NASCAR Nation (7 page)

That quick fix, however, can be mighty tempting. Let's say I walked up to you with a pill – something I had cooked up in my basement. Sure it's illegal and contains all kinds of damaging substances … but what if I told you it could solve all your problems and get you ahead in life? Americans are always looking for a quick fix, a way to beat out the competition fast.
Nowhere else in the world are get-rich-quick Ponzi schemes, lose-all-that-weight-in-a-week diets, and miracle pills so popular, which is why our infomercial market is so successful: it's crammed with fast fixes. We want to throw dinner in the microwave and have it come out as a five-course meal.

Our athletes aren't any different. If someone could give them a pill that promised better performance instantly but shaved countless years off their lives, they very well might overlook the finer details concerning their health and well-being in order to succeed (even if it was cheating). There's an old saying that is still whispered in modern locker rooms: it's fine if you cheat, but not if you get caught. It's all about whether or not you're willing to take that risk. And that's probably one risk drivers
shouldn't
be taking.

Sometimes, though, NASCAR drivers would be willing to accept greater risk for greater speed – and they're not alone in this. Everyone in the sport, from the sponsors to the fans, all want to push things to the max – to go a little faster to really taste danger. Drivers have already taken that pill. The drivers live fast. They agree to whatever rules are set, but some of them aren't as concerned about their safety as the authorities making the rules. They just want to race. Every weekend they put their lives on the line.

The athlete on the outside of the car who doesn't understand racing may snicker and say, “Well, you
don't have to be in great shape and train the way I do – you're just sitting in a car.” They don't realize the pressure that speed places on NASCAR drivers. They may be sitting in a car, but they're moving over 150 miles per hour with forty-two other cars crammed on the track with them. Combine that with car wrecks, and it becomes a true test of ability. Even if you're very good at what you do – even if you're the best – you're very vulnerable on the circuit. If someone on the track isn't good at what they do, you may have to pay for it by avoiding a bad driver, dropping back in the race, or avoiding collisions. It's a different kind of sport.

Many people don't realize or understand what it is that these drivers do. NASCAR isn't just fast driving. In fact, speed is just one aspect (albeit an important one) of racing, just one element that draws people in. Even though it's important and it's exciting, a true fan isn't merely attracted to cars circling race tracks really fast. If that were the case, NASCAR wouldn't have too many fans. If a driver is going to be successful, they need more than just speed. Fans can watch the races just for the speed and the crashes, but they'll be missing out on a lot if they don't come to appreciate the sport for its other aspects.

Certainly the first-time viewer may have trouble picking up on the finer points of racing. For example, in a race at Dover, Jimmie Johnson was racing head
to head with Tony Stewart. This isn't anything out of the norm, but it's exciting to watch if you know who is driving. To a first-time viewer, it just looks like two cars racing. But if you know you're watching the top drivers, it's exciting. Johnson and Stewart are two of the best drivers in terms of the fundamentals of what they do under pressure, how they handle the lead, and how they handle a bad car that's dropping or a good car that's in front. It's more than how fast they can go, even if they know how to pick up speed. Johnson and Stewart aren't alone in their abilities; certainly Jeff Gordon joins their ranks, along with many other drivers, including great drivers of the past. Being a winning team is about more than how fast the car can go.

People often wonder how much skill is involved and who deserves credit for winning the race: the driver or the car he's racing. I've never been a driver and I've never been a crew chief, but after years of NASCAR broadcasting experience, and after getting to know racing intimately, I can say that if a driver wants to take the finish line, he has to have the skill to do it. That skill is tested when things go wrong. It's just like any other job. Whether you're a pilot, construction worker, doctor, mason, engineer, or working at a fast-paced office – no matter the business environment – the person who is most skilled is the one you want to work with and the one who can
handle an emergency. When everything goes wrong, to whom can you turn? Who handles problems the best and who knows how to respond?

That's knowledge and that's skill. That's what separates the best drivers from good drivers and the men from the boys. If a coach is able to handle injuries on his team with efficiency and make the necessary adjustments to get through the game, that's good coaching. If a pitcher is having an off day, but manages to pull through, that's a talented pitcher. If there's a wreck or a mechanical crisis on the race track, the talented driver is the one who has the know-how and skill to handle his vehicle with grace.

In a major crash, it can be difficult to tell if anyone handled their vehicle with grace. It's hard to say who was reckless, who was being a speed demon, and who just got caught up in a bad situation. I'll see a wreck and at that moment I'll think I know whose fault it was, but when I go back and watch the replay enough times, I'll realize that the car was set up to crash. It may be an adjacent driver's fault or someone near the driver who swerved the wrong way or made a wrong move, which led to resulting mishaps on the part of other drivers. Sometimes drivers will even apologize to each other for mistakes like that. They know that they could have handled themselves better.

For the most part, the drivers in this sport know how to handle themselves. A good driver with a
decent car and well-timed pit stops will make their way through the race with mild success. If the driver's car isn't the best or has problems or needs adjustments, that, when his true skill shines. If someone causes a wreck and he has to navigate his way through it, his abilities see him through.

The United States is no different. As we face difficult times, our leadership is tested; our country and all its actions are scrutinized. Anyone can be a great leader when the resources are available and foreign relations are on the up and up. But when the going gets tough, that's when we're tested. That's when we have to shine. It's not about speed and how fast the problems can get solved, although that is important. It's about how we handle ourselves under pressure. It's about really addressing and resolving issues. That's the test of a good driver and leader. At one point or another, we all have to face that kind of test.

