Did any of you guys hate Nascar before you loved it?

Question

If so, what changed your mind and how did you get into it? I grew up in Martinsville, Va, 5 miles from the track and didnt attend a race there until I was 27! Now I go to about 8 races a year and follow it religiously. I got into after playing the Nascar video game for PS2.

Answer 1

Well I wouldn't say I hated it but I sure wasn't a fan of it. I got into it while I was playing NASCAR 07. I decided that the game was good so I should watch a real race. And boy did i love it.

Answer 2

I never followed Nascar until I was hired by a local body shop as a welder. My first day I was putting a chasis together on a jig. After building several "cup trucks" I became intrigued with the idea of watching my work drive around the track. After the I became a fan.

Ive lost interest over the past few years because the vehicles are not as much "stock" as they used to be. You tend to lose that competition edge when every body is running the same exact piece of equipment.

Now more than ever its a race to the proverbial "he who has the best engineering rigs wins"

Answer 3

I used to hate loud noises, so I'd never consider going to a race. In fact, I hated it so much, my Dad would watch it in another room, I was only about 9 or so. Then, one day I watched a race and kind of liked it, then I started to watch it on TV every weekend. Then, when I was 12, my dad took me to Dover. I'm 16 now, and we go to about 4-6 races per year and love it. I also love dirt track races, something I could never stand due to the noise.

Answer 4

I actually liked NASCAR more in the past than I do now. Now I'm sayin' I still love it, just too many restrictions compared to Nascar of ole' when every 4th of July it was the "Firecracker 400" in Daytona Beach. Even if you weren't at the race, all the radio's were tuned in to it. From St. Augustine Beach to

Flagler. It was just a bunch of good ole boys driving their hearts out and disputes were usually settled on or at the track

It was nothing to see Yarlboro, Baker, Petty, Allison, Jr. Johnson and many others at establishments throughout the area. It just seems it has gotten so commercialized, and almost a "beauty contest"

Well maybe the "beauty contest" might be takin' it a lil' too far.

Take off those restrictor plates and let them Boys Roll. Many people don't know it & was way before my time, but at one point they actually raced down the Beach at Daytona. I'm sure there's some archivial footage of it. REEVE EM' UP AND LET ER' ROLL!!

Answer 5

HATE: never.  NO.1  nascar fan:  FOREVER.

Answer 6

I did. I hated it with a passion. I was one of those ppl who were like, whats so great about cars running around in circles? But that was because I didn't understand the complexity of the sport and how much was really involved. I was also irritated when my brother and friends family would hog all the tv's every Sunday watching it. After I was able to actually sit through a few races and finally picked a driver though I was hooked and have been ever since.

Answer 7

maybe when i was four and my dad and uncle were always jumping and hollering to ol' earnhardt when i was trying to take a nap

Answer 8

Well I used to really hate it, but now I just dislike it, so I'm getting there.  I respect NASCAR now.  I doubt I'm ever going to be a fan, but I respect it.

Answer 9

My dad worked a lot when we grew up. Mon.-Sat. from sunrise to sunset he was gone. But, on Sundays he was home, and he would watch the race every Sunday. He would recline in his chair, and I would crawl up on his lap. If I held really still and behaved (lol) he would let me stay there. I never understood why he liked watching all the colorful cars going in circle. Of course, I was playing with my Barbie dolls at that age, and had no interest in cars. I never hated it, but never got into it. That came much later. I have been hooked for six years, and have only missed one race on t.v. in that time. We try to attend at least one race each year also. I wish now that I could go back and watch all the great races that I missed. I would give anything to be able to watch Petty, DW, Earhnardt Sr. and all the guys of that generation race. Once in awhile I can catch an old one on satellite. It amazes me the way they race on and off pit road.

There are some great answers here. Why all the thumbs down?! I don't get it.

Answer 10

Yes, I did hate it.  Could not understand why people would sit out in that hot sun and watch a bunch of cars go round and round.  When Jeff Gordon moved into the cup series he changed my entire attitude towards racing!  Now I love it and love sitting in those stands cheering for him!

