Nascar Fan Factor Up Close And Personal

There is no doubt that Nascar is one of the strongest brands ever in America's sporting chronicle. But what makes Nascar to be such a hot brand? Who is behind the success of Nascar? Well, the winnows of Nascar, who else?!? Nascar sports fans are the most faithful devotees in the world. You will never see the fans of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. drink any other beer other than Bud. This is because Dale is the brand name ambassador for Budweiser. Jeff Gordon is affiliated with Dupont paint, and most Jeff Gordon fans never use any other paint.

The brand name commitment of the sports fans is then cashed in by the sponsors. A survey divulged that in order to have their name and logotype on the lid of a top Nascar Nextel cup car, a person and or corporation has to pay $1.5 million! Now that is big money. The drivers are the main factor behind the success of the Nascar cars. The drama associated with the sport and the adrenaline rush cannot be compared to that of any other sport.

Loyalty To The Drivers
If a Nascar Nextel cup driver suddenly advertises Pepsi before the race, then the sales of Pepsi during that race will be incomparable. All the fans of that driver will simply quit using any other soft drink and start using Pepsi. Similarly, if a driver connects himself with a particular brand of shopping store like, say, Home Depot then all the fans will shop at Home Depot.

Role Of The Media
The media, too, will encounter a big role in promoting some of the stuff. For example, if Bill Elliot is seen eating at a specific restaurant and the photo hits newspaper headlines, the coming week, all of his devotees will eat in the same eatery. During the race, the fan following hits a new level altogether!

Individuals come from far-off distances to watch the races and then the sales of accessories and branded stuff hits the roof. Drivers like Jeff Gordon who are associated with car dealerships are also cashing in on the popularity. The sales of the cars have inflated dramatically after these drivers linked themselves with the car companies.

Automotive Productions
Automotive products, too, have established a market like never before, thanks to the growing popularity of Nascar drivers and their ever increasing fan following. If a particular Nascar driver uses a specific brand of paint on their car, then that paint has to be used by all his fans as well. The most common instance is that of the headlamp restoration product used by most Nascar drivers. The product which restores the condition of the headlamp to as good as new is exceedingly popular and is now used by many Nascar fans across the world as well.

This author is a HUGE fan of NASCAR licensed merchandise

Article Source: Nascar Fan Factor Up Close And Personal

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/111196/nascar-fan-factor-up-close-and-personal

Masahiro Hasemi Naoki Hattori Paul Hawkins Mike Hawthorn

How Williams triumphed in the face of adversity

Sir Frank Williams, who has been given the 2010 Helen Rollason award for outstanding achievement in the face of adversity, has never seen his disability as an excuse not to succeed at the very highest level.

The owner of the Williams Formula 1 team has been a quadriplegic since breaking his neck in a car crash in March 1986 but he has continued to oversee his company with evangelical zeal and commitment. In fact its biggest successes came after his life-changing accident.

Williams does not so much love Formula 1 as he is consumed by it. He still goes into the factory seven days a week, with Christmas Day his only time off. And his ability to carry on regardless, resolutely refusing to let his disability affect his day-to-day work, continues to humble those who know him.

When Williams suffered his injury, at the age of 43, doctors pointed out to those close to him that, based on the examples of other people with similar problems, he would be lucky to live another 10 years.

Nearly 25 years later, Williams continues to attend most of the races in an increasingly marathon F1 calendar, and remains one of the most widely respected men in the sport.

His attitude to his disability is simple - it's his own fault he ended up that way so he had better just get on with it.

If he ever felt differently, there is no evidence for it.

In her brilliant book about Frank, his wife Ginny gives an eye-opening account of the days after the accident.

Williams was a very active man and a keen runner but even when his life was still in danger immediately afterwards, he never - not even to his wife - betrayed any sense of self-pity, depression or any of the other emotions that might be expected of someone in his situation.

He talks about it very little, and simply says to Ginny that they have had several good years of one kind of life together and now they just have to get used to a different one.

Williams's partner, the team's director of engineering Patrick Head, says: "I'm sure Frank had some terrible moments thinking about the change in his life but he's never been one to sit around and be sorry for himself.

"Frank has always been very pragmatic about 'what is the problem and how can I deal with it' and applied that to himself and his injury.

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"His enthusiasm and positive attitude always overcome any difficulties he has."

This is the approach Williams has applied to his disabilities ever since.

Looking back, he says in his clipped manner: "I've had a wonderful life; wouldn't dream of changing anything, truthfully."

Williams suffered his injuries when he crashed his hire car while racing his driver Nelson Piquet to the airport after a pre-season test in the south of France.

He discusses the accident now with the same detachment he displayed in recovering from it.

"The car banged over a few times and I'm ashamed to say it was either the sixth or seventh rollover accident I'd had in my life," he says.

"I remember the sharp pain in my neck. I thought: 'Wow, rolling over isn't supposed to hurt that much.' The car finished upside down and I tried to reach for the safety belt to get myself out and I couldn't do it.

"I knew I was going to have the big one but I couldn't slow myself down."

The first few months after his accident he spent focusing on getting into a condition that would allow him to get back to attending races.

