NASCAR, Rednecks & Millenials

ChexOrWrex said:
Since the announcement that Monster Energy is the new title sponsor of NASCAR, I have seen a good handful of young people (not on this forum but in other online domains and real life) talk about how this is good for the sport to move away from its 'redneck base'. I was unaware that folks had an issue with NASCAR's redeck identity.

Being a fan of a sport that was born from white lightening runners and southern country boys, I cant see why alienating the niche market can be seen as a good thing.

What say you?
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Well hell... I thought all rednecks drank Monster drinks.
 
I have attended more cup races than I can remember, and even more Friday and Saturday local events. I have seen some silly or dumb stuff. But I have never had a negative exchange or ever had an uncomfortable experience with any of them.

Nascar fans are overly frendly if anything. Sometimes some fun smack talk happens. I have even had strangers offer some of their cooked goodies. As freindly of a crowd as I have met. Even shared and received updates with others (strangers) on what we heard on our scanners during caution breaks
Never ever felt the need to be ashamed of anything I saw or any association.

Even when I able to race myself, the fellow competitors were great. And if anything looked trashy it was my rag tag equipment, definitely no need to impress someone like me. Still the same they were always great. Would loan parts and usually happy to be of any kind assistance.

I am sure some idiots can be found in such a huge crowd, but I have always been fortunate enough to miss those folks at the track.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
He must have known the guy I sat behind at Richmond. For him, 1 finger meant Gordon, for 400 laps.

Mind you, it was the middle finger. I've never understood why people buy a ticket to spend several hours focused primarily on someone they claim to dislike.
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I've wondered the same thing at multiple races, never could understand that. Fortunately I have not had to be behind one of those crazy folks blocking my view.
 
Clutch said:
My nephew in So. Cal. just texted me down in NZ (vibered actually) an hour ago to say ...Hey, let's go to the Phoenix Nascar race in Phoenix totally out of the blue.
He's 30 and I'm the last of the boomers at 53.
I'm thinking that Monster may have had some effect already......social media? Anyhow I think it's cool he asked. :)
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Hey moron,....I think you meant Phoenix in november.
 
Matthew2470 said:
The strong redneck/NASCAR association is definitely a huge massive major embarrassment for non-redneck fans. The NASCAR stereotype is that NASCAR fans look and act like the cast of Honey Boo Boo and Duck Dynasty, are racist, voted Trump. are drunk, hate education, love WWE, are ruled by negative emotion and have no ability to use reason and logic to resolve conflict or understand viewpoints that differ from their own. Sadly, this stereotype is confirmed way too often. Especially on social media. There are many fans that absolutely do not want to be lumped into that group. Obviously some will choose to be offended by my post here but being offended doesn't make you right.
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I think you nailed the stereotype and there is no reason anyone should be offended as that is how a lot of people see Nascar. I know many professional people who think Nascar is just trashy entertainment for trashy people even though it is untrue.
 
Simple Fan said:
They need a nice mix of drivers. Im mot saying NASCAR shouldnt have the "good ol boy" drivers it would just help to have a more diverse field. I think any driver that is talented enough to step in to a car and compete should get a chance whether they are from local short tracks, minorities, or foreign countries.
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I would love to see more drivers from the south as they are grossly under represented.
 
Greg said:
Smug assholes are more offensive imo.
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There are a lot of people who prefer to believe things that are not true as it suits them better. We see it in all aspects of society and it is a great shame when someone is more comfortable believing a lie than the truth.
 
Proud northern Redneck NASCAR fan here. I like a lot of the things that seem to be mentioned as an embarrassment for the higher class NASCAR fan. Best thing about it is that I really don't give a crap about whatever people think of me. I don't live for them. I'm here for myself. This sport was built by fans like me and for those that have a problem with it..... Never mind, as I'd like to stay on this board.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Proud northern Redneck NASCAR fan here. I like a lot of the things that seem to be mentioned as an embarrassment for the higher class NASCAR fan. Best thing about it is that I really don't give a crap about whatever people think of me. I don't live for them. I'm here for myself. This sport was built by fans like me and for those that have a problem with it..... Never mind, as I'd like to stay on this board.
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Well said. That's why I zipped my lip.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
https://lmgtfy.com/?q=FTFY
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I'd accept 'Google it' as a response if your comment had been addressed to the forum in general or to someone else. When a comment is addressed specifically to me, I'm gonna ask for more info if I don't understand it. Communications 101 - the clarity of the message is the responsibility of the sender.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
Since the announcement that Monster Energy is the new title sponsor of NASCAR, I have seen a good handful of young people (not on this forum but in other online domains and real life) talk about how this is good for the sport to move away from its 'redneck base'. I was unaware that folks had an issue with NASCAR's redeck identity.

