NASCAR: Analyzing The Five Types Of Fans In The Sport Today
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
NASCAR has millions of fans but not all NASCAR fans are the same. With this in mind, most fans generally fall into a few different categories.
What kind of fan are you?
No, seriously! Take a look in the mirror for a second and ask yourself what kind of fan you really are. Do you only follow NASCAR for the big races like The Daytona 500, Coca Cola 600 and The Southern 500? Well then you might be a big ticket fan! Do you usually stick it out good or bad for the entirety of the 36 race season? Then you might just be a seasoned fan.
NASCAR has millions of fans and those fans tend to fall into some large sub-categories.
Check out what kind of race fan you might be with our top-five types of race fans below. Who knows, you might learn something new about yourself and come to grips with your unique level of fandom. Either that or you’ll staunchly deny every category and argue that your fandom doesn’t include any of these fan behaviors (and that’s just fine).
The ‘Seasoner’
The ‘seasoner’ fan is the pride and joy of NASCAR racing.
Not only are they known for watching NASCAR all season long, they also tend to make it a sort of weekly get away from the world. While the seasoner is a dedicated fan that sticks with NASCAR through its highs and lows, they are also the fans that feel entitled to complain about what’s wrong with the sport. This entitlement comes from the fact that they are so invested in the sport and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
These are the type of fans you usually see on the weekly comments section of NASCAR.com either starting in-depth and thought-provoking conversations or spewing their usual ‘back in my day’ jargon. It’s probably best to just agree with them or ignore them if you happen to run into them online (if they are running the ‘back in my day’ lines). If you run into a ‘seasoner’ who is starting one of the in-depth conversations you might be in for a treat.
Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
Race Day Warriors
While not always someone who watches every race, every single weekend, the race day warrior is someone who enjoys going to a race when they get the chance too. Race day warriors are usually the ones that you find partying in the infield all race weekend long and catching the big race from the comfort of their easy chair or on top of their RV’s. Race day warriors might now know everything about the sport but they are more than willing to have an adult beverage and talk about some of their favorite race moments.
Race day warriors are usually friendly and will offer you a seat and a drink if you come across one in the infield. While ‘seasoner’s’ are the pride and joy of NASCAR, Race day warriors are usually some of the nicest people in the entire racing community and will sometimes become your lifelong friends. Just make sure you don’t criticize their favorite drivers, they tend not to like that and that will be a quick ticket to being kicked out of their camping area.
Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports
Big Ticket Fans
These types of fans have one interest and one interest only and that’s the big race. Daytona, Talladega, Bristol night race and Homestead Miami are the types of races that these type of fans flock to. These type of fans tend not to follow the entire Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, but have their calendars marked when the big events of the season arrive. There is nothing wrong with these fans but sometimes it can be hard to have a stats conversation with them as they don’t intently follow the entire season.
These type of fans can usually be divided into two categories.
These types of fans are especially fun since you can fill them in on what’s been going on during the races that they missed. Generally speaking this fans are pretty low key because they understand that there is stuff that has happened that they might not know about. These are not the kinds of fans that will get into a full-blown argument or debate with you.
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
The Playoff Fans
The playoff fans are a new breed of NASCAR fan. These people only concern themselves with the final ten races of the Cup season.
These people usually find the playoffs to be the most exciting time of the year and the only time of the season that really means something. While being a playoff fan does have its advantages, they do need a few quick fill in’s about what happened during the regular season. They may also get annoying with some of their questions, especially if they haven’t kept up with the season at all. The good news with playoff fans is that they tend to be filled with playoff knowledge and facts, which makes for interesting conversations.
While sometimes annoying, these race fans are intense, prideful and are even more fun to hang out with if their favorite driver is in that year’s playoffs. Be careful though, they might get a little testy if the results of the playoffs doesn’t go in their favorite drivers favor.
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
The Old Timers
These type of fans haven’t watched racing in years, but will go on for hours on forums and chatrooms about the golden era of NASCAR racing. These fans are different from the ‘seasoners’ in that the ‘seasoners’ at least watch the races. The old timers also have a tendency to watch for specific news stories about NASCAR becoming a dying sport just so they can shout to the heavens about how great racing used to be and how horrible it is now.
These type of fans hate the playoffs, hate the new cars and hate the fact that Dale Earnhardt isn’t still alive and racing today. There is honestly no pleasing these types of fans, so it’s usually much easier to just nod and agree with them. If not, your doomed to hear the same history lesson about how the Chase ruined NASCAR and how none of today’s stars could compete with the likes of Petty, Earnhardt and Waltrip.
These fans aren’t all bad though because they tend to be filled with tons of historical knowledge and insight about the sport. However, often times it’s hard to get this knowledge and insight without listening to them bash the current product first.
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