People in other sports may just see a guy sitting in a car pressing a pedal, but here in NASCAR we know that the truly skilled driver is constantly testing himself and is constantly succeeding – and succeeding at a lightning-fast speed. For the first-time viewer, that may not be quite as clear, but the speed and the action are. The spectacle of speed, from the first time a fan sees a race on television to when they finally buy those tickets and see the cars flash by with their own two eyes, is a spectacle that never tires.

The sense of shock a first-timer has when confronted with the speed of the cars whizzing by and the noise of the engines roaring past can inspire both awe and fear. Some fans wonder, how fast can these cars go? The idea of one mistake, at those speeds, is more than scary. Some people get a little shaken at their first race, especially if they're up close. Others fantasize about being in the car and think about how they would drive, the turns they would make, and the feeling they would have behind the wheel. Once everyone adjusts to the race, they love the fear factor and the speed. People get comfortable with the idea of speed and will do whatever they can to get close to it, short of sitting behind the wheel themselves. The initial experience of going to a race can be life-changing. It certainly was for me.

Before I even reached the tracks I could see how massive the scene was going to be. Whether it's Martinsville, Virginia, or Talladega, Alabama, the track takes over the city. Cars fill the streets. I didn't realize before I went to races how big of a spectacle it truly is. Of course, I'd heard the numbers, but it didn't hit me how large the crowds really were until I stood in a crowd much larger than any for the Super Bowl – and that was at a regular race. People need golf carts just to get around the track because it's so massive. It's a microcosm, a city in and of itself.

When I was outside of the track, I felt like I might be at a circus or carnival. There were souvenir trucks and vendors selling food of all sorts. I could smell the rich, savory aroma of good American barbeque roasting in the campgrounds. Some fans had passes to go see the cars in the garage. That surprised me. In few other sports could fans see players before the game or get that close to the action. To me it was like opening the door to the New England Patriots' locker room before the big game.

Fans get to see and experience so much at the races. It's hard to get a bad seat. If you're up high you get to see the entire track, which you don't have a hope of seeing from down low because it's so gigantic. But from down low you can feel the cars rushing by and see the colors of the bright vehicles blur. Everyone picks their favorite driver. Sometimes there's a driver who people are rooting against, maybe a driver who's edging in on their driver's lead. Every time Dale Earnhardt Jr. circles the track there will be a few cheers.

The beginning and the end of the race are the biggest spectacles. At the beginning there's the anthem and the show that NASCAR makes of that, and then there's the final finish, that race for Victory Lane. In between the end and beginning, fans eat, cheer, and holler. Some grow listless and distracted; others are wide-eyed and attentive for the whole race. They
know that in every race there's that one wreck or move that everyone talks about the next day, and they don't want to miss out on it. There is no rewind button. If they take their eyes off the track too long, they may miss that one spectacular moment, that crash, or that expert maneuver that gets the rest of the crowd on their feet and cheering.

It all seemed amazing to me at that first race. And then I went to the Daytona 500. There's no way to compare any other sporting event to it. The Daytona 500 is the cream of the crop in racing; I had never been to a race like it before. I had the idea that it was just going to be cars going around the track, but from the moment you pull into that parking space, you enter another world: the food, the vendors, the garage, the thousands and thousands of people, the sound of the cars, the excitement that pulsates through the air, and the drivers who seem to be superhuman. The smell of the oil and rubber on the track. The sound of cars screeching and scraping the walls. The blurring colors. You
see
speed.

I'll never lose that initial impression that I got from the Daytona 500, even if it was, at times, all a blur. Once you've been a part of something like that, you develop a need for it. A need for speed.

W
hen we go to the movies, we admire the stars on the screen. When we turn on the news, we listen to what our president has accomplished. And when we watch sports, we look for our favorite quarterback or race car driver. Yet the true greatness of our country, whether we're in Hollywood, the White House, or a sports stadium, lies in the labor of the unsung heroes.

Behind every great film there are many layers of talent, from the writers who create the script to the directors who oversee the making of the film. Though we may only see that great Hollywood star on the screen at the end, in truth that actor is only one part of the process. The same is true in the White House. The president, being only one person, couldn't possibly be responsible for an entire country. He has countless aides and advisors working tediously to keep him informed and able to do his job.

On the NASCAR track, the driver is the star, the leader, and executer. And while he has to be very talented to get into that driver's seat, somebody had to make that seat and the car it's in. Someone has to repair it and coach him through mechanical malfunctions. Someone has to pay for those malfunctions and organize the pit crew and the team on which the driver relies. All these people work together as a team to make the sport of NASCAR possible. Without cooperation and teamwork, nothing would be possible in NASCAR, and nothing would be possible in America.

Teamwork is an all-American value. We're hard-working and we like to get the job done right. Everyone has their role to play, from Hollywood to Washington, from the farms of the Midwest to the boardrooms of New York City, to the races at Talladega. There are the people who design the buildings and those who work in them. There are
the farmers who keep us fed and the teachers who educate our future generations. Sure, the president is important, but by no means is he more important than the rest of society. Everyone is making a contribution to our great nation, and teamwork is what keeps this country running like clockwork.

It's the same for NASCAR. Just like we're all a part of the team that makes up America, the driver is just one part of a complex network of people who work together to win a championship. The driver is the executer. He may be the final step in the process of winning the race, but he's not the only one leading that car to the finish line. That driver wouldn't be running to the finish line if he didn't have the financial support and engineering know-how to get his car on the track. In order to do that, he needs a good team behind him. One team can employ more than a hundred supporting staff. The cost of financing a team with the necessary talent and paying for the materials needed to build the car can be tremendous.