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Much ado has been made of the "problem" with fans in the garage area during WC events. Matt McLaughlin offers a rather pointed rebuttal to those crying for removing these people. Matt can be kinda sarcastic at times, and will probably manage to make some comment that will offend in this editorial. The basis though I find find myself in agreement with. Sound off!!
Bar the Gates
Matt McLaughlin
Sometimes people use a terrible situation to advance an unwise agenda. Does an act of terrorism mean the FBI should be allowed to phone tap dissident groups (like the Sierra Club or the NRA) without court consent? Does the post-race ugliness at Bristol last month mean it’s time for NASCAR to throw the fans out of the garage area? I’ll go on record as saying it’s the wrong solution. The two combatants in the 28 team’s post race altercation would still have been in the garage area. And I reckon if NASCAR said only Tony Stewart and one other guy were allowed in the garage area, within three events Stewart would have punched out the other guy.
I tend to take an amused attitude when a credentialed media member says it’s time to throw the fans out of the grandstand. After all, it’s a workplace. So, let’s throw the citizens out New York because the streets are the cops’ workplace. They don’t allow fans into the dugout or the locker room in stick and ball sports. Which is one of the myriads of reasons I don’t sit in the bleachers for stick and ball sports as well. (That and the fact some of the players are ill mannered thugs but we won’t go there.) The entire attitude reminds me of a rural community that’s falling to developers. It seems once a farm is turned into a subdivision, the people who voice the loudest opposition to another farm being developed into a similar subdivision are the new people in the first subdivision. After all they want to preserve the “natural charm” of the area. I’m in through the gate. Lock it behind me.
Had the Egyptians built the pyramids with the pointed end down I doubt they’d be standing today. One needs to look at what is the foundation of stock car racing, a big pyramid with the fans on the bottom and Bill France at the top. What’s the bottom line.
Who ultimately pays the salaries of the crews and the drivers? The sponsors you say. Well the sponsors are only in this game to sell to consumers, who are in fact the fans. Is NASCAR responsible for the growth of stock car racing? They’re only in this game to make money and that money comes out of the fans’ pockets one hard-earned dollar at a time. Who pays for the drivers’ jets, helicopters, fine cars, and lavish homes? That’s your money at work, Joe Six-Pack.
Some crew chief recently came up with the admittedly clever slogan; “Racers, race, garage area. Fans, watch, grandstands.” To which I’d reply, “Fans, money, give. Crew chiefs, paychecks, take.” If the congestion and hubbub of the garage area is not to this fellow’s liking he ought to quit the sport and go turn wrenches at Pep Boys. Customers aren’t allowed in the shop there. Similarly if a driver looks out through the tinted windows at the rear of his hauler and sees all those fans wearing his colors, wanting nothing more than a mere word with him, and that aggravates him, the solution is simple. He can slip into his golf cart, take his helicopter home Sunday morning, walk into his mansion, draw the shades and sit down in his Lazy Boy without a single soul to disturb him. Of course Monday morning he’ll need to look at the classifieds to find a new job, but I’m told as dry as it out west those who enjoy solitude can easily get a job as a Forest Ranger in a watch tower. Every job comes with its own set of hassles and rewards. The really high paying jobs, the movie star, the rock singer, the Winston Cup driver, type professions come with a certain degree of unwelcome and intrusive attention. On the other hand driving a tow truck for the local filling station doesn’t pay too much but you can walk down the street without anyone taking notice or crowding you. If Bruce Springsteen can walk the streets of Freehold, New Jersey to handle errands, a Winston Cup driver should be able to stroll down South Tyron Street in Charlotte. By isolating themselves away and only showing themselves in public they bring the crowd frenzy thing to a fever. If I don’t get Jarrett’s autograph now I might not ever get it. Maybe I could ask Bruce for an autograph? No, he’s having dinner with his family. I’m sure I’ll see him again within a week.
Some say driver accessibility was OK back when, but now the sport has become too popular and there’s too many people. I wonder how many drivers who’d like to see the crowds in the garage area scaled back to the 1963 level would be satisfied to be paid annually what the drivers made back in 1963? (Joe Weatherly was champion that year, participated in 53 NASCAR races and earned just under $76,000.)
I’d guess the problem is the drivers see themselves as too far removed from the fans. Imagine if under their new contract, a driver’s annual salary was paid by fans who’d line up each with a single dollar bill in their hand which the driver would collect and put in a bushel basket. How many drivers are going to say “The lines too long. Cut it off after an hour.”? How many are going to shove one of the fans knowing that person could get up and move to some other drivers’ line?
