The core fan

[Digger]

Is it just me or has anybody else had enough of this "core fan" talk?

I love racing and am a newer age fan. I hate Kenny Chesney and some of this other "country music" they have now. I like FOX Sports and I like NASCAR on TNT. I like the sportvision live timing and scoring tickers. I love the COT. I think the new Bristol racetrack is awesome. I don't think anything is seriously wrong with the sport.

What I am sick of is hearing about "the core fan?" WTF is that? What does the core fan mean? Is "the core fan" saying they have more of a right to be a NASCAR fan than I do? Are they saying NASCAR should appeal only to them?

Don't get me wrong here. I, like many other fans, hate California and Pocono and Kansas.

But, as a new age fan, I also like to see the drivers walk away from an accident. All these people have been doing is pissing and moaning about the Car of Tomorrow and how it's not the showroom floor model racecar. The COT looks more like the showroom floor model than the car of yesterday does, sorry. The reality is if they did race the showroom floor cars, the consequences would be tragic. I would rather the racecar drivers live to see another race. Oh yeah, the racing's also better with the COT.

To the core fans, sorry. Benny Parsons is dead. Dale Earnhardt is dead. David Pearson's not likely to race in the Sprint Cup Series anytime soon. Toyota is here to stay. Ned Jarrett's not coming back to ESPN. Bob Jenkins is done. Ken Squier (who I look up to) is sadly not going to be alive much longer.

NASCAR on TNT Wide Open is the best thing to happen to television sports coverage. Deal with it.

I also love how you core fans complain about Toyota, a foriegn manufacturer, being in NASCAR. I find that irony to be hilarious. That's funny because Toyota has more jobs in the United States than does Ford, GM or Diamler-Chrysler.



Juan Pablo's also here to stay, and he will probably win many more Sprint Cup races. Get over it.

Now that I've got that out of my system, I feel better.

From a new-age fan to an old-school fan, can't we all just get along and enjoy NASCAR racing for what it is?

 

[Digger]

BTW core fans, I love "Born to be Wild" by Hinder. I also like "NASCAR Love" by Toby Lightman. She's kinda cute, if you catch my drift.

 

[Patrick9999]

Well, Andy, it's a crazy world we live in but it's nice to have the option to like or dislike when, where and how we choose.

To each their own

 

[Digger]

Well, Andy, it's a crazy world we live in but it's nice to have the option to like or dislike when, where and how we choose.

To each their own

Indeed.

I love racing, don't get me wrong. I love NASCAR, IRL, IHRA, NHRA, ARCA, SCCA, etc, etc. NASCAR IS the biggest motorsport. That said, they have to appeal to a much larger fanbase.

 

[tkj24]

How funny this coming from Andy who is the complainer of all time on the board.

 

[be9ak7ts16]

LMAO... Good Point tkj24.
I'm still irritated that Darlington lost it's 2nd race. I'm irritated that Rockingham and North Wilkesboro are gone. I'm irritated that NA$CAR has forgotten us folks who suffered through the early and middle part of this sports evolution and tossed us aside for the Whine and Cheese crowd. I'm iritated that guys like Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison can't find backing to own a team. (Yeah I know Bobby's current plight I was just using him as an example). I'm irritated that there will never be another INDEPENDANT driver who will make it big in this sport. IE, Bill Elliott, and Alan Kulwicki. I'm irritated that multi car teams have taken over the sport. OK i'M DONE.

 

[Reck]

LMAO... Good Point tkj24.
I'm still irritated that Darlington lost it's 2nd race. I'm irritated that Rockingham and North Wilkesboro are gone. I'm irritated that NA$CAR has forgotten us folks who suffered through the early and middle part of this sports evolution and tossed us aside for the Whine and Cheese crowd. I'm iritated that guys like Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison can't find backing to own a team. (Yeah I know Bobby's current plight I was just using him as an example). I'm irritated that there will never be another INDEPENDANT driver who will make it big in this sport. IE, Bill Elliott, and Alan Kulwicki. I'm irritated that multi car teams have taken over the sport. OK i'M DONE.

You forgot ESPN.

 

[buckaroo]

Andy, I don't know if you would call me a core fan, using your language, WTF is that? I am an aging fan from yesteryear and one thing you need to do is get over that. The new-age fan, who NASCAR is putting so much money to attract, may not be here tomorrow for they are easily swayed and have short memory spans. You go ahead and throw all the money you can, while you can at NASCAR, but sooner or later, you'll drop off the scene and move on to your new fad, while us aging fans will continue to support the sport we have from it's beginning. You new-age fans don't know what made this sport what it is today. You have no idea of what it was like to see a car so dominate that it could lap the field, even Taladega. How one driver could have a winning edge of 13 laps, and the racing was still exciting. You'll never know what it was like to see a real shadetree mechanic learn to wheel those cars around the track. And you new-age fans will never, ever know what racing was like before radial tires.

It's great that you new-age fans support this sport and I hope it'll be a part of your life from here on out, but unless they do something to change the direction they've pointed the sport, your life long involvement in racing won't be in NASCAR. So get over it!

 

[tkj24]

Andy, I don't know if you would call me a core fan, using your language, WTF is that? I am an aging fan from yesteryear and one thing you need to do is get over that. The new-age fan, who NASCAR is putting so much money to attract, may not be here tomorrow for they are easily swayed and have short memory spans. You go ahead and throw all the money you can, while you can at NASCAR, but sooner or later, you'll drop off the scene and move on to your new fad, while us aging fans will continue to support the sport we have from it's beginning. You new-age fans don't know what made this sport what it is today. You have no idea of what it was like to see a car so dominate that it could lap the field, even Taladega. How one driver could have a winning edge of 13 laps, and the racing was still exciting. You'll never know what it was like to see a real shadetree mechanic learn to wheel those cars around the track. And you new-age fans will never, ever know what racing was like before radial tires.

