Growing up in a family full of Nascar fans, I was very keen on the “history” of the sport. My family preached Dale sr. was king and jr. was the second coming. Growing up I went along with it but as I got older I started following my own drivers for my own reasons and it wasn’t long when I was introduced to the hatred for outsiders and this idea of “southern Honer” that they love to follow.
The first driver that I started following myself was Jimmy Johnson, arguably the real king, as well as discussed in the article about the hatred for Jeff Gordon and his fans almost solely for being an “outsider” being from California. I have always questioned why this was a bad thing, and all my family and friends were quick to give off examples of why they didn’t like them but it didn’t take long to realize many of these reasons were exaggerated expressions of their southern honor and this mystical reputation that NASCAR is southern so therefore they are king in the sport. When in reality it is racing and the driving and states tell the story.
