This is not for everybody, but unless you are a NASCAR fan, it may contain some real surprises.

A Nascar team has a car owner. He secures sponsors for one or more cars. He hires a crew chief and a bunch of engineers and technical people. He also must provide a shop with mechanics and body men to build, repair and maintain cars. Naturally there is a driver for each car and an over-the-wall pit crew to service the car during a race. Because of limited visibility, drivers communicate with spotters who are stationed high above the stands, usually on top of the press box. They are also in radio contact with their crew chief in the pits.

As you can see, it is a team sport and the pit crews and drivers are highly trained atheletes. They have trainers and lots of practice and conditioning.

Behind the scenes there are business people who handle advertising contracts and sales of tee shirts, caps, coffee mugs and a long list of other merchandice.

The whole NASCAR community is like a town without a permanent location. They travel from race to race in motor homes, trailer trucks and private planes. They often have a race in California or Nevada one week and one in North Carolina or Florida the next. Other races are held in New Hampshire, Michigan, Texas, Tennessee, Georgia and several other states.

A good driver can expect to win a race or two each season and hopes to build enough points for a big payday at the end of the season. A great driver might win a half-dozen or more races and a championship. A little luck helps.

Race tracks seat thousands of people. Often they look as crowded as a football stadium, but they are much larger, so most race crowds are larger than those at other sporting events.

Races tend to last for hours. There is a 600 mile race at Charolotte, North Carolina, but most others are 500 miles. Small tracks like Bristol, Tennessee also have "500's" but they are laps instead of miles. 500 laps at Bristol is only about 250 miles. Top speeds there are about 130 mph or roughly 4 laps per minute! Racing at Bristol has been described as "Flying a jet plane around in a gymnasium."

Compare Bristol to Talladega, Alabama where Bill Elloitt drove a Ford 212 mph. That track is about 2.6 miles around, or roughly five Bristols.

I got hooked in 1952 when I saw a NASCAR race on a one-mile dirt oval in Nashville. It's a great sport.
Howard