It's great that you new-age fans support this sport and I hope it'll be a part of your life from here on out, but unless they do something to change the direction they've pointed the sport, your life long involvement in racing won't be in NASCAR. So get over it!

 

[Mopardh9]

Andy, I don't know if you would call me a core fan, using your language, WTF is that? I am an aging fan from yesteryear and one thing you need to do is get over that. The new-age fan, who NASCAR is putting so much money to attract, may not be here tomorrow for they are easily swayed and have short memory spans. You go ahead and throw all the money you can, while you can at NASCAR, but sooner or later, you'll drop off the scene and move on to your new fad, while us aging fans will continue to support the sport we have from it's beginning. You new-age fans don't know what made this sport what it is today. You have no idea of what it was like to see a car so dominate that it could lap the field, even Taladega. How one driver could have a winning edge of 13 laps, and the racing was still exciting. You'll never know what it was like to see a real shadetree mechanic learn to wheel those cars around the track. And you new-age fans will never, ever know what racing was like before radial tires.

It's great that you new-age fans support this sport and I hope it'll be a part of your life from here on out, but unless they do something to change the direction they've pointed the sport, your life long involvement in racing won't be in NASCAR. So get over it!

Hey buck i couldn't agree more! Andy will never know what it was like to go down to your local track in the 60s and see guys like you described working their butts off on their cars, not having any corporate sponsors, no glitz, just grime, grease, and the smell of high octane. Those days are gone forever, i'll cherish the memories, i'll savor the old pictures (what few i can find now), and i'll enjoy those old days forever in my mind. I'll also enjoy watching the COT run around Daytona or Talldega, even though those are plate tracks because i think Nascar made a good choice by building this car. I'll also enjoy talking to a couple of kids at work about the days when i bought my 85 T-Bird Turbo Coupe because Bill drove one and i just had to have it. I'll savor telling the kids at work about the days of Pearson, Petty, Coo Coo, Baker and Allison. Those were cool, but i also enjoy talking about the new generation drivers with the 20 something gear heads at work because once racing is in your blood it is in it to stay if you are a true fan.

 

[Whizzer]

Back in the day, when USAC had a series of late model racing, I was part of a "race team". One of the local Chevrolet salesmen raced a modified at Victory Speedway in Middletown, NY and wanted to try late model racing.

So....he bought a wrecked 1956 Ford and made it into a race car. We worked like crazy to get it ready for a race in central Pennsylvania.
Race day we loaded up. Loading up meant flat towing the '56 Ford off the bumper of a '57 fuel injected Chevy and carrying tool boxes and parts in the trunk of my 1958 Ford. Spare tires ??? In the race car.

At the track, Reggie had trouble getting the car right during practice. He tried everything he could think of to get up to competitive speed but nothing seemed to work. Then Reggie disappeared for a short time and when he returned, had a like new carburetor. He put it on the race car and qualified for the race !!!!!! It wasn't until everything was over I discovered he had taken the carburetor off my Ford !!!!!

Those were the fun times we enjoyed and those are the memories of "core fans", along with all the other crazy stuff that happened.

Most of us are living in the past. Those are the days "core fans" long for as they were fun and relaxing compared to today when everything is mega-bucks and the only thing that means anything is winning. The fun is gone and as far as relaxing, well, any more, that for me as a "core fan" is sitting in front of the television and not fighting a crowd when nature calls.
I've adapted to most of the changes but the one that still sticks in my craw is the way the championship is decided.

Compare of the past to the days when kids played sandlot baseball. No parental supervision, special shoes, umpires or uniforms and like NASCAR, the rules were subject to EIRI decisions. Yet everybody got along, many on a shoe string.

That is the "core fan". The same ones who have seen more changes than the "whine and geeze" crowd will see, or most likely understand. Don't get me wrong, there is a place for them and they are not the ones who forced the changes. The changes came when sponsors noticed the effect NASCAR racing had as a billboard to sell their product. Things went downhill from there. It became professional, graduated to business and is now, international.
Always happens. Then everybody looks back and says "I wish it was like it was in the old days".

See ANDY, if you make it this will be something for you to look forward to. One day, you too will be a "core fan" and able to sit on the throne of NASCAR "I remember and enjoyed that too" knowledge and pontificate to the lowly masses of "newbies" who join the fold.

 

[TexasRaceLady]

I highly recommed the books by Greg Fielden

Forty Years of Stock Car Racing

It is a 4 volume set that chronicles every race from NASCAR's beginning. Fascinating reading.

 

[de7xwcc]

LMAO... Good Point tkj24.
I'm still irritated that Darlington lost it's 2nd race. I'm irritated that Rockingham and North Wilkesboro are gone. I'm irritated that NA$CAR has forgotten us folks who suffered through the early and middle part of this sports evolution and tossed us aside for the Whine and Cheese crowd. I'm iritated that guys like Cale Yarborough and Bobby Allison can't find backing to own a team. (Yeah I know Bobby's current plight I was just using him as an example). I'm irritated that there will never be another INDEPENDANT driver who will make it big in this sport. IE, Bill Elliott, and Alan Kulwicki. I'm irritated that multi car teams have taken over the sport. OK i'M DONE.

i second that !!!!!!!!!!

 

[MRM]

When I hear the term "core fan", I think of the die hards that are with them at all times.