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CNN Live Saturday

The World of NASCAR Fans

Aired August 25, 2001 - 16:27   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: The roar of the engines, the thunderous cries of the crowd and the constant threat of danger. They're all part of the highly-charged, heart-pounding world of NASCAR. And some folks are more hooked on it than others are. CNN's national correspondent Gary Tuchman takes a spin on this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is their passion.

(on camera): How much of your four-week vacation do you spend in NASCAR events?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About three and a half weeks of it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a rush, because you can smell it, see it, feel it in your heart, everything.

TUCHMAN: What do you like better than NASCAR? Anything?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sex. Sex.

TUCHMAN: Anything else?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are ready to start the Pepsi 400.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): One hundred thirty-six thousand people are in the stands at the Pepsi 400 in Brooklyn, Michigan.

(on camera): What do you like NASCAR so much?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speed.

TUCHMAN: Many of them spend every weekend of the NASCAR season watching the races in person or on television.

(on camera): Could you imagine life without NASCAR?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No. From February to November.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks, Steve.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First time, Steve, you got to sign it, buddy!

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Steve Park is a NASCAR driver, but most of them he signs lots of autographs.

STEVE PARK, NASCAR DRIVER: It's the way you can really reach out and touch the fans and how close they can get to the actual drivers, that's something you don't see in any other sports.

TUCHMAN: The fans' relationship with the drivers such as Dale Earnhardt Jr. can be intense. The tragic death of his father was for many like losing a member of the family.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He showed the people that you could come from nothing if you kept your mind on your dream and you worked hard enough, that anything was possible.

TUCHMAN: Outside the Michigan International Speedway, temporary city sprout with thousands of people on RVs and campers. There are more drivers flags flying than there are flags in front of the United Nations. Many drive across America to spend most, if not all of the summer, going to races.

(on camera): What do your children and grandchildren have to say about you going to all these races and spending all these weekends at these places?

JANE HANSEN, NASCAR FAN: Well, I work for my daughter, so she's not real crazy about it, but she and her husband are race fans somewhat too. They'd like to be doing it.

TUCHMAN: It surprises many people when they learn NASCAR has been around for more than half a century, 54 years to be exact. But for most of that time, NASCAR racing was perceived to be a regional sport for the Southeastern United States. Not anymore.

(voice-over): A new contract this year quadrupled NASCAR's TV money from just last year. And since the mid-'80s, revenues up for than 6,000 percent.

It's a driver/fan relationship that's fueling NASCAR's extraordinary success.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Brooklyn, Michigan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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