Change happens - I know. Richard "The King" Petty was a boyhood hero. Now I'm something of an elitist, lacking only an education, a good income and a lot of the other accouterments [That's what the spellchecker said] except for latte, and I rarely spring for one for whatever it is they're asking. I am an elitist in my brain. But this is not about me. It is about the real America and the sport they love, and the bitter reality of NASCAR's finances. Oh, and the end of the world as they know it, due to That One.
The Kansas City Star reports:
This year, however, giddiness is down considerably. Pushing it aside — and to a certain degree, replacing talk of actual racing — are angst and gloom about a global economy in tatters.
On Friday, news swept the garages that General Motors was running out of money and facing bankruptcy.
On Saturday, Kyle Petty was asked if he would describe the situation facing NASCAR as a crisis. With the look of a condemned prisoner, he said yes.
You can see that Kyle Petty is pretty upset.
"Ninety-nine percent of the people in this garage are Republicans," Petty said. "They were convinced that when they woke up on Wednesday morning, that if Obama was president, the world would start spinning the other way. With the economic and political uncertainty, they don’t know what to do. That does affect this sport."
NASCAR teams are laying people off. They can't get enough sponsors. This is a crisis, people. This is a cultural issue. Real America is hurting. Soon there may be no truck pulls, no monster trucks and god forbid, people will not be able to repair their ATVs. Their world, and the woods, will go quiet.
Well, there will always be an Alaska...