Alright, so I’m sitting here at my cubio (that’s a cubicle and studio all in one) and I’m listening to one of the women in the office discussing NASCAR with our news director Bob Priddy. Now, I’m not really listening in on their conversation, but I hear Sandy talking about how she liked to see this driver driving this car and this guy doing that and Junior this and Junior that and Bob replies "gotta keep that brand loyalty with your husband huh?" I’m thinking, this girl knows her NASCAR!
Look, I know enough about NASCAR to at least fake my way through a conversation. I can always throw out driver names and points and b.s. my way through. However, I realized I’m pretty much an idiot when it comes the ins and outs of NASCAR in terms of teammates, owners, who drives what and for how long.
It dawned on me that I’m like the female football fan of the 80’s. I’ll explain. I find myself cheering for certain cars. No, not because they’re Ford, or Chevy or Dodge, or not really because of who drives them, but I root for certain cars based on what they look like. That’s right, what they look like!!! Hey, before female fans of the NFL got as involved as they do with the players, the teams, about 10 years ago, they really only watched games as a way to try to connect with their husbands, but would ruin any credibility they were building up when they would say things like "I love the Dolphins because they’ve got those pretty aqua green jerseys and they’ve got that little dolphin on their helmet…and Dan Marino is so cute, especially in those Isotoner glove commercials."
I’ve realized that’s me with NASCAR. For years, I couldn’t understand why people grunted and mumbled obsentities under their breathe when I said I like Jeff Gordon. Hey, I like the colors on his car. That blue and orange with the flame on the hood, yeah it looks cool. The M & M car? Yeah I like it. I love M & M’s, I can’t tell you who drives that car or what type of car it even is!!! Who drove the pink and black car a couple of years ago? Was that a Burton…Jeff Burton? Yeah, you don’t drive a pink car dude that’s my rule. #20, Tony Stewart. Yeah I liked that car too. I’m sure there will be more people grumbling and swearing under the breathe over him, but why do I like that car? #20 was my high school baseball number, it’s my favorite number. Plus, the orange Home Depot car sticks out on the track. I also like the Lowe’s car. (Is that completely wrong to like the Home Depot and Lowes car?) Just mere coincidence that he and Jeff Gordon are 1 and 2 in the Cup Chase, they’re teammates and both drive Chevys. I like the paint scheme on the Lowe’s car. The blue and gray with yellow trim? Pretty cool.
Maybe I need the NASCAR for Dummies book?
