NASCAR Cup Series

The Struggles Of Being A NASCAR Fan On Facebook

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 5:11 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Christopher Olmstead/FanSided via Beyond the Flag

Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Are you a NASCAR fan on Facebook? Do you frequent NASCAR communities, groups and pages? If so, I am sure you get frustrated sometimes.

NASCAR and Facebook go well together when it comes to NASCAR fans. The advent of Facebook groups allows for NASCAR fans all over the world to come together in one place to talk about their favorite sport of their favorite driver. I am in a few NASCAR-related Facebook groups and I can say first hand that the vibe is pretty cool.

After all, what Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan wouldn’t want to be part of a community with more than 10,000 people that share the same passion as you do?

That being said, NASCAR communities on Facebook also have their struggles (as I would imagine any large sports community on any platform would). These struggles have absolutely nothing to do with Facebook however and they have everything to do with some of the people that are in these communities and the behaviors that they show.

Here are some of the struggles that the common person might come across if they are a member of a NASCAR group or community on Facebook or other social media platforms.

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

I missed the race, where did our guy finish?

This question has to be one of the most frustrating things that I see on a regular basis in some of these communities.

The reason it’s frustrating is that said person who is asking this question is doing so on a social media site on the internet. This means that said person could have just as easily went to NASCAR.com to see where their driver was running or to that drivers Twitter feed to see updates from the race. However, said person instead chooses to ask the forum and then wait for a response?

If you really were interested in finding out quickly and efficiently how your driver was doing, you would do so in a different way. If you’re just doing this to strike up a conversation in the group, you should strongly consider taking a different tact.

May 13, 2016; Dover, DE, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Danica Patrick (10) during practice for the AAA 400 Drive For Autism at Dover International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O

This is a Danica Patrick community so nobody can ever say anything bad about her or anything that could even be assumed to be bad if twisted a certain way and held up in a certain light

For starters this doesn’t only apply to Danica Patrick. Replace Patrick with any other driver in the series and you will see some of the same stuff happen on a regular basis.

Yes, if you’re part of a group that favors one specific driver you probably shouldn’t be in their bashing that driver. Not only is that poor form but you won’t last that long in there and ultimately you will just come across looking silly. That being said, being a fan of a certain driver doesn’t mean that you can’t sometimes disagree with what that driver does or criticize them.

If I were a Kasey Kahne fan it would be very honest for me to say that Kahne is running like garbage over the last two months of the season. That doesn’t mean that I don’t like Kahne and support him; that just means that he isn’t doing well and I’m speaking honestly.

However, comments like the one’s above would surely send certain fans into the next orbit because in the minds of some if you say something negative about their driver you’re not a fan. If only the world that we all lived in was truly that black and white.

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

You can’t like two drivers, ever, no exceptions

Have you ever heard this one?

Now I will admit that in certain scenarios I do fall into this category. In fact, when it comes to team sports I 100 percent support this category. I’m a fan of one football, baseball and basketball team and that is where all of my support goes. Additionally, I often look down upon those who say ‘Oh I like the Cowboys and the Patriots’ or ‘I love the Yankees and the Red Sox.’

If you’re one of those people I don’t know if we can be friends.

When it comes to NASCAR it’s a different story though. Sure we all have a driver we love to root for and love to hate but what about the rest of the field? There is nothing wrong with being a Jimmie Johnson fan and rooting for the comeback story of Kyle Busch or the success of a young guy like Kyle Larson. Maybe you were a Greg Biffle fan all of your life and recently you like Chase Elliott so you root for him too.

NASCAR drivers don’t race forever. The Yankees and the Patriots will always be there regardless of who plays for them. It’s okay to like more than one driver and no matter what anyone says it doesn’t make you any less of a fan.

Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

That isn’t 100 percent about my driver so I don’t want to hear about it

So your favorite driver is Aric Almirola and you are a part of an Almirola group or community with 800 other fans. Someone in the group starts a discussion about the NASCAR rules package and Betty from Wisconsin has herself a conniption because you’re talking about non-Almriola things in the group.

Dear Betty, please calm down.

For starters, how much Almirola news is really out there in a given week? This isn’t necessarily a knock on Almirola but the truth is that unless you’re a fan of one of the bigger names in the sport your driver probably doesn’t generate a ton of news on a weekly basis.

Secondly, the discussion about the new rules package impacts Almirola. Oh and I’m sorry to burst your bubble Betty, but the rules package discussion is also a heck of a lot more interesting than the hundreds of pictures that you post of Almirola from the race and his Twitter feed.

Seriously, how many discussions can you have about how cool is paint scheme was?

**Please note that I don’t actually know a Betty from Wisconsin and if there are any Betty’s in Wisconsin who love NASCAR and Aric Almirola, I hope that I didn’t offend you.**

Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

I created this community and that makes me God (or any other term of leadership)

You know it’s time to move on from a group or community when you find yourself getting yelled at or interacting a certain way in order to not get yelled at.

With any group or community there is going to be a creator or moderator. This person obviously made the place and it’s in their best interest to make sure that all hell doesn’t break loose. The majority of these folks are great people while a few of them might have a Napoléon complex.

I understand that it’s your creation and that you’re allowing all of us to partake in it. I also understand that we aren’t in middle school anymore and as a result I am no longer required to listen to long lectures unless I want to listen to them.

I’ve seen moderators run up the side of folks and down the other for things like posting the same picture twice, posting comments too late or too early, cracking jokes about non-NASCAR stuff and a whole bunch of other ridiculous things. Yes, it’s a place that you created and no, you’re not our fearless leader but thank you for applying for the position.

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Do you have something that we missed?

If you spend your time in these online communities I am sure that you have some struggles to speak of that I might have missed. If you do be sure to share those by commenting below or reaching out to us via social media.

Again, as a whole these place are fantastic. It’s such a cool experience to be that connected to so many fans from all walks of life that share the same sports passion as you. It’s just unfortunate that not everyone is capable of playing nice or thinking with their heads all of the time.

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