Let's break this down for a minute......many here have seen my story at Sonoma from a few weeks ago. My son is a huge Jamie fan. We failed miserably at getting wristbands for my son to meet Jamie, Hamlin and Larson. However, as a parent you try to find a way to make it right. When the drivers showed up to the signing this is how they arrived. Hamlin in a car, stopped and signed for 3 out of about 30 people, all kids. McMurray in a car, was rushed in by the reps at the Save Mart/Lucky's booth. Larson arrived on foot. Walking amongst the unwashed.......as he walked in he stopped for at least 30 seconds to sign and take a photo with multiple kids. Mind you, this was less than 20 minutes after they finished qualifying. Once they were done they were ushered out the back where I was able to get my son to Jamie McMurray who stopped and spoke to my kid and fist bumped him, thus making my kids day. As we turned away thrilled a throng of 30 plus adults chased these guys down as they walked through the fan filled paddock area behind the main grandstands.
Here is the thing. I have no problem with what Larson said and here is why. When you buy a ticket to any athletic event you do buy that ticket with the impression that you are going to have unlimited access to the entertainers. You buy that ticket because you want to see them do their job at the highest level it can be done. Everything else is icing on the cake. NASCAR drivers are unlike any other athletes in the world in the sense that they are never really off. The obligations they have between race weekends and during the race weekend itself are ridiculous and very extensive. In between when Kyle, is at a local dirt track he is sitting in the pits as fans freely move about and walk right into his pit stall while he is talking setup with his guys and ask for an autograph and a photo. (I literally watched this happen) I bet he is frustrated that he sells more merch at a local dirt track where there are 5,000 people compared to 30,000 at a NASCAR weekend. I literally just bough a shirt of his online from NASCAR.com for $24, I bought a Larson/Marks racing hat from his site for $12............
I think that as fans a few things get lost. The first being boundaries. Too many fans think it is ok to interrupt, chase, hound, follow, scream, grab, crowd these guys. Second is the fact that they are still working. While we see it as an incredible job, there is a lot of money being made and on the line in these things and top level competitors have to be able to focus on the task at hand. Last, and I am going to all caps this bitch for you.....THEY DO NOT OWE YOU A DAMN THING!!!! They do not owe a 30 something or 40 something or 50 something year old man a signature or a photo or a handshake because you have been a follower and have bought merch. This dude has never met or interacted with you. Any adult getting autographs is weird.
As a parent to a son who loves sports I have taught him that athletes are normal people. I explained to him that they have bad days like anyone else and that for us as fans/admirer's to expect anything more from them then we would ourselves is unacceptable. In turn I have him understand to be extremely appreciative of the interaction that he does get with them. My son is Irish and I swear he carries a four leaf clover in his pocket because he gets selected to participate in everything. From the meet and greet with Larson and Abreu to meeting Jamie and having Jamie retweet his appreciation for the fact that my son named his fish after him to getting to go into the infield for the pill draw for the WOO race he is always appreciative and never expects a thing. What I have found is that if you treat them like people they will react like people. Just this past weekend my son helped drive his favorite modified driver's car into the hauler after the race.
He knows good things can happen if you go about asking the proper way and not imposing your will onto these guys. So, I completely understand when Larson asks why he should spend all of that extra time signing for people who treat him like a zoo animal.
