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Some women have never been great at making decisions. While this is common knowledge for most men, I had never seen it as clearly as I did last Monday. I had been tricked into going shopping with my girlfriend and picked up a copy of USA Today to help pass the eternity. In this post 9/11 era we live in, I have been desensitized to depressing and disheartening news. On the other hand, the cover story that day filled me with disgust and sheer bewilderment. I reread the headline several times, but the story remained the same: more women were flocking to NASCAR than any other sport.
I had always held women to a higher standard than men, which is why this shocked me. At first I simply attributed this to the general incompetence of women when it comes to sports, but the problem is deeper than that. NASCAR’s managing director of brands and consumer marketing Roger VanDerSnick said the sport’s wholesome atmosphere attracts women to racing.
“Our drivers are terrific role models that families and moms and children enjoy rooting for,” VanDerSnick said.
Terrific role models like one of the “sport’s” major stars, Jeff Gordon. It was Gordon who had an affair with a model, ultimately leading to a divorce. With NASCAR having largely southern roots it doesn’t surprise me that someone like Gordon is popular, some misguided guys respect that. However, I thought that affair ordeal wouldn’t draw to well with the women. I was always of the school of thought that the whole cheating issue was one of those things that women didn’t particularly care for.
Most girls, like Ashely and Katy Speegle from Virginia, give a typical female response for why they like driver Kasey Kahne.
“He’s young, cute, and a rookie,” Ashley said. To them, Kahne is more like a backstreet boy who drives a shiny car. To me, Kahne is about as much as an athlete as a backstreet boy, which is why this trend perplexes me. There is nothing athletic about driving in a circle making left turns. NASCAR ranks on the list of sports right above The World Series of Poker and video games and right below water balloon toss, so the answer must lie elsewhere.
Most NASCAR fans I know watch the races so they can see someone crash. To them it is nothing more than an over glorified demolition derby. I don’t think this is why women are flocking to watch it either, as this is always what NASCAR has always been.
No real “sport” their biggest star tragically losing his life during a routine competition. The biggest clue should be the Sportscenter highlights which consist of single car crashes, multiple car crashes, crashes which result in fires, and near-lethal crashes.
Ann Hinsberg, 29, told USA Today that she attends NASCAR races because “it creates a huge rush just being down there.
“When they start their first lap and those cars go past you for the first time, it takes your breath away,” she said. I can accept that, the only problem is that most NASCAR races consist of hundreds of laps, which is about a few hundred too many. I’m sure it’s neat to see the cars go fast, but what brings them back after that?
Going back to the “sport’s” southern roots, I think that most long-term fans attend races because this whole NASCAR phenomenon is something they believe is the key to helping them win the Civil War. Unfortunately, this wouldn’t explain the large rise in the female demographic.
I think the answer may lie in the animal kingdom. Women and animals don’t exactly have a great past. It was a snake (I’m sure he was smart, as far as snakes go) that tricked Eve into eating the forbidden fruit and was responsible for having mankind banished from Paradise. It was Mrs. O’Leary’s cow who kicked over her lantern in attempt to end her life which resulted in the Great Chicago Fire which destroyed most of the city. It wouldn’t surprise me if these women have spent too much time at the zoo and have been tricked into going to NASCAR races by a monkey, a polar bear, or even one of the smarter animals, like a zebra.
A quote by NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip sums up this trend in typical NASCAR fashion. While talking about new sponsors of drivers, Waltrip said about women fans that “They could sit at the breakfast table, and their husband could talk about the NAPA car and the wife could talk about the Tide car.” Perfect. Leave it to NASCAR to cash in on misguided stereotypes.
That makes perfect sense. In NASCAR thinking, would African-American fans root for the KFC car? Does Waltrip think Native Americans would be drawn to the sport by a car sponsored by a Casino or that Mexicans would flock to races to see the Taco Bell Car? Maybe, following his theory, NASCAR could really bring in the Asian demographic with a Math-a-thon car.
Unfortunately, we may never know the true reason NASCAR is the “sport” of choice for women. Frankly, it doesn’t speak well for women or for sports. It won’t be long before people start telling the joke about the snake, the cow, and the zebra sitting around a table debating God’s most gullible creature. I won’t ruin the joke for you, but the punch line may have something to do with a forbidden fruit-eating, burning, NASCAR-loving woman.
You can email Mark with all comments, criticisms, compliments, and death threats at Rockne48@und.com and he will respond if he’s not listening to animals tell jokes.
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