I guess in some ways I might consider myself a "purist". I don't want to see Hondas, Toyotas etc in our races. I go back to the early 70s as a fan, and have heard a lot of rumors and seen a lot of things in that time. I too remember to some degree when a driver not born of Southern stock was viewed by some with suspicion.
Call us Southerners what you will, but it's not intolerance, ignorance, hatred, or anything of that sort. Simply put, we are slow to change. Even that is disappearing in recent years with the advances in technology. But our values, ideas, traditions....these are slow to change. And thank God for it.
In the decades prior to this, NASCAR was primarily a Southern sport. There were races in Dover, Pocono, Michigan, California, and elsewhere, but the backbone of the sport lay in Dixie. I would estimate that, in the 1970s, roughly 70% of the fans lived in what would be considered a Southern state. Now, it's more like 30%. I think we take it a little more to heart here in some ways, but the sport has reached a more diverse market, which is a good thing. With this more diverse audience will come more diverse opinions. Foyt, Unser, Andretti, Parnelli Jones...all have won in Winston Cup in the 60s and 70s. These wins probably weren't as popular with the rank and file fan of that day as would have been a win by a Petty, Yarbrough, Allison or Pearson. But nobody got tarred or feathered either. It was seen more as a challenge to NOT let it happen again.
It's kinda like country music. Our fictional musician, Dwayne Gibson, could be from, say, Portland Oregon. Now, Dwayne could most certainly play country music in Portland area clubs, and maybe even make a decent living at it. But if he wants to get serious about it, he is probably going to load up his pick up truck and move to Nashville. There, the competition is greater by far than anything he could have ever faced in Portland. But his chances of making himself a star are also greater. Years ago, a country singer from Oregon would have had about as much hope of surviving in Nashville as a snowball in a skillet. Now, well, ask Shania Twain if it can be done by a non-Southerner.
I suppose my point is, it does hurt a purist's heart just a little to hear John Andretti introduced, simply because of the name association with the fenderless series. But that alone will not stop him from having what fans his on track abilities may secure for him. Fittipaldi will have some difficulty with the hard core fans...at first. If he proves himself capable in this series, he'll get better receptions in time. If he struggles, and should happen to make comments trying to justify his performance that are taken by the fans as whining or derrogatory to the team he is with or anything like that, he will rue the day.
