We lived in Huntsville Alabama when I worked on Space Station...
On the day of the Daytona 500, our church (after the service) rearranged
the chairs... they left the first two rows for the more hardcore fans who
wanted to watch the race, and behind those rows they put round tables
with chairs around them for the potluck. They put the race up on the
big multimedia screen, and everyone rooted for his/her driver.
That's how my wife became a fan. I have always been a fan of everything
that goes fast. I enjoy all kinds of racing. It is unfortunate that NASCAR
does so much to prohibit innovation, but I guess part of the innovation
is figuring out how to innovate w/o getting penalized. I can see why it's
not for everyone, but as I've aged, I've realized that it's okay that people
like some things that I just don't get. Like... Opera. Can't stand it. But
some people love it, and I recognize that it takes talent and commitment
to be good at it (though it almost all sounds bad to me).
We also raced Autocross and Rallycross in Alabama (the first rallycross
the local SCCA
held was in the pasture on our property!)
I still have that old MR2, though it is pretty bad looking now.
I did some drag racing in the late 1970's & early 80's... like I said,
I like to go fast.
Slot cars are a blast. I first did them back in the late 1960's, and was
pretty happy to see that there are a number of tracks in our area ('prolly
because of the crappy weather). The real reason we do the NASCAR series
at the slot car track is because it's the most inexpensive class, and it
doesn't require a Saturday, Sunday, or staying up late on a work night to do it.
Some of them (not NASCAR) are pretty fast too.
I wonder how much it would cost to build 2 scale miles of slot car track
and transport it to Bonneville for a timed run... let's see... 440 ft of plywood
and metal braid...
Jon, He's a genuine rocket scientist!
Rocket science isn't as hard as people think it is.
Have y'all seen Rocket City Rednecks?