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My dad is one of the biggest inspirations in my life. He has taught me many ideas that will last with me for the rest of my life: Work hard in everything that you want to succeed in and believe in yourself NASCAR is one of the greatest sports ever.
Yes, my father has been able to show me just how cool NASCAR actually is. At first I made fun of it, saying that it was just a bunch of toy cars going around in circles on a track. However, once I actually sat down on Sundays and watched it with him, I started to realize just how hard, and somewhat interesting, it actually was. I mean, could you picture yourself trying to maneuver a vehicle going at around 200 miles per hour, shifting gears every 30 seconds while trying to avoid running into 42 other drivers who are doing the exact same thing to get into first place and win the race? Yeah, I’d be a little scared.
The more I watched the races the more I asked myself, “Why don’t I hear much about NASCAR – not just in Maine, but throughout most of New England?”
When you think NASCAR, who is the top names that you think of? Most people will say Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. What do they all have in relation besides making tons of money every year and getting huge endorsement deals? They’re all from the South. Who’s New England’s representative in NASCAR? Ricky Craven and that’s it.
That is one of the main reasons why I feel that NASCAR isn’t that big up in the North. We have no representation for the sport. Most of the big NASCAR drivers are from the South, so that means most of the fan base is in the southern states. You think of NASCAR fans, you think of drunken southern rednecks renting an RV for the weekend and traveling to every race that they can. That’s because most of the races are held in the South. If more races were held up North, would the fan base become larger?
Every year, there are two races held in Loudon, New Hampshire. At every race, over 100,000 seats are filled with anticipating fans. If a sport can sell out a 100,000 seat track, they have to be doing something right. And it’s not like its just random people going to the races. My dad once told me that in order to get tickets to a race in Loudon, “Someone either has to die, or you have to kill them to get tickets.”
If the track at Loudon can fill up that much and that fast, there must be some NASCAR fans up here in the North. Guys, just think of the idea of racing around a track at high speed, making tons of money, and having girls drool all over you. Girls, picture a hot guy racing a fast car around a track at high speed and making tons of money.
So please, don’t make fun of the top-grossing sport in America. Learn to love NASCAR, I sure did.
Bangor Daily News