The Great American Race

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This is me writing the first sentence of a blog about NASCAR.

And I can't believe it.

I have never been a racing fan. I do drive a pick-up truck and I did spend a good portion of my childhood in central Florida but I could just never get into a sport consisting entirely of left-turns.

The Daytona 500 though has always caught my attention every year. Growing up in Deltona (an unincorporated town that was in between Daytona and Deland, hence the creative name of Deltona) I witnessed the masses descend on Daytona Beach every February in all of their jean shorted glory. The interstate would be jammed with RV's descending on central Florida, stocked with cases of cheap domestic beer, on their way to pay homage to the tailgate mecca. The city would buzz - literally and figuratively - the week leading up to the race. I never did make it to a race but knew then and still hear now that even if you are not a racing fan that the Daytona 500 is one of the great spectacles in sport. If you can somehow make it to the infield (the grassy area in the middle of the track) with a camper it is supposed to be incredible. Well if you define incredible by consuming grilled meat and beer for a week.

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Again this year's Daytona 500 - the Great American Race - in it's 50th anniversary caught my attention. First off, the top two finishers drove Dodge cars - in fact 6 out of the top 8 cars were Dodge, which makes me proud. But the most intriguing part of racing is the very complicated relationship between teammates. NASCAR in its structure is kinda like the English Premier League. There are a few elite, cash-laden teams backed by powerful, affluent owners who dominate the sport. Lately in NASCAR you have Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports taking up much of the limelight due to their charasmatic owners, deep pockets, and signing of glamorous drivers. Then you have the manufacturer's who sign on - agreeing to produce a car to the right specifications and to the right fit for your driver's who will hopefully steer them to victory. Thus you have the conglomerate of people, money, egos, pride, power, and product all working together but also looking out for their own good in an attempt to hopefully generate a win and satisfy everybody - from fans to sponsors, etc.

But it is the relationship of drivers that is still most crucial. Your team's 4 or 5 main drivers must get along because their chemistry on the track is key. Drivers work together, blocking other team's drivers, drafting drivers, in an attempt to hopefully propel someone from their own team to victory. Thus, in the purest form of racing you will usually have to have one driver from a team take a "backseat" to a teammate if it is evident that on that given day the teammate's car is faster or he is driving better or in a better position to win. And so what is created - more so than sometimes what can be seen in other sports - is this unique relationship where men have to battle between their own desires to win and the chance to sacrifice themselves, and take a less glamorous position, for the greater good of their team.

And that is what happened in this year's race. JGR driver's led almost the entire race until on the last lap a Penkse driver by the name of Newman ("Hello Newman..."), who hadn't won a race in over 2 years recieved a push from behind by one of his teammates that enabled his car to gain the necessary speed for a pass into first place. "Kurt was the push from heaven that made it all happen," Newman said. "Without a doubt, he could have easily gone three-wide and split us through the center and made one heck of a mess there. But he chose to be a teammate, and that was the most honorable thing that he could do." (ESPN.com)