At Home Mechanic

I am speaking of NASCAR and its overwhelming popularity in the United States. Arising from the backwoods and sandy beaches of the American South, NASCAR has morphed from a regional curiosity of lightly prepped, "stock" cars driven by near-amateur drivers to a national attraction of spec-series cars, (All manufacturer marques represented in NASCAR are using a common body shell and largely similar suspensions. Only the engines differ amongst the brands and they are regulated to such a degree that the power difference is largely nil.) Driven by hugely compensated professional drivers on largely undemanding oval tracks, NASCAR is a huge money creating enterprise that absorbs the cast majority of sponsorship money (the Mother's Milk of professional auto racing) available in the United States. The only other auto-racing event that can compete for the hearts and wallets of the American consumer is the Indy 500. And that is barely surviving on the life support of long-standing tradition that has made the Memorial Day race a part of American heritage and the recent excitement of Danica Patrick becoming the most successful woman race car driver in the nearly 100 year history of the Indy 500.

As NASCAR grows and absorbs more of the racing limelight in America, the gravity of its attraction to young US drivers grows. The bright lights and big money that sustains the dreams of youngsters wishing to be a professional race car driver are glowing brightest on the NASCAR end of the American racing spectrum. The entry-level point onto the road to NASCAR stardom is relatively low; local oval track events are cheap and easy to get started with. The cost of equipment is relatively cheap and success in all forms of oval track racing is more dependent upon courage than skill. An American youngster can climb the racks of NASCAR stardom and develop his career in his figurative backyard of the US without having to prove his ability against the world's best drivers competing on road racing courses, primarily in Europe.

If an American youngster wishes to chase the dream of starring in any of the upper reaches of road racing, he must eventually leave the US to live and compete in Europe. While Asia is emerging as a growth market for road racing, Europe is the center of gravity for the international road racing community. As early as 14 years old is the time to be jockeying for a single seat, open wheeled ride that matters and it takes a truly special teen and his equally dedicated family to withstand the expense and separation that chasing the Formula 1 dream requires. The competition for a chance to rise in road racing is the most highly skilled imaginable. Rather than just turning left in a circle, these drivers are making decisive moves over tracks that can throw a dozen or more variations of left and right turns that must be driven as a complete set rather than a few barely connected bends in the same direction.

The money that comes with success in Formula 1 is astronomical, the worlds highest paid athlete is seven time F1 champion Michael Schumacher at about $60 million per year. But the majority of road racing professionals make nowhere the same kind of money that comes relatively easily to even a mid-field driver in NASCAR's lazier form of auto racing.

So as long as the money is easy, the entry points for youngsters remain relatively accessible, and you do not have to leave your home country for the unknown of a foreign culture it is highly unlikely that any home grown American will ever emerge as a world champion of road racing on the Formula 1 circuit.