NASCAR Fans, Racist?

When Joe Gibbs Racing announced it's move from Chevrolet to Toyota fans of NASCAR and Joe Gibbs Racing were angry for the change. Having Toyota in the Cup series wasn't a problem when they were being driven by low rate drivers and teams that were struggling but when one of the powerhouse's of NASCAR announced the change, suddenly Toyota is a issue.

Why this hatred for Toyota? According to Dale Bastin of Greenwood, Indiana it's because Toyota is a Japanese company which doesn't put any money into our economy. He also goes on to say "We won World War II, but all that was for nothing as we are now losing the fight once again." Are fans associating a company entering the sport as some sort of hostile action towards the United States, a continuation of the war? This surely can't be wide spread among the fans.

Sadly it does seem like this is widespread. Bob Airheart of San Clemente, California says, "I have always been a Tony Stewart fan but will have to root for someone in an Amer-ican car. That is if I even remain a NASCAR fan." Bob Bird of Holland, Michigan goes on to blame Japan for destroying our electronics industry and also destroying our motor industry as well.

In addition to hatred for Toyota there is hatred for foreign drivers with some fans telling them to go back to their countries and racing in series for only foreigners because NASCAR is an American sport, not one that should allow foreigners.

This kind of attitude in the 21st century is bothersome and also very worrisome. Do most NASCAR fans feel this way, do they agree with Dale and Bob about Toyota? Do they agree that the foreign drivers should go back home? It's hard to know because very few speak out against the racism in the sport. Most drivers speak out against the racism that they see expressed by the fans, but it's rare to see the media cover that.

There are fans though speaking out for Toyota, though. Morris Lee of Cedar Bluff, Virginia says, " They're (the stock cars) exotic, custom-built racing machines that share very few parts with the production cars we drive."

Jerry Trowbridge of Emporia, Kansas says, " Adding Toyota to the NASCAR field keeps the competition at a level we NASCAR fans want to see."

So while there are racists and bigots fans in NASCAR and they seem to get all the attention there are fans out there that don't agree with the racist statements and support the drivers and teams fully. But as NASCAR fans they need to speak out more against the racists and encourage the drivers and teams to speak out as well. There is no place in NASCAR for racists and bigots and it's time to send the message that they won't be tolerated.