Motor Sports
NASCAR provides plenty of family fun

By José Miguel Romero
Seattle Times staff reporter

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The good-natured ribbing starts as soon as the green flag comes out.

Allegiances toward their favorite stock-car drivers are renewed, and the Smith family of Poulsbo is transformed into the true group of "motorheads" that it is.

The ritual repeats for 38 weekends out of the year, when NASCAR's Nextel Cup races are on the television in the Smith family home.

Darrin and son Matt, 13, are fans of drivers Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Mom Michelle Smith is arguably Kitsap County's biggest Gordon supporter. Daughter Erin, 5, roots for whomever of the two is ahead of the other, so she can razz her brother about how much Gordon "rocks" when he leads Johnson.

The Smiths are just another American family of NASCAR lovers, a population that continues to grow from coast to coast.

"NASCAR is very much a family sport," said Andrew Giangola, the racing body's business and consumer affairs director. "We never race on Easter or Mother's Day. It's a tradition-based, family-oriented sport. A lot of people can relate to it because we all drive."

NASCAR claims 75 million fans nationwide, according to marketing research based on the U.S. population. Television ratings have increased this season from the past two, and a sport with roots in the southeastern part of the country has gone national.

Seattle is one of the top NASCAR hotbeds among major cities without a Nextel Cup race. Fans here love to root for their favorite drivers, from Dale Earnhardt Jr. to Matt Kenseth to Bobby or Terry Labonte. The real possibility of a track being built in the state, and NASCAR races coming soon, brings plenty of optimism.

"It will be filled, no doubt," said Anthony Salazar, a local marketing expert who has never been a big racing fan. "I've got some passing interest, but I can't wait. I think it would be very exciting to be a part of the action. It's a sport as much as it is entertainment that even the casual fan will get into."

As for the Smiths, the label of "fans" doesn't do them justice. NASCAR is part of their daily lives.
 
When Darrin was in the Navy, he was stationed for a time in Charleston, S.C., in the 1980s. That's when he became a fan. The passion spread to his wife, Michelle, who already had been exposed to racing as a teenager going to the events at Spanaway Speedway. With encouragement from her husband, Michelle turned into an even bigger fan, and now her Sundays are planned around races.

Michelle drives a black 2001 Chevrolet Monte Carlo with the license plate "JGORDON." The car is the same make and model as the one Gordon drove to his fourth Cup championship, in 2001.

The family even has a summer vacation planned around a trip to Charlotte, N.C., to tour Gordon's and Johnson's team headquarters.

"NASCAR is no longer considered a 'redneck' sport,' " Michelle Smith said. "It is one of the fastest-growing sports in the USA, and with women. At the races, you see just as many women as men in the stands."

"Nothing is worse than a rainout (on race day)," Darrin said. "We don't know what to do with ourselves on a Sunday where there's no racing."