Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/05/04
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi John, it is certainly complicated, and the demographic I refer to is really big v small. Yes there are road race enthusiasts in the USA, but they are a tiny proportion of the total motor sport fans. Speedways, ie oval type banked tracks are the first type of competition course built for cars, but they have died out pretty well everywhere but the USA where their popularity exceeds that of all other motorsport worldwide, the number of spectators is -huge- compared to anything else. There is an equivalent of the home built racing car in all countries, but only in the USA do they race on ovals everywhere else on the little road courses, so the transition on to "higher" forms of motor sport is seamless. There is not really any equivalent to oval racing anywhere else in the World, AFAIK, or drag racing, of any consequence. OTOH one can also say that of American Football, Baseball and Basketball... Frank On 4 May, 2010, at 22:43, John Edwin Mason wrote: >> In the USA motor sport is a "blue-collar" sport, NASCAR and >> Drag racing, in other countries it is a "white-collar" sport... > > It's more complex than that, Frank, as I'm sure you know. > > Road racing -- both sports cars and open wheel -- has always attracted > middle-class and upper-class drivers and fans. That remains the case, > whether we're talking about professional series, like AMLS, Rolex > Grand-Am, and IndyCar (ever since it's included road and street courses), > or amateur SCCA racing and vintage/historic racing. > > Series that race on ovals -- whether open wheel cars or full bodied, > whether on dirt or pavement -- have for various reasons tended to attract, > as you say, blue collar drivers and fans. > > Drag racing, as well, is quite blue collar. Paradoxically, it's also by > far the most integrated by race, ethnicity, and gender. > > My guess is that the class differentiation has its roots in the relatively > high financial entry barriers to sports car racing and road racing. Early > oval track and drag racers either built their own hot rods or modified > inexpensive stock cars. > > It's telling that road racing in the US got started, in a serious way, > with the Vanderbilt Cup. (Yes, those Vanderbilts.) Stock car racing got > started with moonshiners. > > --John > > ****************************** > John Edwin Mason, Photography: > http://www.JohnEdwinMason.com > Charlottesville and Cape Town > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information