2021 NASCAR thread

Epic.

 

In other news... first win for Mickey Ds since 1994.

 

That I can like! Lot of great drivers to carry that paint scheme

Bill comes to mind, right off the top

 

History of McDonald's sponsorship. Jimmy Spencer won twice in 1994... then oh-fer.

https://www.spotrac.com/nascar/sponsor/mcdonalds/

 

It's never fun seeing a rain shortened event but it happens! No different than seeing Joey Logano break Kyle Busch's record for youngest cup winner by winning a rain shortened event. Plus, from my understanding, the rain was expected to be all week. All part of the sport. I just wish there was one less excuse for the whiners to use against him.

 

I was a bubba fan back before he played the race card. Now he can go FUCK himself. He has been fortunate to have lived a very privileged life like the majority in the upper tiers of sport. To present yourself as anything short of that then profit off it makes you a real POS in my book. My judgment of him has nothing to do with race or ethnicity. Simply what he earned demonstrating a complete lack of character, void of a moral compass and disregard of his own privilege.

 

Nobody is whining about who won the race. They are just stating facts. Bubbi never would have won the race if it wasn't rain shortened. Bubbi doesn't have the talent to compete in the sport he is in and he never will. Just Plain And Simple Facts.

 

I just- I guess- I don't expect 20-something-year-old race car drivers to be moral heroes? 99% of them are rich kids who get into the sport on daddy's dime who most likely got his extra cash by underpaying or screwing over some hard-working person.

 

Your opinion is what it is and I respect that. I do not share it as my expectation of someone, regardless of age is to be ethical. If you are mature enough to step onto the social platform and present yourself as a role model, a voice for young people to respect and emulate then you are held accountable regardless. My expectation of him is far less than that of a moral hero. It is simply not to feed the bogus propaganda machine making a spectacle of yourself. He knows he is a hypocrite, he sold his character and ethics to present himself as an oppressed figure and in doing so was awarded handsomely with additional fame and opportunity based soley on the bogus accounts he welcomed and perpetuated. Even now he claims to be a voice of justice and change. But what does he have in common with those he wishes to reach? Answer: Not a GD thing. He is one of the few, great for him. He made it. Knew the right people, caught the right breaks. A little humility would go much further than the path he has chosen.

Now he stands in direct comparison to a man who is deserving of the accolade's he receives. Mr. Scott was oppressed, Mr. Scott did it the hard way in a time where everything was stacked against him. Now this poser plasters his name not just beside Mr. Scott but almost above it when the paths they chose and hardships they faced were not comparable. The roads they traveled were nothing the like. For that his portrayal of victim discust me. His comparison to Mr. Scott is discusting, he could use this as a comparison to show just how far our society has actually come and to highlight how he has been provided every opportunity. To show what Mr. Scott endured and give him the credit he deserves but in contrast he has decided to be a modern Mr. Scott because it fits the narrative that most benefits himself. His sincerity is an act, perpetuated by everyone who supports it.

 

very well said, Jay! I was a Bubba fan up until last years race at Dega. The spectacle that resonated that weekend was nothing slight of a circus act with no regret for the real truth. That circus act continues to play out and seems to be fueled by the media which will get worse now that he has "won" a race. Last year and again yesterday, was a sad day for NASCAR. As a fan, I can't support the complete disregard for truth at expense of "marketing your brand". Yes, this is a prime example of society today and the "entitled" mentality.

Your talents, or lack there of, will shine on the track. Shut up and race.

 

You make some awesome points here. If we zoom out from Bubba and look at the majority of faces who are given celebrity status, it's the same deal 99% of the time. I work in the PR and marketing biz and deal with a lot of egos both on the screen and behind the scenes, including Bubba and other NASCAR drivers. I read (actually I am still reading & trying to understand) a book called The Society of the Spectacle a couple of years ago. Through that lens, I focused on Austin Dillon as an example similar to what you have done here with Bubba. When our culture commodifies every aspect of life (when we turn our mere existence into a product), we are all but a product to be consumed. In place of authentic life, we cherrypick visual style notes that imply some substance. Ex: buying high-priced pre-distressed jeans that imply a hard-working lifestyle.

From the Wikipedia article on the book, which gives a decent rundown:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Society_of_the_Spectacle

“Debord traces the development of a modern society in which authentic social life has been replaced with its representation: “All that once was directly lived has become mere representation." Debord argues that the history of social life can be understood as "the decline of being into having, and having into merely appearing." This condition, according to Debord, is the "historical moment at which the commodity completes its colonization of social life.”

The spectacle is the inverted image of society in which relations between commodities have supplanted relations between people, in which “passive identification with the spectacle supplants genuine activity”. “The spectacle is not a collection of images,” Debord writes, “rather, it is a social relationship between people that is mediated by images.”

In his analysis of the spectacular society, Debord notes that the quality of life is impoverished, with such a lack of authenticity that human perceptions are affected, and there’s also a degradation of knowledge, with a hindering of critical thought. Debord analyzes the use of knowledge to assuage reality: the spectacle obfuscates the past, imploding it with the future into an undifferentiated mass, a type of never-ending present; in this way the spectacle prevents individuals from realizing that the society of spectacle is only a moment in history, one that can be overturned through revolution.”

 

I will get off my soap box but to be clear I could care less about race or ethnicity. I put Bubba on the same plain as Austin Dylan in that both are sheltered and void of understanding the opportunities handed to them. I will give you Bubba had a harder road than Austin but still a pretty smooth ride. If anything his ethnicity provided him opportunity and I supported that. I still do. When the 3 turned him at Daytona I was pissed and was yelling at the TV just like all of you. Because on that day he earned it. Unfortunately he was tempted by those around him who took the opportunity to cash in on what he had earned and cheapen it. Forever destroying his deservingness of my respect though for all of them is simply the ability to drive a car at a high rate of speed.

 

Agreed and well put. I just compared Bubba to Austin before reading your post. LOL, awesome.

 

Over the past 30 years I have convinced myself that I am either incredibility smart or horribly stupid. At this point I am afraid to get tested and find out!

 

With Austin, it was the Richard Petty hats, the high & tight haircut, co-opting Lane Frosts' rodeo wave, and dabbing even after elementary school kids were laughing at dabbing. I like throwbacks, and I like nods to folk heroes of generations past, but something about Austin Dillon’s tributes has always rubbed me wrong. It’s just all too cringy. Austin Dillon is about as self-aware as Joe Dirt. I don't know the first thing about Austin as a person because every part of his public persona is a put-on and that makes me wonder if he even knows who he is.

It's like my buddies I grew up with. Roundabout age 13-14-15 they took on a new persona, leaning hard into the redneck stereotype because it was funny and they got attention. 20 years later it is who they are and they can't separate themselves from the character they created.

Edit: Following up this thought- And if people's personalities are based on the reasoning "if I do XYZ, I get attention, people like me, so I become this for the people" is a reactionary, inauthentic position. The authentic thought process should be "I do XYZ because it's what I WANT to do for me."

 

I know the feeling. At this point, I just say I'm wonderfully lucky.

 

I could not agree more. With Austin I feel like he might actually suffer from some disability in mental capacity. As you pointed out, it feels wrong. I feel bad for him as I suspect he is a confused individual with little to no sense of who he is.

 

great discussion this morning @JJ Customs and @MadDaddy

Thank you!

 

70% chance of rain Saturday. I'm about to call and cancel my camping reservation. I'm still going but prepping for another soggy wekend.