Being a fan of a sport that was born from white lightening runners and southern country boys, I cant see why alienating the niche market can be seen as a good thing.

What say you?
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Here we go again. Seeing this "issue" coming back up again means that either folks are forgetting the relatively recent past, or they hope that trying the same thing again will yield different results this time.

NASCAR has been trying to shed its "redneck" image for over twenty years, and particularly since Brian France took the helm. The result so far? The young fans have not stayed around so people see the few hardcore older fans still there and assume that NASCAR still only appeals to "rednecks". Apparently NASCAR's attempts at wooing younger fans is not working.

Will it work this time? Recent history says no; some new young fans may get interested enough to try it, but the program won't appeal to them enough to keep them around.

But I think that saying that "bringing Monster Energy Drinks in is an attempt to win new young fans" is reading too much into this deal. I think that NASCAR just picked the suitor that brought the most money. I'm sure they're happy that it also has an attached demographic that it wishes to engage, but money first is their prime motivation. I'm not saying that NASCAR would embrace Geritol as a method of winning fans, but since NASCAR has already been trying to win younger fans for decades this Monster deal is not a big new idea - it's just the latest in a line of convenience.

I hope the deal works out well for everybody involved. But it's going to take much more than a sponsor that is popular with younger folks to fix NASCAR's image and popularity problems.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Proud northern Redneck NASCAR fan here. I like a lot of the things that seem to be mentioned as an embarrassment for the higher class NASCAR fan. Best thing about it is that I really don't give a crap about whatever people think of me. I don't live for them. I'm here for myself. This sport was built by fans like me and for those that have a problem with it..... Never mind, as I'd like to stay on this board.
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I don't understand why some people just get certain things in their minds that have no basis in fact and are happy to go on believing them. Once we tar any group of people with the same brush, good or bad, we have cheated ourselves and embraced ignorance.

I do understand people not wanting to discuss some things they enjoy doing as it isn't a matter of caring what they think more than it is a PIA to deal with the stupidity that flows so freely from their pie hole. A friend of mine is a brilliant model builder and his work has won many prizes and is simply outstanding. I have a great appreciation for his talent and love to see his work. Other than with me and a few others he never speaks about this hobby outside of modeling community as he doesn't want to deal with the ignorant aholes that belittle what he does and have no appreciation for what he enjoys. It is not worth the trouble. The same thing goes for a guy I know that collects Farmall memorabilia and another who is toy train collector.
 
Please not's get into a class war amongst NASCAR fans! All that does is tear us all down, and fuels our detractors.
Besides, I really haven't seen a redneck / elite divide amongst NASCAR fans. I do see some people getting mad and embarrassed at some things that some people do at the races, but that usually is an individual problem (often fueled by too much alcohol) not a class problem. I've seen similar problem behavior at wine festivals.

The best "answer" to boorish behavior is to ignore it. They really will go away after a while.
 
gone said:
Here we go again. Seeing this "issue" coming back up again means that either folks are forgetting the relatively recent past, or they hope that trying the same thing again will yield different results this time.

NASCAR has been trying to shed its "redneck" image for over twenty years, and particularly since Brian France took the helm. The result so far? The young fans have not stayed around so people see the few hardcore older fans still there and assume that NASCAR still only appeals to "rednecks". Apparently NASCAR's attempts at wooing younger fans is not working.

Will it work this time? Recent history says no; some new young fans may get interested enough to try it, but the program won't appeal to them enough to keep them around.

But I think that saying that "bringing Monster Energy Drinks in is an attempt to win new young fans" is reading too much into this deal. I think that NASCAR just picked the suitor that brought the most money. I'm sure they're happy that it also has an attached demographic that it wishes to engage, but money first is their prime motivation. I'm not saying that NASCAR would embrace Geritol as a method of winning fans, but since NASCAR has already been trying to win younger fans for decades this Monster deal is not a big new idea - it's just the latest in a line of convenience.

I hope the deal works out well for everybody involved. But it's going to take much more than a sponsor that is popular with younger folks to fix NASCAR's image and popularity problems.
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I respectfully disagree as while I believe the almighty buck is very important to Nascar I also believe that picking a title sponsor that had a younger clientele was important. For instance if Monster is paying 20 million per for 3 years or so I think Nascar would have chosen them even if Proctor and Gamble would have signed on for 5 years at 25 million per.

