Marcus Carey On the Marc: It’s ‘speed week,’
and this red-blooded NASCAR fan is ready!

Let me try to explain the appeal of NASCAR. I feel compelled to do this during “speed week” which precedes the Daytona 500 this coming Sunday, which is the Super Bowl of stock car racing which precedes the 2012 racing season. Got it?

The Daytona 500 race kicks off the entire NASCAR year of racing. It is the biggest event of the season and unlike baseball and football, it is the first event, not the last. If you find that a bit confusing, no wonder I get so many funny looks from my colleagues when I tell them that I go to NASCAR races.

Recently I was involved in a deposition with a fellow lawyer and at one of the breaks the court reporter asked if I lived near the Kentucky Speedway. When I told her that I lived so close that on a clear day in winter I could see the seats, she asked me if I ever attended a race. After revealing that I had been a season ticket holder since the beginning, my lawyer friend gave me one of those looks like a coon hound hearing a dog whistle for the first time.

“YOU go to NASCAR?” he asked with the most sincere incredulity. I actually saw him survey my entire body from top to bottom as if I had suddenly been revealed to him to be some sort of alien life form occupying the body of a human being in a dark blue suit.

I’ve even had friends burst out laughing when I talk about NASCAR racing. Somehow though the stigma they all feel hasn’t had much of an impact on the industry itself. While attendance has been down somewhat due to the economy, big races still draw huge crowds.

Last year at the Kentucky Speedway the crowds exceeded capacity so badly that many fans couldn’t get to the track before the race ended. The venue is so important that a very lean state budget still included a lot of money this year to help pay for access improvements to the facility.

Those who have attended a big race will tell you that the atmosphere is more like a Disney Park than the image some still hold of dusty little country ovals where local boys crash around in the dirt and moonshine swilling shirtless rednecks “woo-hoo” every lap. NASCAR is a pretty family friendly sport with lots of things to do other than watch cars drive in circles.

There is of course plenty of overpriced food to consume, and usually it is much better fare than you will find at a baseball park. Sure, finicky kids can still get a plain hotdog but you can usually find some pretty good barbecue, sometimes Chinese food, steaks, chicken and an assortment of snacks that make the whole bag of peanuts and nachos thing seem somewhat uninspired.

There are event trailers set up around the perimeter where you can shop for merchandise, maybe get on a carnival ride in a fake race car, participate in a “pit crew” competition to see how fast you can remove a tire with an air hammer and of course hob-knob with various members of the driving teams at signing events.

Most tracks have some sort of pre-race concert and the talent can be pretty good. But the real eye opener for most first timers is the realization that this sport is populated by millionaires.

By the time you get a chance to use your pit pass, tour the garages, see the equipment, watch the drivers arrive by helicopter, think of the money spent on crews, tools, transportation, and tires, you suddenly come to realize that racing isn’t just for Bubba anymore.

And then, just as the driver announcements are about to end and you make your way to your seats, what you will also see is plenty of moms and dads of all walks of life coming together to enjoy a truly American sport.

With all of the colors, the excitement, the sounds, the music and the celebration of America all around, you will be hard-pressed not to become swept up in the emotion of knowing that most of the folks with you this day are patriotic lovers of freedom.

Depending on which event you attend you might get the thrill of watching a sky diver twirl down from way up over head trailing a huge American flag all the while Lee Greenwood is singing “I’m proud to be an American.” You will likely be thrilled by the presentation of the colors in honor of our military and the choice of singer for The National Anthem. It is more likely to be a local preacher, a big burly Marine or a rocker with a pretty clean image rather than a spangle-gloved crotch grabber out to dishonor our pride.

And just before the words “Home Of The Brave” are amplified across the faces of 75,000 people a squadron of fighter jets just might blow down the home stretch, barely above the stands raising the hair on the back of your neck, no matter how un-red it might be.

Oh, yeah, the race. Sure the cars are brilliantly colored. Sure the teams are incredibly skilled at fine-tuning these $100,000 high performance machines and sure the drivers are skilled beyond credit for their endurance, mental alertness and driving skills but those are things you will come to appreciate more over time.

Like the many rules of the sport, the calculated use of time, fuel, tires and the other many components of what it takes to win, you would be overwhelmed to try to take it all in on your first visit. But it is all there, years of gaining greater appreciation for what really goes into the quest for the checkered flag.

How can I explain NASCAR? Simple, it’s just a chance for red-blooded Americans to get together and celebrate the competitive spirit, the dedication to excellence and the unabashed patriotism of America

After a winter of rest it all begins anew this Sunday with these famous words “Drivers, start your engines.” Perhaps the rest of America will take the cue and make this the year when we roar back to life.

Marcus Carey is a Northern Kentucky lawyer with 32 years experience. He is also a farmer, talk radio host and public speaker who loves history and politics. He is a prolific and accomplished writer whose blog, BluegrassBulletin.com is “dedicated to honest and respectful comment on the political and cultural issues of our time.” He writes a daily commentary for KyForward.