Who are these people in the garage area? I’m sure nine out of ten you reading this have never gotten a garage pass, as much as you would have liked to. NASCAR gets 2000 garage passes to pass out for the average event. The track gets somewhere between six hundred and nine hundred I’m told. And among those asking the track for passes for friends, sponsor representatives and what not are the very same drivers saying there’s too many people in the garage area. It’s not your typical fan that gets in the hallowed sanctum.
And for those lucky enough to score a garage pass, there is no written code of conduct to adhere to. NASCAR is pretty good about enforcing the dress code in the garage. (If you get the chance you may not wear shorts, sleeveless blouses, or open toed shoes.) My guess is if with each pass handed to a first time visitor came a set of instructions giving the dos and the don’ts of the garage area, a vast majority of fans would comply. Race fans in my experience are pretty good people and they’re not out to cause problems. They’re just a little excited to finally reach the Promised Land and see their heroes walking around in person. They don’t realize the dangers because no one has spelled them out to them. What about common sense you ask? Well I guess even these uninformed people in the garage area have some of that, because I certainly haven’t heard of any fan fatalities in the garage area in recent years.
The woman who started this whole debate did indeed buy her way into the garage area. She sponsored a lap at the Bristol race, which cost her $500. Apparently her husband also sponsored a lap for another $500. Talk about a dedicated fan? That’s a lot of money to get treated like trash.
Truth be told the fans have been disrespected for far too long. NASCAR pays them only lip service while trying to pull the wool over their eyes with scams like the ISC cooler ban for “security” reasons. Drivers regularly berate the fans as intrusive morons. Back in ’99 Dale Jarrett went as far as to insist that fans were such a mindless herd they couldn’t form their own opinion, they relied on sportswriters to do it for them. (Apparently he got an earful about that right quick, and Jarrett quickly backed off that assertion.) I’ve even talked to fellow media members who think the average fan is stupid, boorish, and ill informed. Well, that’s your readership, moron. That’s who paid for tonight’s dinner. And if you think you’re better than they are, you’ve let having a cool job go to your head. Not too long ago two “professional” writers and an internet guy put together a site called the Stock Car Reporters which they’d later admit was an experiment to amuse themselves by proving how dumb the fans were. Yet the “pros” still have jobs, and the internet guy now dares to call other writers’ ethics into question. Not all of the media disrespects you of course, but there’s more than a few writers who do too.
So the bottom line is this is a fan driven sport. It’s time to respect and accommodate the fan and rethink the pecking order. Ban fans from the garage area for what will be a once in a lifetime thrill? Hey, I know some grocery store clerks who get annoyed with crowds, rude customers carrying expired coupons, people who don’t have enough money to pay for their purchases etc. So let’s ban customers from grocery stores to keep cashiers happy. It makes about as much sense.
And in Other News- It’s time NASCAR does the right thing. Let’s ban EMTs from the racetrack! Some EMT in New Hampshire says Tony Stewart punched him. Well, gee, why did you approach Tony after a wreck, sir? You should have known he’d be in a bad mood? To check on his condition? Well, yeah, there’s that, but you should have asked permission. Didn’t you get the memo that Tony doesn’t have to go to the infield care center after a wreck like all the other drivers?
Let’s face it. These EMTs are just in the way. The reason the track never gets cleaned up properly after an incident is all those ambulances parked all over the racing groove. Do you ever see an ambulance pull onto a hockey rink during a NHL game? And you know those EMTs aren’t there to help. They’re just gathering up sheetmetal from the wreck they’ll later auction off on E-bay. They’ll say it’s going to charity but it actually goes to funds like “A Keg of Beer for the EMT Treehouse!” And in their evil little treehouse those filthy EMTs like nothing better than to plot how to defraud millionaire athletes out of a few bucks. That’s right. Despite the fact most EMTs get paid more than surgeons or even Winston Cup drivers, the short work weeks they endure, and the tremendously pleasant work conditions they face daily, they’re all just out for a fast buck, getting off on driving around too fast with the lights and sirens going. You say you trust EMTs and they perform a valuable service to the community? Two words. Tommy Propst. If NASCAR doesn’t respect EMTs why should you? And while the topic is open is Ford paying NASCAR to have that big old flashy ambulance with the Ford and Econoline emblems all over it out there on the track? Why hasn’t this source of revenue been investigated?
If EMTs want to see a race, let them spend some of that filthy money they make selling syringes to junkie kids outside of playgrounds and get a ticket like everyone else. The racetrack is the driver’s workplace and they don’t need EMTs running around. Thankfully guys like Dale Jarrett have already taken the initiative to start getting rid of the EMTs with powerful displays like his walk back to the pits at Daytona. Apparently some moron EMT didn’t read the memo that the drivers are tended to in the same order as the points standings!
Please, have some common sense. If you or someone you care for is badly injured or desperately sick call a Home Depot not an EMT!
