The Schoolyear of Scott

Anyone who watches Nascar knows what those three words mean.  Uttered at the start of every race (well, every race that is broadcast on FOX) by former Winston Cup Champion Darrell Waltrip, “Boogity Boogity Boogity…Let’s Go Racing Boys” gets the blood pumping of any good ol’ southern boy, like myself, who is in love with racing.  Yes I, a Jew from Northern Virginia, am a Nascar fan.  Hell, I would take it even further.  I am obsessed with Nascar.  Being that last night was the start of Daytona Week, I thought now would be as good of a time as ever to discuss my love for the sport of Stock Car Racing.

Me and Mark at Lowes Motor Speedway, October 2007

The first time I remember trying to seriously watch Nascar was in college.  I was flipping through the channels one Sunday afternoon and decided to try to figure out what the big deal was with this sport.  I just couldn’t understand why cars driving around in a circle for 500 miles was exciting, let alone the most popular sport in America.  After only 30 minutes or so, I quickly learned why Nascar was such a great sport, at least for the television viewer; watching cars drive around in circles is a great sleep inducer!  After spending many additional Sundays napping to the sweet sound of roaring engines, I quickly lost interest in the sport and made the determination that you had to be either a hillbilly or a hick to enjoy racing.

Fast forward to the Fall of 2006.  My friend Connie and I were planning on visiting the newly married Mark and Rachel Johnson at their new house in Charlotte, North Carolina in October and it just so happened that the date we picked coincided with Nascar Chase for the Cup (basically the Nascar Playoffs) race in Charlotte.  Truth be told, Nascar hadn’t really seriously crossed my mind in months, save for the week during the Summer where my favorite TV show, Pardon the Interuption, was preemted for Nascar Now on ESPN.  Being that the cheapest tickets were only $30 each and it was something that none of us had ever done before (not to mention the fact that the race is BYOB), we decided to go for it.

The race was awesome, albeit freezing as it was a night race.  A great thing about Nascar races, we learned, is that the cheapest tickets are for the first few rows rather than the nose bleed seats at other events.  This is due to the fact that it is impossible to see the entire race when you are low down, however being meer feet from 43 cars going in excess of 175 mph is a feeling that in indescribable.  Even though I had practically no idea of what was going on during the race I decided that this sport was something that I wanted to learn more about.

Nascar Fans are Interesting, to say the Least

At the start of the 2007 season, I decided that I would try to watch the sport more and gain a better understanding of what was actually going on.  To be honest, though, I would only catch every few races and usually fell asleep during them.  Still, I was learning more and more and, even if I wasn’t watching every race, I would follow the sport closely.  Mark, Rachel and myself made it up to Lowes Motor Speedway for the 2007 race and, once again, had a great time.  It wasn’t until the next season, though, where my fascination with racing took off.

I made the decision that for the 2008 season, I was going to become a true fan.  If I, for whatever reason, could not watch a race live, I would DVR it and watch it later and avoid spoilers.  I began to visit www.jayski.com, the top Nascar news website, on an almost daily basis.  I even signed up for a Nascar Fantasy League.  Sunday afternoon races became something that I would look forward too.  At some point during the season, I started waking up early on Saturdays so I could watch the qualifying and practice sessions.  I started recording Nascar Now daily to watch with PTI over dinner.  Sadly, we weren’t able to make it to a race in 2008 but I am hopeful that I will be able to make up for that this year.

So let’s fast forward to the present day.  Last night I was out with a group of friends after a long day of celebrating our kickball team’s loss in the playoffs.  At about 1am, I hit a wall and decided that it was time for me to come home.  Last night was also the Budweiser Shootout – the only preseason Nascar race and the official start to Daytona Week and I recorded it on the DVR since I knew I wasn’t going to be able to watch it live.  So like a true Nascar fan, I picked up some Krystal burgers on the way home and watched the race straight through until 3:30am.  It was amazing!

Mark and I after the race...We Survived!

So while I would love to continue gushing about my love for the sport, I have to cut this post short as Daytona 500 qualifying is about to start!  Don’t worry, I am positive this will not be the last Nascar post you will see on this website!

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 8th, 2009 at 1:14 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.