"He runs himself with military precision," says Head, "and once he'd found out what the things were that would cause him problems, he adapted his lifestyle to give himself the best opportunities. He's very disciplined about that sort of thing - it's remarkable what he has done since then.

"Frank's always been quite private in his own emotions and in control of his interactions with other people. Once we'd got used to the fact that he wasn't the same person he was before, that he was in a wheelchair, things just sort of carried on as normal."

Stopping competing in F1 never occurred to Williams.

"The thought of retiring or selling the team never crossed my mind," Williams says, "and I also suppose recognised subconsciously it would be a great daily antidote for the difficulties I would find myself in. It's a fantastic job, a very exciting business, highly competitive, always something to worry about, which can be quite healthy, actually."

At the time of his accident, his team were about to embark on one of several periods in which they have dominated the sport.

But success was a long time in coming. Getting to the top of F1 was famously a struggle - Williams operated his team out of a phone box at one stage in the early 1970s, so tight had money become. Once he had achieved success, though, he did not let it go for a very long time, regardless of the misfortune that was to befall him.

The turning point was joining forces with Head, whose first car for the team in 1978 established them as serious contenders for the first time.

In 1979, they missed out on the title only through poor reliability and an eccentric scoring system. But they made no mistake in 1980, with Australian Alan Jones romping to the championship.

They remained more or less at the top of F1 from then until Williams's accident, just missing out on the drivers' title in 1986 but winning it in 1987. But when at the end of that year they lost their supply deal with Honda, producer of the best F1 engines, people wondered whether, with the boss in a wheelchair, they would cope.

That was counting without the incredible commitment and desire of this remarkable man.

Patrick Head and Sir Frank Williams

Williams and Head have formed a formidable partnership for the last 30 years

Before long, Williams had replaced Honda with Renault, and the team went on to its greatest successes - particularly the 1992 and 1993 seasons, when a car bristling with technology such as active suspension brushed the opposition aside with Nigel Mansell and then Alain Prost at the wheel.

The team have variously dominated F1 in the early 1980s, the mid-'80s, and the early to mid-'90s, winning drivers' titles with many famous names - Jones, Keke Rosberg, Piquet, Mansell, Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve, along with nine constructors' championships.

They have also provided the platform for some of the sport's most brilliant engineers to make their names - among them Adrian Newey, now in charge of design at world champions Red Bull, and Ross Brawn, who ran Ferrari's technical department in their dominant period with Michael Schumacher and now boss of the Mercedes team.

But there have been dark times, too - particularly the death of Ayrton Senna at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix only three races into his Williams career.

It remains one of William's greatest regrets: "I felt that we had been given a great responsibility providing him with a car, and we let him down."

The last few years have seen Williams slip from competitiveness. They have not won a world title since Villeneuve's in 1997 and not taken the chequered flag since the final race of the 2004 season.

And for the first time there have recently been signs that the 68-year-old Williams is slowing down a little.

In November 2009, he and Head sold 10% of the company to Austrian businessman Toto Wolff, with the two men's own shareholdings reducing proportionately from 65% (Williams) and 35% (Head).

And last summer, Williams handed his role as chairman responsible for the day-to-day running of the team to Adam Parr, with Williams remaining as team principal and Head still in charge of the technical side.

When he made the announcement, Williams emphasised that while he was planning for succession, he was certainly not retiring.

As Williams's current lead F1 driver, the veteran Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, says: "I've never met anyone with so much passion for motor racing - it's truly amazing."

So much passion, indeed, that when he had to make a decision a few years ago between building a wind tunnel that would help make the cars go faster and keeping the private plane that allowed him to attend the farthest-flung races, he chose the wind tunnel.

Williams's voice is quieter now - talking is uncomfortable for him, as a result of his disability - and his eyes a little more watery. But a few minutes in his company leaves you in no doubt that his team's current lack of success pains him greatly, and that he is as committed as ever to getting them back to the top of F1.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2010/12/frank_williams_honoured_for_ac.html

Bruce Johnstone Alan Jones Tom Jones Juan Jover

NASCAR Tickets - NASCAR Angels to Host Earnhardt's Lucky Charm

Dale Earnhardt may be in heaven now, but he's still got angels here on earth. Wessa Miller, a Kentucky native and Make-A-Wish child who made NASCAR history alongside the legendary Earnhardt several years ago, is getting more recognition now for her courageous story, and it has recently been announced that the spina bifida patient will soon featured as part of the NASCAR Foundation's NASCAR Angels television program.

