Are New Fans Turning Old?

by: PattyKay Lilley

Not so very long ago, someone asked me that question and it got me to scratching my head. Oh, I knew what he meant, and the conversation to that point had to do with racing at the track now known as Auto Club Speedway in Fontana California. My friend hails from that part of the world and sometimes gets a bit defensive about his "home track", but his mind seems to be changing as new and old fans alike stay away from Fontana in droves. So, is it possible that they are becoming one and the same?

First, I want to make it perfectly clear (She says, doing her best Richard Nixon imitation) that while I've sometimes described new fans (Read ~ young fans) as “fickle”, I've never meant to imply that youth is somehow a synonym for stupid. Quite the contrary, youth is a time for investigating, sampling, experiencing and filling the senses with all sorts of new sensations. I love youth and the young people that live within it. Heck, once upon a time I was even one of them.

It’s only natural for the young to want to try everything that’s available. How else would they ever learn what they do or don’t like? They will always move from fad to fad, much as a bee moves from flower to flower. Some will move on permanently, seeking something more to their liking, but others will stay and learn all they can, once having found something that truly takes their fancy. So it is with stock car racing; as predicted, some will and indeed, already have moved on, but those that have stayed have made it their business to learn more about the sport that has caught their fancy.