Why NASCAR tops

NASCAR sure has its pulse on fans of the sport! Few peer bodies can match the exuberance and organization of NASCAR. The excitement and exhaust of the NASCAR circuit tends to cloud some top grade Services Marketing which is at work here! NASCAR understands its targeted market segment so well, that it is able to build durable bonds with all stake-holders. It has even developed a lovable jargon all of its own, so you can now spot NASCAR fans by the way they speak!

This unique sports body is thoroughly professional in its approach. It approaches what is essentially a recreation activity with the systems which can run large corporations well. Well laid strategy lurks behind the NASCAR circuit at all times! What you see on the surface is people cheering and simply having a good time, but behind the brouhaha is a plethora of process, systems and down right hard work!

A key ingredient of the NASCAR formula is to protect the legitimate interests of everyone involved in the sport. Drivers and their crews, sponsors, and automobile manufacturers all get equitable and transparent shares of the pie, and this in turn builds the kind of confidence and commitment which keeps the NASCAR circuit in top shape.

The schedule of events is hectic, so fan attention is continually engaged. The build up to each NASCAR event, and its aftermath, create as many ripples as each track event itself! This frenetic pace attracts liberal funding and sponsorship because brand owners know that it is NASCAR which has a hold on the customer’s mind.

NASCAR encourages technological innovation, and pays due attention to safety standards. A major success in this sport has been that machines and men have improved continuously over the half century or so that NASCAR has been around, and yet the body has also done so much to prevent serious accidents and to protect drivers as best as possible.

NASCAR keeps the sport above board, shunning tracks which favor local teams, and enforcing uniform vehicle specifications and racing conditions. Fans love the sport and the body which organizes the races, because they know that the competition is for real, and the best man-machine (or woman!) combination will win.

A Top NASCAR Event: The Nextel Cup

Do not worry that NASCAR will change the name of your favorite event yet again for they say that a rose will smell good with any name!

Nextel, the new sponsor of the famous Winston series, has been bought over by a rival Telecom company called Sprint. Now, there are big bucks behind the NASCAR glory, so none of us should grudge a sponsor wanting to put their company name on a trophy. So do not get bugged if we have a stock car event called Sprint Cup in 2007!

The truth is that you do not have to smoke to love the Winston Series, but then the tobacco guys also have to make returns of their support for NASCAR. We must live with periodic changes of name of our favorite events, and be grateful that the thrills remain the same!

Winston Series, Nextel Cup, or any other label for that mater, cannot touch the exceptional quality and attractions of top stock car racing on the NASCAR circuit. No other event tests the skills of drivers and pit crews to this gut wrenching extent. You cannot hide behind reinforced plates and engines that will never see an assembly line. The Nextel Cup and events of this genre virtually put you behind the wheel! It is like driving in real life, with the road open only for others to match your guts and caliber, and all rules suspended for a few minutes of pure thrust, power and freedom. You get to know what is behind all the glossies that use curvy models to peddle their wares! Stock car racing is the naked truth, and while you cannot drive like that in reality, you can certainly live the romance in your mind.

Let us not tear down the Formula 1 stuff, for fantasy has its place as well. Engineering geeks should have their places in the world, and all the best to those who sit on engines designed to race once, with controls and systems that can make a champ of a babe! Let us celebrate the fact that NASCAR does not downplay the real stuff of stock car racing, and those of us who believe in this real-life sport can indulge to our heart’s content!

Auto Racing: Passionate NASCAR enthusiasts are divided!

Should the NASCAR circuit return to the past glory of stock cars, or continue with race cars? The thrill of today’s NASCAR events really take one’s breath away, but you could be forgiven for wondering, after the dust settles down, whether the wins are more of driving skills or just fancy engineering!

It was not always like this. Stock cars were the in thing when NASCAR was born less than 60 years ago. The Daytona Beach surface was part of the thrill when the NASCAR circuit began to develop. Car buyers could see the stuff of which their favorite models were made!

Blame World War II, not NASCAR for the ascent of race cars! It was not like today when you can walk in to a show room, and drive out with wheels which take your fancy. New automobiles were kind of scarce in the early 1950s, so NASCAR figured that it did not make much sense bashing the few new cars around on racing tracks. Much of the NASCAR circuit had to rely on old models which no one wanted anymore. The idea of doing up cars to make them fit for racing was born.

NASCAR has gone off the track somewhere along the line! Engineering and technology have taken over, though not everyone can drive these fancy machines. But we lose out because NASCAR has become far removed from the real world of driving in which we live. Hudson, Kaiser, and Mercury were amongst the popular entrants in the early days of the NASCAR circuit, and they have rightly faded away from our minds because stock racing showed them in true light.

What if U.S. consumers were to see their new favorite models from Japan and wherever race with the best that our country can make? That is why stock car racing deserves our support. Look at the treatment the Winston Cup Series has got! We had to change the name to suit a new sponsor because the Winston product is bad for health, and now Nextel the new sponsor has gone and got acquired!

Are you in to race cars or stock car racing? Tell NASCAR and us what you think!

The National Auto Racing Memorabilia Show

The National Auto Racing Memorabilia Show, known to regular visitors as NARM, has grown from humble beginnings to become a hugely popular annual event. Held in Indianapolis in conjunction with the Indy 500 Weekend, NARM celebrated their 28th anniversary this past May 25 through 28 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Although the show certainly draws visitors from those who come to town to watch the Indianapolis 500, there is also a solid core of auto racing memorabilia collectors for whom NARM holds pride of place on their calendars.

You might be forgiven for wondering just what does a fan of auto racing memorabilia collect, and how do they get what they need? You also might be surprised by just how much racing memorabilia is out there, and by the fact that sellers of racing collectibles make quite a nice living providing race fans with the memorabilia they crave.

Race memorabilia isn’t restricted to actual “raced” memorabilia, such as a windshield wiper off a winning rally car. It could consist of anything remotely connected to auto racing. Programs are a popular choice for new collectors, as they are usually printed in quantity and taken home by attendees after the race is over. Photos also have their following, autographed by drivers or not. Now, you might pay a couple of dollars for a famous racing driver‘s photo, but the same photo, signed and with a valid certificate of authenticity might sell for hundreds of dollars or more. In fact, the sky’s the limit when it comes to racing memorabilia. Actual winning racecars have been auctioned off for more than the price of an average house! Most collectors of racing memorabilia who come to NARM, however, have their sights set much more modestly. Dealers at the show provide a wide range of racing collectibles including racing posters and art, tickets and ticket stubs, racing flags and car parts. NARM has been called “the best-kept secret of the Indy 500 weekend festivities”, but let it be said here: the secret is getting out!