Some years ago when NASCAR was so very proud of their “major network contract” this life long fan discovered that although I had planned my life around “speed week” the major networks had planned to show BASKETBALL rather than the Bud Shootout, the (then) Busch series opener race, etc. Tweaking for racing to watch I started watching SPEED channel – a channel I had subscribed to just to get more NASCAR coverage back before NASCAR decided to fuck all the little cable channels who had supported them to such popularity. Anyhow. Watching SPEED that year I got to see…
WRC Rally racing
They race in the rain, in the snow, in storms. If a car rolls off the track, fans help upright it and roll it back and the team continues the race. I’ve seen these teams continue with only three wheels on the car, and with an engine that is actually on fire (“it was still running though”). Best of all when the race is over and the winning driver is interviewed he does not say (by rote): “I have to Thank God, My Family, and Thanks to all my sponsors” – followed by a list of 50 sponsors. Nope, still gasping for breath, often drenched in champagne, he says something like “Whew, I didn’t think we would make it. We messed up here and there and then so and so got ahead of us on time and it’s just luck and hard driving.” Sometimes, they even use four letter words. Out loud. In front of the crowd.
It’s a he-man sort of sport, but there have been a few women drivers. The media doesn’t spend all day interviewing her or following her around for a glimpse of her ass in a fire suit or talk about her pretty hair or who she’s fucking. She either drives hard enough to win or doesn’t. She is just another driver.
WRC is racing. RACING.
NASCAR is … mostly billboards on wheels piloted by company spokespersons.
WRC is no longer on SPEED channel. I paid for a subscription to their website that allowed me to watch live video feeds of the race for a couple of years. Fortunately, that is now free. You can watch it on YouTube, as you may have guessed. I don’t know why you’d waste your time with the five hour continuous commercial that is a NASCAR race when you could watch REAL RACING.
That is all.