Answer 11

well when i was a wee child in 2001 I went the the races all the time I loved it but never really could comprehend the until I was older than I understood the complexity of it and have been a fan ever since

Answer 12

my dad has always loved NASCAR and everytime it would come on we had to watch it and i hated it so i would leave the room but now that im older i really love it and i wanna start racing its so much fun to watch and even though im a girl i still love it and love watching it

Answer 13

I wouldn't say I hated it - was just never interested.  Then I watched a night Bristol race in "02 and saw Jeff Gordon bump Rusty Wallace out of the way in order to win. I couldn't wait until the next race to see if Rusty retaliated!  And I have been watching ever since.  It has become a passion!  FYI  Rusty finally got Gordon back in a Richmond race.  hehe

Answer 14

I would watch it with my dad when I was younger, but never really liked it till I was old enough to drive (guess that might have influenced a few speeding tickets)...

Answer 15

YES!!! i used to think it was so boredom incarnate!!! but i think that was more because of my family and their preferences while i was growing up. we were an NHRA family - my step-dad raced vintage willys trucks and my brother ended up an NHRA vintage dragster driver for a long while. we were brought up going to the drag strip in sacramento and watching the drags whenever possible and cheering for "big daddy" don garlits and don "the snake" prudhomme. and we always were down close to the action since my step-dad was a regular at the track.

we watched nascar on occasion on tv, but not any one race (other than maybe the daytona 500s) long enough to develop any bond with the sport. i knew some drivers names and liked cale yarborough, but i really don't remember much else other than hearing the top names (petty, waltrip, pearson, earnhardt, etc) now and then. and things like qualifying or practice seemed incredibly dull to even think about - nhra qualifying is the same as the finals, except without the single elimination - nascar qualifying was one car running a couple laps, then the next, then the next - i though that nascar qualifying had to exist in one of dante's nine circles of h**l.

so after i left home in the 80s, i went first to ucla, then ucsd for grad school, and good luck finding a nascar fan in academia - especially back then. it was hard enough finding grad students who watched tv, much less four hours of cars going round in circles.

but then just past the millenium, i moved to vegas and ran with some friends there who loved nascar and were incredibly knowledgeable about it. i watched races on tv with them and learned about how the points system worked, various strategies within a single race and across a season, etc. so i picked a favorite driver - the hometown boy kurt busch - and cheered him on each week.

then in 2003 i went to my first live races - the busch and winston cup races at vegas - and i immediately became a FANATIC. that race i rooted for my boy kurt, who got caught up in a mess near the end, and for a japanese driver (hideo fukuyama driving the #66) because he was getting lapped by everybody (a little "underdog" spirit in me).  he had his best cup finish ever that day (33rd, 9 laps down - he only ran 2 races that year and 2 the next) and i like to think he finished his best that day because he had one fan!!!

;-)

i bet a lot on kurt and junior in 2003 and 2004 and they made me a fair amount of money. but after i heard kurt talk about kyle and how good he was (and this coming from the champion, or soon to be champion - i can't remember exactly what year the quote was), i kept my eyes on him, and have followed his career march upwards ever since. i'm still a big kurt fan too, through his highs (the championship) and his lows (the phoenix incident in 2005, his move to penske). but as i wrote in a previous response, kyle has never let me down, so this year i'm loving the other hometown brother making it big.

and now, if there's a nascar-related show on (except for "nascar angels") i'm usually watching it. and i subscribe to a ton of nascar related feeds and alerts to always be as "inside the loop" as possible, so to speak. even qualifying and practice are exciting for me to watch now. i've been to a couple more races at vegas, and to show how much i really love the sport, i've even been to a few at fontana... including pre-season thunder testing.

;-)

Answer 16

I used to be the guy making fun of everyone I knew that was into NASCAR.  And now I'm eating those words after getting really into it myself.  And after going to my first race this year here in Vegas I am totally hooked.