Bar the Gates
Matt McLaughlin
Sometimes people use a terrible situation to advance an unwise agenda. Does an act of terrorism mean the FBI should be allowed to phone tap dissident groups (like the Sierra Club or the NRA) without court consent? Does the post-race ugliness at Bristol last month mean it’s time for NASCAR to throw the fans out of the garage area? I’ll go on record as saying it’s the wrong solution. The two combatants in the 28 team’s post race altercation would still have been in the garage area. And I reckon if NASCAR said only Tony Stewart and one other guy were allowed in the garage area, within three events Stewart would have punched out the other guy.
I tend to take an amused attitude when a credentialed media member says it’s time to throw the fans out of the grandstand. After all, it’s a workplace. So, let’s throw the citizens out New York because the streets are the cops’ workplace. They don’t allow fans into the dugout or the locker room in stick and ball sports. Which is one of the myriads of reasons I don’t sit in the bleachers for stick and ball sports as well. (That and the fact some of the players are ill mannered thugs but we won’t go there.) The entire attitude reminds me of a rural community that’s falling to developers. It seems once a farm is turned into a subdivision, the people who voice the loudest opposition to another farm being developed into a similar subdivision are the new people in the first subdivision. After all they want to preserve the “natural charm” of the area. I’m in through the gate. Lock it behind me.
Had the Egyptians built the pyramids with the pointed end down I doubt they’d be standing today. One needs to look at what is the foundation of stock car racing, a big pyramid with the fans on the bottom and Bill France at the top. What’s the bottom line.
Who ultimately pays the salaries of the crews and the drivers? The sponsors you say. Well the sponsors are only in this game to sell to consumers, who are in fact the fans. Is NASCAR responsible for the growth of stock car racing? They’re only in this game to make money and that money comes out of the fans’ pockets one hard-earned dollar at a time. Who pays for the drivers’ jets, helicopters, fine cars, and lavish homes? That’s your money at work, Joe Six-Pack.
Some crew chief recently came up with the admittedly clever slogan; “Racers, race, garage area. Fans, watch, grandstands.” To which I’d reply, “Fans, money, give. Crew chiefs, paychecks, take.” If the congestion and hubbub of the garage area is not to this fellow’s liking he ought to quit the sport and go turn wrenches at Pep Boys. Customers aren’t allowed in the shop there. Similarly if a driver looks out through the tinted windows at the rear of his hauler and sees all those fans wearing his colors, wanting nothing more than a mere word with him, and that aggravates him, the solution is simple. He can slip into his golf cart, take his helicopter home Sunday morning, walk into his mansion, draw the shades and sit down in his Lazy Boy without a single soul to disturb him. Of course Monday morning he’ll need to look at the classifieds to find a new job, but I’m told as dry as it out west those who enjoy solitude can easily get a job as a Forest Ranger in a watch tower. Every job comes with its own set of hassles and rewards. The really high paying jobs, the movie star, the rock singer, the Winston Cup driver, type professions come with a certain degree of unwelcome and intrusive attention. On the other hand driving a tow truck for the local filling station doesn’t pay too much but you can walk down the street without anyone taking notice or crowding you. If Bruce Springsteen can walk the streets of Freehold, New Jersey to handle errands, a Winston Cup driver should be able to stroll down South Tyron Street in Charlotte. By isolating themselves away and only showing themselves in public they bring the crowd frenzy thing to a fever. If I don’t get Jarrett’s autograph now I might not ever get it. Maybe I could ask Bruce for an autograph? No, he’s having dinner with his family. I’m sure I’ll see him again within a week.
Some say driver accessibility was OK back when, but now the sport has become too popular and there’s too many people. I wonder how many drivers who’d like to see the crowds in the garage area scaled back to the 1963 level would be satisfied to be paid annually what the drivers made back in 1963? (Joe Weatherly was champion that year, participated in 53 NASCAR races and earned just under $76,000.)
I’d guess the problem is the drivers see themselves as too far removed from the fans. Imagine if under their new contract, a driver’s annual salary was paid by fans who’d line up each with a single dollar bill in their hand which the driver would collect and put in a bushel basket. How many drivers are going to say “The lines too long. Cut it off after an hour.”? How many are going to shove one of the fans knowing that person could get up and move to some other drivers’ line?
Who are these people in the garage area? I’m sure nine out of ten you reading this have never gotten a garage pass, as much as you would have liked to. NASCAR gets 2000 garage passes to pass out for the average event. The track gets somewhere between six hundred and nine hundred I’m told. And among those asking the track for passes for friends, sponsor representatives and what not are the very same drivers saying there’s too many people in the garage area. It’s not your typical fan that gets in the hallowed sanctum.