Miller has a long history with NASCAR, as she met Dale Earnhardt in February of 1998 before the '98 Daytona 500 through the Make-A-Wish Foundation when she was just six years old, giving the famed racecar driver a penny that he glued to the dash of his No. 3 car prior to winning the prestigious race for the first time in 20 attempts. After winning Daytona for the first (and only) time, Earnhardt considered Miller's gift his lucky charm and gifted her family with a new van to help with transportation needs to doctor visits across their home state of Kentucky.
It's been 11 years since Earnhardt's magnificent Daytona win and eight years since his tragic death after crashing in the final lap of the Daytona 500 in 2001, yet the story of Wessa Miller is still very much alive. The inspirational story of this little girl with spina bifida is still cemented into NASCAR history, as Earnhardt's winning No. 3 Chevrolet remains on display at the Richard Childress Racing Museum in Welcome, North Carolina, complete with a shiny penny glued to the dashboard. Although the 1998 Daytona race is standing still and frozen in time, life has gone on for Miller and her family, who have in the meantime started the Pennies for Wessa Fund to help aid hospital bills and the costs of treating Miller's medical conditions.

The NASCAR Foundation, the racing league's support for charitable efforts, has recently announced its teaming with the NASCAR Angels television program in helping aid Wessa Miller and her parents, starting with an online auction through the Motor Racing Outreach benevolence fund that will raise money for Pennies for Wessa by auctioning off autographed memorabilia by NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers, as well as various fire suits and VIP packages. The foundation will also feature Miller on its NASCAR Angels television show, which is a program that is a self-proclaimed "Extreme Home Makeover meets Pimp My Ride, NASCAR-style" and transforms broken automobiles into drivable cars. Wessa Miller will be filmed at Tennessee's Bristol Motor Speedway on March 21 as part of the "Heart of NASCAR" segment of an upcoming NASCAR Angels episode.

While NASCAR's charitable efforts are currently focusing in part on Wessa Miller, the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series are both well underway for the 2009 season. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. continues carrying on his late father's legacy (despite a nasty crash at Daytona last month,) and Roush Fenway Racing's No. 17 driver Matt Kenseth has taken the early lead in the Sprint Cup Series, winning the league's first two races at both Daytona and Fontana. The 2009 NASCAR season has already elicited unpredictable excitement from racing fans across the nation, so get in on the excitement and nab NASCAR tickets online to catch these speedsters zooming around the racetrack!

This article is sponsored by StubHub.com and was written by Brent Warnken. StubHub is a leader in the business of selling NASCAR tickets, sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and special events tickets.

Article Source: NASCAR Tickets - NASCAR Angels to Host Earnhardt's Lucky Charm

Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/243803/nascar-tickets-nascar-angels-to-host-earnhardts-lucky-charm

Horace Gould Jean Marc Gounon Emmanuel de Graffenried Lucas di Grassi

NASCAR Tickets - Kyle Busch Takes Checker Flag

Kyle Busch knows he is fast and fearless on the track. When this bad boy gets a chance to burn rubber watch out NASCAR fans, he is heading towards victory lane. That exactly what happened on Sunday when Busch won his second Sprint Cup Series race of the season in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. He led a pretty impressive race with 378 of 503 laps before taking the checkered flag. After the race, many compared number 18 to another driver who happens to be a legend, Dale Earnhardt. However, the Bristol Motor Speedway Champion doesn't want to be compared to one of the most revered drivers in history. He believes he's his own man in his own time. Get NASCAR tickets and see Kyle Busch on the track.

Number 18 received his customary chorus of boos both before the race and during his victory lane celebration. But with 14 career Cup wins (47 spanning all three of NASCAR'S to series) he's grown comfortable with the discord. There are spectators who say Kyle enjoys the dissension. After the race, the Las Vegas native told reporters he doesn't care about the hecklers from the stands and being labeled as number one, he's out on the racetrack to win races. So those who wish him ill, the bad boy from the sin city wishes ill right back at them. What really drives the crowd mad is when Kyle wins his races and then gives a sarcastic celebratory bow.

Kyle Busch doesn't care what people think and doesn't censor himself before he speaks. The speed demon is not Earnhardt and that is a good thing for NASCAR. Whether fans love him or hate him Kyle is one of the best faces for the sport. Sure, he is confident and cocky, but in an era where the drivers are too watered down and politically conservative, Busch keeps things interesting. He never holds back on his raw emotions, which tends to hurt plenty of feelings. On Saturday, his racing crew fumbled away a tire during the final pit stop of the Nationwide Series race. The bad boy would have had another victory underneath his belt; however, the carelessness drew a NASCAR penalty that took him out of contention after he'd led a race 157 laps.

So what was Kyle's reaction? The man parked his car in Turn 3 near the pedestrian tunnel and walked to his motorhome. The crew ended up collecting the car, which was a reminder that they blew a sure victory. You would think the Las Vegas native would have apologized to his crew for his actions on Sunday, but the driver didn't bother to make nice before he took on the track. On this day, number 18's crew made no mistakes. It was critical that Busch be the first car off the pit road on the final stop because the track position would play heavily into the outcome. Runner-up Denny Hamlin and third-place finisher Jimmie Johnson both acknowledged that the race was won on the pit road during that final stop. NASCAR really hasn't seen a person like Busch.

This article was sponsored by StubHub. StubHub sells NASCAR tickets, as well as many other kinds of sports tickets, concert tickets, special events tickets and theater tickets.

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Source: http://www.articlespan.com/article/253130/nascar-tickets-kyle-busch-takes-checker-flag

Joe Kelly Dave Kennedy Loris Kessel Bruce Kessler