Hi all! I made it back from Orlando, more or less in one piece after hanging out with a whole bunch of Sport historians. It was a great weekend and I am pretty sure that I helped them to understand our racing heritage and history.
More Than Just One Race
As I was watching the back half of Indy and the Coca-Cola 600, I was thinking about how NASCAR has more than one race which “means something” during the season. What made me think about this was actually a comment made during the race broadcast (forgive me for not remembering who) that winning the Coca-Cola 600 was just as important as winning the Indy 500.
Charlotte Motor Speedway 2007
I know that a large part of this has to do with Charlotte being the home of NASCAR. This is as close as we get to having a home track, for all of us. But what it really made me think of is how the NASCAR season has more than one special race. We have a good handful of important or unique races.
If you are watching the Indy 500, you know you’ve seen something special. But you can’t watch the Goody’s 500 without watching the Southern 500. And you can’t watch the Aaron’s 499 without watching the Food City 500. Our first race is more important than our last and every race in between matters.I would think that even in 1949, the individual tracks made a difference in the way that fans watched the season. (Of course, putting aside for a moment the fact that today we have so many choices in how we watch the race every week.) By the second season of NASCAR, the season had dirt tracks, a paved track and a beach & road course. The tracks, even then, each had their own significance. The Beach & Road Course represented the past while Darlington was looking to the future.
The North Turn of the Daytona Beach & Road Course is a little different today.
The half mile and mile dirt tracks were all solidly holding their place in the stock car racing world, not a part of the past until 1970 when NASCAR held the last Cup race on dirt. So which of those races were most important? None of them. Each of the races then, as now bring something to the season. There is no one most important track or race, it all matters.
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On to Pocono! One of my favorite tracks, if only because I like to bring it up when people get really snitty about NASCAR being just circles. “We even have a triangle!” I point out... that usually gets them interested enough to start listening, which is the first step to them becoming a new fan. :) See you next week!
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