And for those lucky enough to score a garage pass, there is no written code of conduct to adhere to. NASCAR is pretty good about enforcing the dress code in the garage. (If you get the chance you may not wear shorts, sleeveless blouses, or open toed shoes.) My guess is if with each pass handed to a first time visitor came a set of instructions giving the dos and the don’ts of the garage area, a vast majority of fans would comply. Race fans in my experience are pretty good people and they’re not out to cause problems. They’re just a little excited to finally reach the Promised Land and see their heroes walking around in person. They don’t realize the dangers because no one has spelled them out to them. What about common sense you ask? Well I guess even these uninformed people in the garage area have some of that, because I certainly haven’t heard of any fan fatalities in the garage area in recent years.
The woman who started this whole debate did indeed buy her way into the garage area. She sponsored a lap at the Bristol race, which cost her $500. Apparently her husband also sponsored a lap for another $500. Talk about a dedicated fan? That’s a lot of money to get treated like trash.
Truth be told the fans have been disrespected for far too long. NASCAR pays them only lip service while trying to pull the wool over their eyes with scams like the ISC cooler ban for “security” reasons. Drivers regularly berate the fans as intrusive morons. Back in ’99 Dale Jarrett went as far as to insist that fans were such a mindless herd they couldn’t form their own opinion, they relied on sportswriters to do it for them. (Apparently he got an earful about that right quick, and Jarrett quickly backed off that assertion.) I’ve even talked to fellow media members who think the average fan is stupid, boorish, and ill informed. Well, that’s your readership, moron. That’s who paid for tonight’s dinner. And if you think you’re better than they are, you’ve let having a cool job go to your head. Not too long ago two “professional” writers and an internet guy put together a site called the Stock Car Reporters which they’d later admit was an experiment to amuse themselves by proving how dumb the fans were. Yet the “pros” still have jobs, and the internet guy now dares to call other writers’ ethics into question. Not all of the media disrespects you of course, but there’s more than a few writers who do too.
So the bottom line is this is a fan driven sport. It’s time to respect and accommodate the fan and rethink the pecking order. Ban fans from the garage area for what will be a once in a lifetime thrill? Hey, I know some grocery store clerks who get annoyed with crowds, rude customers carrying expired coupons, people who don’t have enough money to pay for their purchases etc. So let’s ban customers from grocery stores to keep cashiers happy. It makes about as much sense.
And in Other News- It’s time NASCAR does the right thing. Let’s ban EMTs from the racetrack! Some EMT in New Hampshire says Tony Stewart punched him. Well, gee, why did you approach Tony after a wreck, sir? You should have known he’d be in a bad mood? To check on his condition? Well, yeah, there’s that, but you should have asked permission. Didn’t you get the memo that Tony doesn’t have to go to the infield care center after a wreck like all the other drivers?
Let’s face it. These EMTs are just in the way. The reason the track never gets cleaned up properly after an incident is all those ambulances parked all over the racing groove. Do you ever see an ambulance pull onto a hockey rink during a NHL game? And you know those EMTs aren’t there to help. They’re just gathering up sheetmetal from the wreck they’ll later auction off on E-bay. They’ll say it’s going to charity but it actually goes to funds like “A Keg of Beer for the EMT Treehouse!” And in their evil little treehouse those filthy EMTs like nothing better than to plot how to defraud millionaire athletes out of a few bucks. That’s right. Despite the fact most EMTs get paid more than surgeons or even Winston Cup drivers, the short work weeks they endure, and the tremendously pleasant work conditions they face daily, they’re all just out for a fast buck, getting off on driving around too fast with the lights and sirens going. You say you trust EMTs and they perform a valuable service to the community? Two words. Tommy Propst. If NASCAR doesn’t respect EMTs why should you? And while the topic is open is Ford paying NASCAR to have that big old flashy ambulance with the Ford and Econoline emblems all over it out there on the track? Why hasn’t this source of revenue been investigated?
If EMTs want to see a race, let them spend some of that filthy money they make selling syringes to junkie kids outside of playgrounds and get a ticket like everyone else. The racetrack is the driver’s workplace and they don’t need EMTs running around. Thankfully guys like Dale Jarrett have already taken the initiative to start getting rid of the EMTs with powerful displays like his walk back to the pits at Daytona. Apparently some moron EMT didn’t read the memo that the drivers are tended to in the same order as the points standings!
Please, have some common sense. If you or someone you care for is badly injured or desperately sick call a Home Depot not an EMT!
He also said he stood on one of the driver trailers to watch the race. He was so excited!! Someone said "there's Gordon!"...and he turned real quick only to come nose to nose with Tony Stewart!! Mike, my son, just laughed.....he said Tony was as short as he was!!! (he is only 5'3"!!) He said he had a ball and would do it again if he could......he knows the dangers of both cars and drivers. I do hope that Nascar never stops the fans from going into the pits.