Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

In my spare time (ok, for extra spending money) I do promotional modeling.  It's one of the easiest jobs I have ever had.  You just show up looking cute and convince people to buy whatever product you happen to be touting that day.  I’ve promoted every alcohol you can imagine, worked at some crazy celebrity events (Superbowl Celebrity Gift Lounge or NBA All Star Convention anyone?), and even spent weekends out at Phoenix International Raceway for….NASCAR.

Yup, NASCAR.  Which is exactly what I did this weekend. Going out to the racetrack for the weekend is singlehandedly the best people watching you could ever do.  It's fantastic. NASCAR fans are a different breed. Which is putting it nicely.

You know how there is a total stereotype surrounding NASCAR that involves redneckery and beer?  Well, it’s the truth.  The fans do it to themselves. Sure, there is the occasional normal American human being walking amongst the crowd, but they don’t easily stand out. 

NASCAR fans like free crap.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a hat, a sticker, a pencil or a dang piece of paper, they want it.  And they will usually ask for “just one more” for their mother, sister, brother, dog ect. One is never enough.  They also like to drink beer. At all hours of the day.  The gates open at 8 am and it’s not unusual at all to see fans walking around with a beer in their hand at that time.  Nor is it out of place for a man to walk by with a 30 pack on his shoulder. I’d say 80% of the fans milling about were smoking or had just finished a cigarette. For those that had run out, there were several cigar girls roaming around with a tray to purchase from.

Well-fitting, clean clothing seems to be optional for the hardcore NASCAR fan. Many men don’t wear shirts and many women might as well not be with the tiny pieces of ill-fitting fabric they wear. I saw I don’t know how many pajama or sweatpants ensembles in the 12 hours I spent at the track as well as two curiously dressed college aged boys.  One was wearing a hot dog costume, the other a coconut bra and grass skirt.

I’m not even going to start in the public showers or the FULL SCALE Basha’s grocery store in the middle of all of the RV’s parked at the track.

See what I mean by NASCAR fans do it to themselves?  They create their own stereotype. I could go on and on about the interesting things I see out there every year. But, I love it.  I have so much fun spending hours at the track people watching and get paid to do it. 

See you next April NASCAR fans!