Answer 17

i've loved it all my life I know of no other sport

evidently we dont live far from each other

Answer 18

I have always loved the car even when I was little.  So no, I loved it.  But I can see how some people if they did not like it would love it after their first race and be hooked.  I think that is why it has such a large fan base and gathering.

Answer 19

My "PopPop" got me into it when I was about four i lost touch with it for a while then Video games pretty much revived my nascar spirit again now I cant miss a race

Answer 20

Actually, yes.... didn't get it.. didn't get it at all.  Then my daughter came to live with me and I started watching the races and got into it.  I realize you had to find your favorite driver to hate before you could find your favorite driver to like.

Answer 21

Thought it was boring.

Went to a race with a friend just to see her while she was in town.  

Have been hooked ever since.

Answer 22

I never really hated it, I went to a Richard Petty autograph session as a youngster in 1992 when he was doing his farewell tour...the only celebrity I saw in person...I was only 4. My first race was the 1993 Daytona 500 won by Dale Jarrett, I saw Jeff Gordon win his first race in 1994 and the first Brickyard 400...I saw Earnhardt's final race and his death. It was different after Dale died...things kind of changed with the sport after 2002. That was where my love for the sport is going down. The sport looks as if it's going downhill fast...the Cars are really tough to get the hang of for the teams and races have not been as entertaining, in fact I could name about 5-7 races in the past few years that have had excitement. The Sanctioning Body has taken away all the good stuff about NASCAR, like injuries, high speed crashes, and innovation as any innovations now get you put in the NASCAR trailer. Also it seems as if the rich are getting richer and smaller teams are struggling...the smaller underfunded teams can't keep up and they have to pull out of the sport. There is simply too many issues I have with the sport but I hope the issues can be addressed so I can like it as much as I did about say 8 years ago.

Answer 23

No i didn't really no anything about it until seeing a race on tv. And from the time i watched the first race i was hooked and stand to miss a race or even qualifing or practice.

Answer 24

I grew up around racing. Local dirt tracks, drag racing and Nascar. I luv the noise, the smells and all the action. I live in an area where there are several local dirt tracks, El Dora being one of them. I'm close to 5 Nascar tracks all within a 2-3 hour drive . Every year we go to Bristol for the NHRA Nationals and the Cup races. I am a tom boy gear head and proud of it!! I have need for speed.   =o`)   ~Peace~

Answer 25

I used to be into drag racing but as a spectator motorsport, NASCAR is the "bomb"!

Answer 26

No, loved it as soon as I discovered it!

Answer 27

Heey the first race that I ever went to was at Martinsville!

Well I got to meet Dale Sr. before I knew who he was so I started watching it and absolutely loved it.   Prior to that...I didn't hate it...I just wasn't interested in it. When I started watching and learning all about it, realizing that it was so much more than driving in circles or ovals...WOW that made all the difference.  I love it.

Answer 28

With all the commercials and yellow flags i,m starting to like it less now...I grew up in the south and went to many races in the70,s and early 80,s...It seems as though it was more pure back then...It was,nt the way it is now...We have way too many rules and regulations...Too many yellow flags for hot dog wrappers and stupid stuff like that...If a guy spun out but didn,t hit any thing why throw a yellow?For a commercial of course..

Answer 29

I was born into racing, and I'm not about to move out!

Answer 30

My grandfather always watched the races when they were on tv. I just ignored it. To me it was background noise. I didn't hate it, I just didn't care about it. I started in 1998 really watching & getting into it.

Now 10 years later I have thousands of dollars in NASCAR related merchandise & shirts & hats. And I have been to 6 cup races & 1 nationwide race since 2005. And have 1 more cup race lined up for this year. And if it's on & I am home (which I am unless I am working) then I am watching it.

Answer 31

i have loved it seens i ws 13 and started to work on cars. i have been hooked every sence. started out a mark martin fan.