Nascar Question

I am new to following Nascar so bare with me. In the other thread about favorite drivers Marks reply was anyone who drives a Chevy. Well when I started following Nascar I held no allegence to any team, manufactor whatever so I first liked Alan Kulwicki. Maybe because of his goofy name but as much as he was car owner and driver. Not because if whatever make of car he drove. I then moved on to Davey Allison, then I started following Jeff Gordon basically because at the time he was new and wanted to follow a driver from start to finish of his career. I follow Kurt Busch for the same reason. Why do Nascar fans in general follow a manufactor so exclusively. Sure a Earnhardt fan won't pull for Gordon even if it's he is battling Mark Martin . For whatever reason it's all or nothing with Gordon hate him or love him. Basically did you choose your favorite driver because he drove a Monte Carlo verses a Taurus (chevy vs ford) or find a driver you liked for whatever reason and then adopt the manufactor. I am guessing chossing the manufactor preferance was passed down from parent as people are very attached to their vehicles.

 

Good question. I can't answer since I'm not much of a fan, but I am interested in the responses you'll get here.

 

I like the driver, don't care what he drives. There is some statistic somewhere that the sales of, say, Chevys jumps after a Chevy wins. I find it strange that a guy would be impelled to go buy a car just because it won the race. It not like your getting the race car version.

 

I used to pull only for Fords. But then my driver switched to a Mopar, so it doesn't matter to me.

 

I was being slightly sarcastic with that response. Thing is I'm not crazy about any one driver, because I hate it when you're all aout one guy and his engine blows up on lap two, you've got nothign to do for the next few hours. I'd rather see DJ win than Tony Stewart, for instance, but as a general rule, I like them Chevy boys.

 

Considering I used to work for GM, my original alliegances were kind of easy.

However, when I moved to NC, I was told the "best way" to be a fan is to pick one driver and stick with him through thick and thin.

I was driving a Grand Prix at the time so the thought of car make did cross my mind. I went with Bobby Labonte and rode thru the Championship season......last year's disaster and now it gets to fun again when I don't get mocked for wearing a #18 hat.


I will agree that, especially last year as a #18 fan, it can be hard to watch a race when your "1 favorite" becomes an early non-factor.

 

I choose my driver and pull for them no matter what they drive. However, I do pull for that manufacturer at the time. I'm not a big Ford fan, but if my favorite driver switched to Fords I would still pull for him.

 

It's not just this way in Nascar. It's in any kind of racing where there are Chevy, Ford, Mopar engines. There is a brand loyalty that generally does not cross lines. You see it in drag racing, boat racing, even in show cars.

Now see I feel a little guilty about cheering Dale Jarrett on because I am a die hard GM fan, or used to be. I actually own two Chrysler products now but I don't think that I would ever, ever buy a Ford. If I did it would have to be either and old Ford truck, an old Mustang, or and old Cougar ('69 models rock). Then I would probably pull the engine and modify it so that I could get a good Chevy motor in there.

 

Continuing on with my first post I followed in order
Kulwicki (dead)
Allison (dead)
Detecting a trend. Actually starting to think I was a curse. Liked Gordon as I said I wanted to pull for a driver from start of career all the way through. Stewert and Rusty just bitch and whine too much. Tony is so good of a driver he doesn't need all that. Although it would be fun to see him and Gordon get into it. My boss'es sister works for K. Bush so he is always giving me trinkets.

 

When I was growing up in what I consider the heart of Nascar, friendships were based on what kind of car you drove. We chevy guys wouldn't mingle with ford guys and actually had different sides of the street to park on in downtown Kannapolis on a weekend night. There were more fights over cars than you could shake a stick at. Same way on the infield at the speedway. I think it was true of most small towns in the 60s and even in Charlotte the chevys hung out at Shoneys on Morehead and fords hung out at Shoneys on the Plaza.
My step-father ran a garage in Kannapolis for 50 years and I never seen some one so dedicated to chevys. He hated to work on a ford (fix or repair daily). I won a Mach 1 mustang one time running title for title at Leazers drag strip and parked it at his garage and he made me move it around back. He said he didn't want people thinking that he worked on shit like that.
Ain't like that no more but there was a time when the car you drove directly influenced the friendships you made.