Lisa Humes had a recent column about fans she called "FANtastic or FANatic". I would like to expand on her thoughts and vision. I don't know what kind of feedback she received from her column but I, for one, truly appreciated her pledge to the drivers as to how she would behave as a fan. Were it to be that all the fans would take the pledge.
While I am somewhat a new kid on the block the columns that I have written for SpeedwayMedia and InsideThePitBox.com I have came to some conclusions. The first conclusion is that I tread on very dangerous ground when I offer any criticism of certain drivers. I have found that I can speak no evil of Bill Elliott, Kyle Petty, Dale, Jr., Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon or Terry Labonte . If I dare tread on the sacred ground of these icons of NA$CAR my "IN Box" is swamped with irate fans who question my parentage, my sanity, my writing ability, my knowledge of the sport, my Americanism, my number of legitimate children, etc. . What really gets me is the so-called fan who say he agrees with everything I say but I had a typo in my column and was, therefore, unworthy of credibility. Excuse me for being human, frail and capable of mistakes.
The second conclusion I have arrived at is I must be careful about saying anything nice about certain drivers. How dare I say anything good about Robby Gordon, Buckshot Jones, Kenny Wallace, Mike Wallace, etc.. What I write and what readers perceive appears to be worlds apart. I do not openly tout any given driver as being better or infinitetly worse than any other given driver. All I do is make observations. I, for one, don't understand the bad rap on the afore mentioned drivers. I make mention of the fact that I hope they prove their detractors wrong and all Hell breaks loose. Buckshot is a loose cannon. Robby Gordon is a hot head. Kenny and Mike Wallace are losers. OK critical readers. You are fully entitled to your opinion, as am I. All I ask or you, dear reader, are you being open, fair and objective? Are you a fan or a FanAtic.
Let me tell you a story. Back in May, 1979 I attended the World (Now Coca Cola) 600. A brash young driver named Darrell Waltrip was leading the race and had lapped the field. He was running so well that he was about to put the entire field two laps down. DW came out of turn two and hit the wall. He pitted and his crew fixed the car and sent him out, still in the lead. A few laps later he hit the wall in turn two again and ended his day. The crowd cheered. Later, in that same race, Richard Payteee blew an engine and roughly one third of the fans seated near me got up and left. I ask you, dear and devoted readers, who were the fans who booed DW's misfortune and who were those who left the stands when King Richard blowed up? May I give you a clue? They were the same so-called fans, whom I prefer to call FanAtics, who participated in the afore mentioned actions. (If you want to see where I'm coming from click on my bio.)
I am going to be blunt and totally, brutally honest. You so-called fans who only see one driver on the track are not fans, you are truly FanAtics. As I refer to my trusted webmaster, you folks are several bricks short of a full load. Why in the name of God would you spend all that money on tickets and accomodations to attend a race where one driver was your sole interest? Why would you fork out the big bucks to attend a race and get up an leave when your obsession falls out of the race. While I admit to being a DW fan in times past, I also had high hopes for Ricky Rudd, Ronnie Thomas, Dave Marcis and Richard Childress. I rooted for DW to see him beat the likes of Richard Payteee, Cale Yarborough, David Pearson or any competitive Ford. I am a GM man, through and through. Yet, I will root for Ryan Newman this year even though he drives one of those dastardly blue ovals. I'll hope to see Buckshot do well even though he drives a Petty Dodge. Dale Earnhardt is gone and you can't bring him back. Stop the incessant mourning and hold to the fond memories of a truly great driver while allowing our favorite sport to move forward. Dale would be the first to second my view. In other words, "It's time to grow up. wise up and move on".
You see folks, you have to stop this nonsense of having a one driver or one make hangup. Talent must be admired, regardless of what the media tells you to the contrary. Any and all drivers who attain to the Winston Cup series are worthy of your respect. You must also realize that we who write about our favorite sport aren't assaulting or insulting you on a personal level. If you want to be content as a NA$CAR fan you need to broaden the scope of your interest. To be a fanatical Elliott, Dale, Jr. Rusty, Harvick, Gordon, Terry Labonte supporter in lieu of all others will make you very unhappy. I say that because I've been there and done that with DW. With the current level of competition, for the most part, you will be disappointed far more often than you will be satisfied. Excepting the fans of Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart, you are in for a long season of disappointment. If you find it within yourself to broaden your driver support to include othere drivers by make of car, looks, attitude or the way they talk, you will be far happier with your chosen sport and the incumbent results of any given race. It's worth thinking about and will set you apart from the FanAtics and make you a True Fan. It's your choice and I pray that you choose wisely.
As always, you have the right to disagree but never to be disagreeable. God bless America, President Bush and our fine defenders of freedom.
(Editor's note: Lisa Humes adds, "Thanks Don, for the kind words about my article. If we get 5 converts, I'll be a happy Nascar fan, and I'm sure their drivers will be too."
Don@insidethepitbox.com
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