NASCAR offers a unique bond between fans, drivers

What if before the national anthem of the Super Bowl, you walked over to Peyton Manning, shook his hand and got the quarterback's autograph right there on the field?

Well, the chance of that actually happening for a football fan is about as likely as Mike Vanderjagt kicking for the Colts again.

However, what can happen -- if you're a NASCAR fan -- is getting a driver's autograph and possibly a photo as he prepares to slide into his racecar before the green flag drops on the Daytona 500, NASCAR's Super Bowl.

A letter to Ganassi

"Want to take a minute and share with you something really neat that happened ... something that solidifies why NASCAR is a fan-friendly sport, and why so many of us are addicted to it ..."

• Complete letter, click here

The unfettered access to some of NASCAR's most recognizable drivers is part of what makes the sport so popular. Unlike athletes in other major league sports, NASCAR drivers make it a priority to connect with and devote personal time to the fan base.

Namely, David Stremme, driver of the No. 40 Dodge for Chip Ganassi Racing.

Stremme is known for becoming "mayor of the infield" so to speak at some of NASCAR's biggest races. Be it alone, or with his teammate Juan Montoya, Stremme loves to hop on his golf cart and drop in on unsuspecting NASCAR fans.

"It's what makes us different from everyone else," Stremme said. "Look at football, the players show up to the field, do their job and go home. Our sport is a weekend-long event and our fans become a part of us, a part of our personalities."

Spot on, Stremme commented that NASCAR is the only sport where fans can eat with, sleep next to and breathe the same air as their heroes for three consecutive days.

The bond that exists today between fan and driver is something that was built decades ago on the beaches of Daytona where NASCAR began.

Drivers and fans were members of the same caste system; they got their hands dirty like the drivers and came from the same working-class families as the drivers.

Part of that association and ability to identify with one another may be because NASCAR icon Junior Johnson (during the 1950s and 1960s) drove the car in his blue jeans and Jimmy Florian drove without a shirt. Apparently, it was too hot that day and there was nothing in the NASCAR rule book preventing the driver from doing so.

And what about Fontell "Fonty" Flock?

"The first time Flock won in 1947 his uniform was a white button-down shirt, Bermuda shorts and white knee socks with wing tips," said Buz McKim, historian at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

And unlike today, NASCAR drivers didn't race to live; most had full-time jobs during the week. When Buddy Baker was away from the track, the driver was in the mail room at the Daytona International Speedway. Johnny Allen, sponsored by Holly Farms poultry in 1962, drove the company's chicken truck during the week.

Eating chicken poolside is more the norm for drivers today, but Stremme doesn't allow the wealth and fame to go to his head, evident by a recent trip to the Chicagoland Speedway infield. (Continued)