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OLSON: The Smartest Fans in All of Sports
The level of knowledge and passion of its customers has made racing a top-level sporting interest in spite of the rejection by a stick-and-ball obsessed media...
Jeff Olson  | http://www.speedtv.com  |  Posted December 03, 2008   Indianapolis, Ind.
SMI and International Speedway Corporation co-own Motorsports Authentics, which has the rights to design and sell merchandise from most of the top drivers and teams in NASCAR.(LAT photo)

This isn’t just a specially placed kiss on readers’ rears, but a statement of fact: Race fans are the smartest fans in all of sports. Not just saying that to score points. It’s a pseudo-scientifically proven fact. Seriously.

This train of thought has been following me like a cloud of Pigpen’s dust since I stumbled into this line of sportswriting a few centuries ago. Somewhere between football, wrestling (real wrestling, not the ’roid-infested fake kind), baseball and basketball, I discovered this strange world that stood by itself, widely disparaged and disrespected by the common sports fan and sports media, yet blessed by paying customers who were disproportionately knowledgeable and passionate about their game.

It wasn’t, as the disrespectful constantly reminded me, just cars going around in a circle. It was, I discovered, an intense sporting contest involving all of the elements of other widely accepted games that entertain us. It had strategy, athleticism, skill and a complicated set of rules and structure. It had drama and backstory and a monstrous cast of characters. It had grit and zeal and emotion. It had everything the other quote/unquote real sports had, only more.

Unlike other sports, racing had fans who were knowledgeable and passionate to the point of intimidating. Not afraid to tell a cub reporter he had no clue of what he wrote. Knowledgeable to the point of nerdishness. Able to name every car owner and crew chief in the pits. Not appreciative nor impressed by media. Among the first to turn to the Internet for information. Independent in their approach, unwavering in their support.

The notion that race fans are abnormally aware of the goings-on in their chosen hobby came to light a few days ago (for about the millionth time) when a crew cleaned the carpets in my home. One of the workers spotted a pile of fresh Autosport magazines near the desk and started a conversation, and not just a run-of-the-mill conversation about racing. He wanted to talk specifically about Formula 1’s switch to slicks next year, and, conversely, the disappearance of Michelin from the F1 scene.

The guy knew his stuff. Our conversation wasn’t just a gee-whiz, ain’t-them-cars-purdy discussion. It was complicated and deep. In a short period of time, we discussed everything from F1 tires to Nicky Hayden to cost containment to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. There was a reason my new friend hadn’t been back to the Indy 500 since 1995, and he offered it in detail. He also offered some clues to his possible return in the future.

He wanted to talk about Tony George, of course, but not necessarily in an angry context. Pleased that TG stood up to Bernie Ecclestone, pleased at the addition of MotoGP, and even, somewhat contradictorily, hopeful that F1 might return to the Speedway. Pleased that the Speedway exists (unlike the Colts’ new palace, Lucas Oil Stadium) without his tax dollars. Pleased that IMS actually pays its fair share and contributes mightily to the local economy. And, naturally, still wounded by what happened in 1995.

This is a common occurrence in the part of the world. Walk into almost any bar, restaurant or café in Indiana and you’ll overhear a conversation along this line. A friend jokes that finding a race fan in Indiana is as easy as finding a cornstalk. Simply drive a few miles into the country and you’ll see them everywhere. A touch condescending, perhaps, a statement that suggests race fans are hillbillies. Not true. The vast majority – again, pseudo-scientific survey here – are successful professionals who live in urban areas. If they happen to be from rural areas, they’re hardly hillbillies. They’re connected to the subject, in tune to technology, and far from rubes.

Another misnomer is that race fans are myopic, that they choose one form of the sport and ignore all others (i.e., the stereotypical NASCAR fan who’s ignorant of all other racing disciplines). Again, not true. One of my best friends, a successful banking exec in Texas, loves all racing, from late models at a nearby dirt track to F1, and he’s typical of most race fans I know. He has his favorite niches, but he’s wild (and remarkably knowledgeable) about all of it. He can talk at length about the NHRA while watching a Craftsman Truck Series race while checking his BlackBerry for F1 qualifying results. He’s as interested in Le Mans as he is in Daytona. To him, the variety of motorsports is the true appeal of it. It’s not one sport; it’s 20 different sports that just happen to involve motorized vehicles.

Years ago, while covering local racing for a newspaper that routinely buried races that drew tens of thousands while playing up stick-and-ball events that drew a few hundred, an editor would joke about the tattoo-to-teeth ratio at the local dirt track. Insinuating, naturally, that people who attend races aren’t as bright (or as wealthy or as hygienically correct) as the general populace. But after each race, the brightest and most articulate responses to my buried stories came from those same fans, who, according to the editor, were missing teeth and covered in tattoos. They were quick-witted, funny and properly assembled in their responses. Even if they had a complaint, they delivered it in diplomatic fashion.

Flip the mirror the other way. A particular basketball team I once covered had an unusually ardent season-ticket holder whose seat was located directly behind my spot on press row. I’m still slightly deaf on my left ear from this dillweed. I’m told he was a successful, educated professional and huge booster of the program, but what came out of his mouth made me think otherwise. Screaming, F-bombs, dogging officials, huge slobbering soliloquies about basketball that made absolutely no sense whatsoever. Not one tattoo, and all of his teeth remained intact, although during one red-faced fit it appeared as if one flew over my head and on the court, only to be kicked out of sight by a player, but that’s another story for another day.

Other fans of that basketball team were well-mannered, and most (pseudo-science again) were ashamed that this drooling fool served as their unchosen representative. One bad apple doesn’t spoil a basketball team, just as one race fan in need of dental work doesn’t make every race fan a dim-witted hillbilly, but they do reveal an observation gleaned from the years: Never at a race have I seen someone behave like my basketball fan from hell.

Instead, I meet people who are connected, educated, sharp and thoroughly into what they’re watching. People who ignore the labels and misgivings directed at them and their sport and embrace what they’ve found and attempt to know as much about at and become as involved as possible. People who don’t fit the mold we’ve tried to place on them. People who behave as if they’re respectful of their fellow fans. People who are far more knowledgeable about their sport than the media covering it. Other sports should be so lucky to have fans like this.

This fan, of course, is a blessing. Without this type of customer and his or her knowledge and passion, auto racing is nowhere. Instead, because of that very customer, racing is where it is: a top-level sporting interest in spite of the rejection of a media that’s obsessed with stick-and-ball sports. All of us in the business should personally thank each and every race fan worthy of his or her scanner and seat cushion. Without you, we don’t exist.

Nothing pseudo about this science. It’s time to give race fans the credit they deserve.


Jeff Olson is a Senior Writer for RACER magazine. For details about the current issue, visit www.racer.com.


The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, SPEED, or Haymarket Worldwide.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
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Jeff Olson

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