I do think that Monster will get some younger people to look into Nascar but like you don't think they will stick around with the caveat being unless there are radical changes to the product. I have no idea what those changes would look like as IDK what sort of on track product would appeal to younger people.

The distinct possibility is that there is not necessarily a lot wrong with Nascar in its current form more than it is a product that is going out of style or nearing the end of its cycle. If Nascar all of a sudden went back to the classic point system, stopped manipulating races and did away with other gimmicks I am under no illusion that it would attract new fans. It would make existing fans happy but that would be the extent of it.

Every once in a while an apologist will claim that Nascar is in great shape as they have a long and lucrative TV contract and they sell all the commercials during their broadcasts blah, blah, blah. While those things may be true even the village idiot can see that Nascar has been on a downward trajectory for many years with no signs of its shrinkage in popularity abating. Other apologists point to sports programming being down which again may be true but their losses in fans are tiny compared to Nascar's IDK what the answer is or even if there is one.
 
gone said:
Please not's get into a class war amongst NASCAR fans! All that does is tear us all down, and fuels our detractors.
Besides, I really haven't seen a redneck / elite divide amongst NASCAR fans. I do see some people getting mad and embarrassed at some things that some people do at the races, but that usually is an individual problem (often fueled by too much alcohol) not a class problem. I've seen similar problem behavior at wine festivals.

The best "answer" to boorish behavior is to ignore it. They really will go away after a while.
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There is no class warfare in Nascar that I have seen or am aware of.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
I would love to see more drivers from the south as they are grossly under represented.
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There are 10 drivers from the American South that will be full time next year. That's a 1/4 of the field. That's also not counting Clint Boywer or Carl Edwards that are from Kansas and Missiouri respectively but I was only counting southeast drivers which is what I think you were talking about. I don't consider a quarter of the field as being grossly under represented.

Aric Amarola- FL
Trevor Bayne- TN
Chris Buescher-TX
Austin Dillon- NC
Ty Dillon-NC
Chase Elliott-GA
Dale Jr.-NC
Denny Hamlin-FL
David Ragan-GA
Ricky Stenthouse Jr-MS
 
Simple Fan said:
There are 10 drivers from the American South that will be full time next year. That's a 1/4 of the field. That's also not counting Clint Boywer or Carl Edwards that are from Kansas and Missiouri respectively but I was only counting southeast drivers which is what I think you were talking about. I don't consider a quarter of the field as being grossly under represented.

Aric Amarola- FL
Trevor Bayne- TN
Chris Buescher-TX
Austin Dillon- NC
Ty Dillon-NC
Chase Elliott-GA
Dale Jr.-NC
Denny Hamlin-FL
David Ragan-GA
Ricky Stenthouse Jr-MS
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In my world and that of many others FL and TX are not southern states for all practical purposes but I do get your point. Unless 30 of the drivers are from the south they are under represented.....:)
 
aunty dive said:
The guy from Pluto had to quit when they stopped running buses out there.

Stupid scientists.
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Pluto got screwed over like Fort Worth
When they put Uranus in front of them and Neptune you had to know the fix was on. Uranus should be at the ass end of the line.
 
BobbyFord said:
It would be foolish to speculate where NASCAR would be right now had they chosen not to implement the Chase, the ridiculous caution clocks, the goofy playoff format, etc.
One thing though that is easy to see is the fact that none of these changes has resulted in increased track attendance or broadcast ratings.
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My roommate isn't at all into any kind of car racing but as I was watching the last race at Homestead he pointed out the grandstands were empty. His point was if this was the great race all the NA$CAR people keep pushing it to be why were the grandstands so empty. He then reminded me that this doesn't happen in his sport, baseball.
 
blue92 said:
My roommate isn't at all into any kind of car racing but as I was watching the last race at Homestead he pointed out the grandstands were empty. His point was if this was the great race all the NA$CAR people keep pushing it to be why were the grandstands so empty. He then reminded me that this doesn't happen in his sport, baseball.
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Well, I grant that he has a point regarding baseball attendance during the playoffs, a reasonable comparison to the Chase. However, baseball grandstands are often noticeably less than full during the regular season. Plus, teams with fixed locations have a guaranteed local market to draw from. Racetracks have to draw most of their sales from people outside the area. Miami would be a long trip for most race fans even if they could overlook the high cost of hotels.
 
ToyYoda said:
I wouldn't say "for the most part", but I'm sure that's true in some cases. Boomers were born between 1946-1964 and Millenials were born between 1980-2000, so it's definitely a broad range.
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It depends though, some say it starts at 1982, some say it starts in 1980, so I really have no idea:idunno::idunno::idunno:

So if we go by 1980, then that makes me a millenial
 
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