POST-RACE REPORT: FONTANA

Wow. What a race!

Yesterday’s Sharp Aquos 500 was my first-ever live NASCAR race. I went with my dad and my uncle to the California Speedway in Fontana, CA. It was such an invigorating experience and one I’ll never forget. I had a lot of fun and I learned a lot too; not just about NASCAR (which I am still only a first-year fan of), but also life as well. I read in a book lately (Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul) that one of the main reasons that people watch and enjoy the sport (or, as we fans say, “our sport”) is that it can draw many parallels to life’s experiences. And while some non-fans will say it’s just a Southern sport, you can’t deny that its influence and spectacle have moved across the whole country. (Logic follows: if you’ve heard of it, and haven’t traveled to those states, then its influence covers more than just that region.) While I did take notes on the race to help me keep my thoughts down for this report, however, I just can’t write a bland story out of this experience onto paper. No, for my words to have more effect, more impact, they must take the form of a poem. Perhaps if you read this, and you don’t understand why so many people watch NASCAR, you might change your mind after reading it. Or so I hope.

“Ode to the Stock-Car Race”
by Neil Mullins

It’s not every day you get to see stealth fighters
It’s not every day you come so far
Along with thousands of people to watch forty-three drivers
Cram themselves inside their respective cars.

The startup of the motors and the whirring of air wrenches
Immediately becomes symphonic to your ears
And the smell of burnt tires and gas beyond the fences
Is alluring both to your nostrils and those of your peers.

To see the field move with such efficiency
And yet also to see some be so brash
Makes you wonder, in life, if that’s why some are bold and crazy
Enough, so it seems, to even dare to crash.

You root for your driver and I’ll root for mine,
And we’ll both boo and laugh about it and be just fine;
But when the race is over at Victory Lane
Its not just the drivers, but also the fans, who get the fame.

In leaving the stands, this vision becomes true:
You don’t just become part of the race...
It becomes part of you.

(End Poem)

PS: I found out after i got home from last night's race that I have the opportunity to go to another one before the season is out! This time, it'll be in Phoenix. I'll be meeting friends there, and it won't cost too much to go. Plus, you get my knowledge personally to help you during the race in order to understand it better. Who could ask for more? Let me know if you want to go; planning is currently only in early stages.