Nascar 101

     More Letters From Paradise  
           NASCAR 101
I never paid much attention to NASCAR races. I figured they were a bunch of Hillbillies dressed in overalls, chugging beer while being surrounded by pretty girls with low-cut blouses, watching cars go rapidly around a track.

The reality of NASCAR is much different. Teena and I listened as her cousin Don Collins explained this racing world to us. We were watching a race at Talladega,Alabama. The oval track he explained, is two and a -half long, and the race cars run at speeds of 195 to 212 miles an hour for a distance of 500 miles. Each car has a spotter located high in the grandstands connected to the driver by a radio. The spotters job is to tell the driver if the way to the left of the car is open or to the right, so that he can move forward. This is because the driver's head is only able to move slightly, and he is unable to see either right or left without his spotter.

The driver is enclosed in a cage of steel bars for protection, and steel panels on each sides of the car. Also, cool air is fed to the driver from behind his seat. As Don continued to explain, I began to wonder about getting the driver out of the car as the only entry and exit is through the window on the driver's side. This is so different than the Formula One cars where the driver sit upright and exposed.

Don told us that there are two flaps to the rear of the driver which like flaps on an airplane, help to prevent the car from turning over.

One other very interesting fact we learned   was that a piece of paper on the track and stuck to the air intake of the car must be removed, because if not, the engine will overheat and be ruined. Another driver on the same team will pull in front of the affected car and create a draft which will cause the paper to fly away.

In the course of the 500 mile race there are frequent pit stops for the car, not the driver. The pit crew in seven seconds change tires, pour in 20 gallons of fuel, and pull away one of the plastic windshields, revealing a clear one underneath. And away goes the car.

I must admit that the race can get boring at times, it is after all 500 miles on a two and-a-half mile track. But there are crashes. Don said that near the end of the race there are often crashes, some hitting the 15 degree wall, others spinning out of control, or flipping upside down. When that happens the race stops, as the cars with their drivers are removed. Then the race resumes. Pretty damn exciting.

Thanks to Don's teaching we now have a better understanding of what NASCAR is all about. As for me in order to become a fan I already have a pretty girl, all I need now is a cold beer.

     Aloha
     Grant