Nascar and Religion

[HarryKeogh]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/racing/specials/daytona500/2004/02/10/bc.car.racing.religion.ap/index.html?cnn=yes


Thought some of you might find this article interesting. Found it kind of funny that the guy with the "Passion of Christ" advertisement on his hood couldnt make Daytona due to financial reasons...pray harder!!!

But this line is my favorite...

"Why does corporate America spend so much money ... supporting things that don't have moral values?" Shepherd asked. "And here we are, trying to serve the Lord. There's nothing bad in the Bible. Even if you don't believe in God, if everyone would just live by the Bible and the Ten Commandments, see how much better the world would be."

well there are some bad things in the bible...

http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/cruelty/long.html

it's all relative I guess.

[coalesce]

I got through 3/4s of the list, and had to stop.

It's sick.

I mean, baboons have better manners!!!!

Michael

[Psi Baba]

I just read that article and came here to start a thread. Good call, Harry. And that paragraph you quoted was gem. I knew there was a reason I didn't like NASCAR, I just couldn't put my finger on it. Yokels . . .

[FFed]

Originally posted by HarryKeogh
And here we are, trying to serve the Lord.
Ya, jesus wants you to drive around and around and around as fast as you can all day long.

[jnelso99]

I'm a NASCAR fan. Morgan Shepherd always seemed kind of creepy/fruity to me.

NASCAR in general is religion friendly. Prayers before the races, etc. There was a site that summed up the victory celebrations, and one of the categories was "Thanked God?". Since Jeff Gordon hasn't been winning much lately, the big guy hasn't gotten much credit lately...

Of course, you have to remember that NASCAR started in the South...

[Samus]

HarryKeogh: Found it kind of funny that the guy with the "Passion of Christ" advertisement on his hood couldnt make Daytona due to financial reasons...pray harder!!! What are you talking about? Bobby Labonte is not only racing on Sunday, but he has a decent starting position.

[HarryKeogh]

Originally posted by Commander Cool
What are you talking about? Bobby Labonte is not only racing on Sunday, but he has a decent starting position.

I got my race cars confused, I was talking about Shepard. Great, now the first half of my post is inaccurate. d'oh.

My apologies to Labonte, though I hope the Viagra car beats him in a photo finish.

[Some Friggin Guy]

Originally posted by FFed

Ya, jesus wants you to drive around and around and around as fast as you can all day long.

Funny parallel, I once asked why most NASCAR races were only a circle run over and over. The answer I got sounded almost religious:

"It's the way it always was with NASCAR. You shouldn't question."

[Renfield]

Kind of makes sense. Driving around and around in circles for hours on end seems like a decent metaphor for the futility of religious beliefs.

[RabbiSatan]

"We're not the only ones," Marchman said. "I respect the Jewish religion. I respect every religion."

But it's not always easy for NASCAR to pull off the balancing act.

Two years ago, Morgan Shepherd put a Jesus decal on the hook of his racing truck before a race in Darlington, S.C. NASCAR officials received complaints -- "maybe it was the atheists," Shepherd said -- and asked him to remove the logo. He complied, prompting a backlash from Christian fans.


Oh noes! It's those evil atheists again!

And he doesn't even realise the ironic juxaposition...*sigh*

[Checkmite]

As an aside, it's funny how people are putting so much behind endorsing a movie they haven't even seen. What if the movie totally blows?

...but I suppose if it's a movie about Jesus, it has to be good...

[Regnad Kcin]

Actually, two of the venues on the NASCAR schedule are road courses, not ovals. However, considering the driven cars do, by intent, need to navigate back around to the starting position and repeat the process, it is kindasorta "going around in a circle."

[jnelso99]

Originally posted by Some Friggin Guy


Funny parallel, I once asked why most NASCAR races were only a circle run over and over. The answer I got sounded almost religious:

"It's the way it always was with NASCAR. You shouldn't question."

My guess would be that oval tracks allow the fans to see the whole track, whereas fans at a road course just see the cars for one or two turns.

[jimlintott]

Actually oval racing has a long history in the U.S. and it is really the history of racing there. It seems that horse racing was losing popularity and the track promotors were always on the look out for ways to put butts in the seats. In the early parts of the last century many races were promoted and proved very popular. The oval track at Milwakee (sp?) is one of the oldest race tacks in the U.S. and was converted from a horse track. Dirt ovals were cheap to build and maintain and already there if you had a horse track. Today both cars and motorcycles race on the hundreds of little dirt tracks across the U.S.

Racing around in circles is a part of American culture that is almost as deeply entrenched in that society as owning a gun.

It is now gaining popularity in Europe where it was basically shunned for years. Road racing being the preference there. (Although that doesn't explain the popularity of speedway racing. ;) )

[epepke]

Originally posted by Some Friggin Guy
Funny parallel, I once asked why most NASCAR races were only a circle run over and over. The answer I got sounded almost religious:

"It's the way it always was with NASCAR. You shouldn't question."

Well, my uncle built cars for those tracks, and it's a chicken-and-the egg thing. The cars have asymmetrical frames so that they handle particularly well on counterclockwise oval tracks, so if you're a NASCAR driver, you want to drive on a counterclockwise oval track. So more counterclockwise oval tracks get built.

Probably it's historical, as tracks for horses also by convention go counterclockwise. And maybe that's because people read English from left to right or because people in America drive on the right side of the road.

[The Fool]

Originally posted by epepke


Probably it's historical, as tracks for horses also by convention go counterclockwise. And maybe that's because people read English from left to right or because people in America drive on the right side of the road.
Bingo....the preferred, and safest, location for the driver is on the inside of the oval to avoid becoming a damp stain on the wall when you lose it and meet the concrete.

In my youth a group of us would put together dirt track cars, I thought they were pretty fast. A few years back I got an invite for a few laps in the passengers seat from one of my old friends who stuck with it and now races an "Auscar" which is an australian paved oval class that uses a common road car as the base...No where near as fast as the full on Nascars but I can understand the connection with religion as I found myself invoking the names of many deities each lap...

[pupdog]

I guess it all goes back to Ben Hur.

[epepke]

Originally posted by pupdog
I guess it all goes back to Ben Hur.

So it's another case of Ben Hur done that.