Your guide to NASCAR culture
December 6th, 2005 by Steven GardnerChad Lewis writes:
As the resident Southerner on our news staff, it made sense that my
contribution to covering the proposed speedway would largely be
cultural. I also will track how influential state legislators
outside Kitsap view the proposal as we assess the political mood in
Olympia.
Growing up south of Atlanta, I had a front-row view of NASCAR as it
matured from a regional quirk to a mainstream sport that now draws
a bigger national audience than Major League Baseball.
Though there are dedicated racing fans in Kitsap, this clearly is
not NASCAR country. And since most people here have never been to
the South or attended a Nextel Cup race, there are many inaccurate
perceptions of the sport and its fans.
I will neither champion nor satirize the NASCAR culture. I will
only enlighten readers and demystify a sport as it tries to weave
its way into the Northwestern fabric.
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December 7th, 2005 at 1:56 pm
How do they expect to get 80,000 race fans to the site, the week before and right after the races.? By ferry, that’s a joke, and on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, a backup nightmare?
December 12th, 2005 at 12:28 pm
In response to Patricia… the same way they cram over 100,000 onto the fastest track in the circuit outside Detroit Michigan. NASCAR fans are willing to wait in some traffic one day a year to see their favorite race. While some in Kitsap County may not like the idea of watching a NASCAR race and sitting in the attendant traffic, they also shouldn’t discount or deny their fellow citizens who happened to be NASCAR fans the enjoyment of attending a live race.
December 13th, 2005 at 6:40 pm
Zackery, Where do you live? We live within three miles of the track, and spending a few weekends a year locked in our home, since the roads will be impassable, is not our idea of fun, or reasonsable. Not to mention, what do we do in an emergency, when the roads are jammed shut. If you like NASCAR fine, watch it on t.v., but why destroy our quality of life.
January 18th, 2006 at 7:03 am
Patricia, are you telling me you never wait in traffic anywhere and inconcenience those who live in that area? Do you never use the ferry and inconvenince those who live in the Seattle highrises with the blast of a ferry horn? Do you never converge on a Seattle Seahawks or Mariners game and jam up traffic in SODO? The point is, NIMBY arguments are convenient, but most people at some point are inconvenienced a small bit so that a larger event can take place – concert, race, or game.
For the record, I lived in Silverdale for 3 years while in High School. My parents have lived there for 12 years now. And we have learned to stay away from Silverdale Way and the approaches to Silverdale on the weekends and especially during Christmastime. Its the price you pay for having businesses come in and support investment in your community. I just recognize the good it provides the community, and learn to live with it.