A Basic Nascar Guide for Women Who Love a Nascar Fan

That time of year is fast approaching once again, making many a male giddy over the thought of hearing that one phrase that gets their engines revving..."Gentlemen, start your engines". If you're not an actual Nascar fan, but live with someone who is, now is the time to bone up on what you don't know that you should know before embarking on another Nascar season. These tips will enable you to bond with your favorite fan and bring you even closer together.

Know His Favorite Driver - You don't need to know all the stats of his number one driver, but you should at least know who it actually is. If he is a true Nascar fan this will be easy enough to figure out by the memorabilia that he probably has around the house. This can range from a miniature die cast replica of his driver's car to a full fledged display case complete with a full set of Nascar Collector Series plastic cups obtained from a gas station.

You should also know what his driver's car actually looks like, as this is what will enable you to recognize his driver as he his zooming around various tracks nationwide throughout the season, or if he is one of the unlucky drivers who has just been in a crash.

For bonus points, know what make his driver's car is. Most men are full fledged Chevy, Ford, Dodge or Toyota fans and this is almost always non-negotiable. For some men this is so serious that if their favorite driver were to switch to a different make other than your fan's favorite, he will be declared a sell-out and promptly be deserted in search of a driver who has more loyalty to their make. It should be noted, in all fairness, that this choice is not always in the hands of the driver, as was the case with Tony Stewart. If the driver still has a binding contract with the car owner and the owner decides to sell out, then the driver has no choice but to go with the decision of the owner.

Pick Your Favorite Driver - Nascar is definitely more fun if you yourself have a favorite driver to cheer on. There are several ways to go about choosing your favorite. You can pick one who you think is "cute", but your reasoning will be scoffed at by true Nascar fans everywhere and your opinion will no longer be taken seriously...on any subject. So here are some other options. You can be the loyal woman and choose the same driver as your loved one. This will create harmony in the household and all will be right in your world. You can also go to the other end of the extreme and choose your fan's most disliked driver as your favorite. This is normally Jeff Gordon. Going this route will disrupt your household each week of the Nascar season, especially if your driver does better than his driver. If your driver wins, this may also be grounds for divorce in some states, so choose wisely. If you would like your decision to rest somewhere in the middle of these two extremes, choose a different driver than your loved one, but make sure your driver races in the favorite make of car of your loved one. This will arouse just enough of the man's competitive spirit to be playful, while still fulfilling his requirements of your devotion.

Know the Starting Lineup - Driver must go through qualifications to determine where they are placed in the starting lineup of each race. These qualifications are usually done by the Friday before the race and this information can be obtained from the Nascar website. Coming up with this information before he does will show him how dedicated you are to the passion of the sport.

"Pole position" is the number one spot in the line up. You want your driver in this coveted position or as close to it as possible. If you have chosen a different driver than that of your loved one and your driver is closer to the pole position than his is, this calls for a little good natured ribbing. A word of caution...do not go overboard with this. Going to extremes with talking smack may put him in bad mood, or put you in a very awkward spot if your driver does not maintain the lead ahead of his driver once the race starts.

Watch the Race - You must know what day and time the race is and you must not, under any circumstances, make plans for that time. You also must not expect him to do anything but watch the race and the pre-race highlights, and possibly the highlights after the race. If you expect him to do anything at this time, you will be disappointed. To show how committed you are, be on hand at the start of the race. This is when he has high hopes that his driver may actually take and maintain the lead and his mood will be good. After approximately twenty laps you may go do other things, but do not wander off too far in case your fan wants to engage in his own commentary of the race and wants you to listen. Don't worry, this won't last long. Around the middle of the race, chances are very good that your man will become very sleepy and need to take a nap. I have figured out that watching a Nascar race is about like watching a pendulum swing back and forth. It has the same effect. This is your chance to get other things done or to go to another room and watch something else. Do not change the channel on the television that he is watching. No matter how deeply you believe he is sleeping, changing the channel will set off an alarm in his head, jerking him awake long enough to tell you that he "was watching that" and possibly become agitated. This will also blow your cover as a new Nascar fan.

Invariably, the sixth sense that all Nascar fans have will warn them that the race is almost over and they will awake for the finish. You may also want to be on hand for this, if only to show your support. Again, you obtain bonus points if you learn to be there before he wakes up to make it look like you've been watching the race the whole time he was sleeping.

Crashes - At some point during the season, his driver will probably be involved in a crash. Hopefully this will not be cause for serious alarm, but it will put a damper on his good mood and crush his hopes that his driver will win the race that week. This is a good time to show your supportive side and remind him that there's always next week.

To any self respecting Nascar fan, the Nascar season is serious business. If you share your living space with a Nascar fan, take a little time to learn enough to share in that passion. It may bring you closer together and who knows, perhaps in time you will learn to love it almost as much as he does.

http://www.nascar.com/