. Jeff does have that “dog” - or rock star - in him as do most athletes-sports figures when they reach “that spot” stratosphere….
“Ain’t that America,
For you and me, baby.
Ain’t that America,
Home of the free…”
Little green monkeys,
Gave AIDS to you and me,
To you an’ me —- Yeah!
(Whoops, wrong lyrics!)
HD: Thanks.
If one stops to think things like this through, an all star team will always almost defeat a “regular team”. By segregating out the best Black Pilots, the Army Air Corps basically put the best pilots of an entire generation in one Group. (Before integrating in 1948) Just another example of how self-defeating elitism is. How many American airman lost their lives over Germany because they did not have the benefit of an African American Fighter Pilot to defend him? How racism goes to defeat one’s self interest. Even the desire to beat the shit out of your opponent is not enough for some people. They would rather hold onto their old corrupted ways of thinking then win. There are those that would choose death, rather than give up their hate. Thats the sickening and evil part of racism.
On a Jeff Gordon note, he was one of only a few, if not in fact the only, Cup drivers, surveyed prior to the 2004 Presidential election to not support George W. Bush.
E-
Even the desire to beat the shit out of your opponent is not enough for some people. They would rather hold onto their old corrupted ways of thinking then win. There are those that would choose death, rather than give up their hate. Thats the sickening and evil part of racism.
And it’s the same with corporations protecting their worldview. If they have enough $$$$$$ they’ll sacrifice more money to keep out certain ways of thinking that are contrary to their way of thinking…. the two (what you wrote and what I wrote) are extensions of each other….
Deleting comments now? Heaven forbid you posted a blatant piece of propaganda and got called on it, and your echo chamber of horrors was invaded.
nitwit.
Look dude, Lester began his career in 1989, not 1999. Do the fucking homework your fucking self. If you know anything about NASCAR drivers, especially minority drivers since there are so few, you’d know that. since you don’t you’re here to solely pick a fight and spew racist venom…. if you do know and are acting like you don’t you’re here to do the same thing.
You are officially on the spam list.
Period
Nascar is ugly America. Amall town USA gone ‘new money’. Hillbillies gone boy racer. Tacky corporate design and advertising gone mad like the kid with a new stickerbook. Mullets awash with champagne. The stink and grease of WAY too much oil money. The new-Old South. Wrestling on wheels… Ok, it’s not ‘monster trucks’, but it’s bad, America, bad!
that’s ’small town’ or ‘a mall town’ — take your pick
“Look dude, Lester began his career in 1989, not 1999.”
Lying piece of shit. Are you also calling Lester himself a liar who verifies exactly what I wrote?
And BTW, if I’m so stupid what does that make you? You do so little research to note Dover is alive and well. AND so dishonest won’t change your copy to match reality.
Dickweed.
And yes, I suspect you will see this, because WP sends span to the cue in most cases. I doubt your smart enough to ban the IP.
Then in 1989, Bill began racing in the International Motor Sports Association’s (IMSA) GTO Series and several other sports car series in the United States.
—————–
Thats from his site. WTF is the matter with you? You try to justify institutionalized racism and de facto segregation with some fairly uncreative and pejorative pedantry. Nascar has its roots in the Deep South. There are no Blacks in Cup to speak of. Get over it. People smarter and intellectually more honest than you are no longer interested in your tripe.
You’re mindless argumentativeness and escalating invectives seem more suited for doublewide.com.
Besides. Dover or Darlington, Big fucking deal. Its irrelevant to the point being made.
Go away. You’re a bed tick with the amusement value of a piece of broccoli.
E-
Thank you.
I wrote my comment and totally forgot about spamming dude. But I’m glad I didn’t; because he resorted to personal attacks and so showed his true colors.