NASCAR offers a unique bond between fans, drivers (cont'd)

Brad Giffin and his wife Katie were tailgating when Stremme struck up a candid conversation with the couple who initially didn't recognize the driver out of his fire suit.

"You know, everybody says oh thanks to the fans, the fans are so important," said Giffin, 37, of Chicago. "But, Dave came out and put his money where his mouth is and made it 100 percent special."

So special, Giffin and wife wrote a letter to Stremme's team owner Chip Ganassi, raving about their experience (read letter).

"I like to do that as much as I can," Stremme said. "I like to talk to the fans, watch 'em play games in the infield and just having a good time, and hopefully they're drinking our product."

Giffin compared his NASCAR experience to past NFL experiences and said there's just no comparison.

"If you want an autograph, you have to swim through the masses and get to the fence as the players go into the stadium," Giffin said. "There's just no interaction between the players and the fans, they are always behind closed doors."

Not so, says Bryan Fletcher, tight-end for the Indianapolis Colts.

Fletcher said since the Colts have been back for training camp, some of the players have been doing "Make it Personal" tours all over Indiana twice a week. He also said during home games, players sign autographs as they leave the stadium where fans gather.

However, he does admit NASCAR drivers are much more accessible than NFL players because NFL players require focus on a broader level than drivers.

"We have so many things you need to concentrate on, so many audibles and checks. We are accountable to our teammates," he said. "It's not a situation where you have a couple of laps to warm up with. Before a game, you want your focus on the job at hand and the 10 other guys on the field."

By nature, stick and ball sports don't allow for extreme access like NASCAR, said John Olguin, who spent 15 years with the Los Angeles Dodgers heading up communications for the Major League Baseball team.

"NASCAR lends itself to drivers interacting and almost developing relationships with fans. That's far more difficult in other sports," said Olguin, who is now vice president of communications at Ganassi.

In baseball, Olguin said the locker rooms are off limits as is the field. The logistics make it impossible for fans to access the players in the dugout or clubhouse as well.

"It's not that they don't want more access, they just can't," he said. "It's not a viable option unless players go up into the stands and sign autographs. In baseball, you can't do what David [Stremme] does and walk up to a fan and say, 'Hey how's it going.'"

Chris Weiller paints a similar picture from his experience with the NBA introducing the Charlotte Bobcats franchise to the North Carolina community in 2004.

"Seeing the accessibility from the other side, you really appreciate what NASCAR has," Weiller said. "I would compare it to a fan trying to walk up to an NBA player while he's doing drills before a game. In NASCAR, it's encouraged to walk up to a driver on the way to his car."

It's agreed that all major league sports have mandatory appearances and autograph signings as part of their contracts and all leagues encourage fan connection and try to build upon what they have.

But what makes NASCAR different is that two days ago, a driver could've been working at a hardware store or a mid-level business somewhere. Drivers don't come up through the ranks shielded from fans as they are in college sports on their way to the big leagues.

"That driver walking in the garage could very well have been that fan four years earlier," Weiller added. "The culture of fan integration and appearances, the kind of hand-shaking and wooing the crowd, is much more ingrained in NASCAR than other leagues."

And perhaps physical stature has something to do with a fan's ability to connect with their respective sports figure.

The average sports fan may relate easier to Tony Stewart, who is 5-foot-9 and a tad overweight as opposed to a 7-foot, muscles bulging and veins popping Shaquille O'Neal.

Carl Edwards gives fans the best of both worlds. (Continued)