NASCAR

When I first moved to the US my knowledge of Racing didn't go beyond F1.
One day, at work, the race was on TV and since I was holding the door, I pretty much had to watch it... I have to admit the first couple of times I watched it, all I could think about was "Who the hell watches this? Could it get ANY more boring?"
I used to think NASCAR was only cars going around in circles, which is what a lot of people think. Fortunately, there was this one manager who was a huuuuuuuuuuuuuge NASCAR fan and he took the time to explain to me how everything worked... It turns out, it's a lot more complicated than most sports - at least when it comes to points and stuff - and surprisingly, it is anything BUT boring.

Ok, ok, if you sit in front of your TV and watch a 5 hour race without even taking a potty break, you will most likely get sick of it and change the channel... (Trust me, I used to do the same)
However, if you ever have the chance to actually go to a race, your whole perspective about racing WILL change... That's not a question, it's a statement.
The very first minute you walk into the speedway and you see thousands and thousands of people walking around wearing their favorite driver's stuff, I swear to God you get chills down your spine...
You see people walking by you, carrying their team's seat cushions, their beer koozies, t-shirts, coolers, bags, backpacks, tents, you name it, they have it!
Everyone drinking beer, having barbeques, tailgating... It's absolutely awesome! The atmosphere is just amazing!
Then you have an amazing singer performing the national anthem, then you have jet planes flying above you giving you goosebumps with every mile they advance, then the Grand Marshall who is usually someone famous as well saying the magic words "Gentlemen, start your engines!" as you hear how every single one of the engines starts running...
And then the race starts... The cars flying by are soooo loud but not loud that hurts your ears - or maybe it does, but there is so much adrenaline you probably don't even feel the pain - the sound of the engines and the smell of the burning tires is beyond describable...
The huge smoke cloud that forms whenever there's a crash is sooo nerve wracking and yet soooo exciting at the same time you just want to jump over the fences and see what happened!
(Meanwhile, you're chugging down beers left and right, of course...)
And then, just when you think your favorite driver, who's been leading the past 100 laps, is going to win the race, somebody touches him and he crashes... Another big wreck and your poor driver is pushed back to last place and the guy you hate the most wins it...
Interestingly though, even though it is not YOUR driver who won, the burnout is soooo freaking phenomenal that you just don't care at one point... You just want to be there and see it live! And see the driver splashing champagne on everyone, all the confetti, the fireworks... Oh man, it's quite a show.

In the end... you realize it's not just cars going in circles... As a matter of fact, there are no round tracks, they're mostly oval, but there are some other shapes as well, except for circle ones :)
After hours of watching it and following it every week, after keeping track of your driver's point standings for 9 months, you're a NASCAR fan too before you even know it...

I remembered just how much I loved races tonight because the Coke 400 was on. Unfortunately, I had to watch it in Spanish and Jimmie did not win, but it was pretty awesome. It certainly brough back some memories, which was good :)
I had forgotten just how much fun races were :)
Hopefully one day I will be able to be at one again :)