ONMC offers experience major sports can't match

What is so cool about watching Nextel Cup Series drivers parade around the track in the back of a pickup truck?

If you ask the 500 or so race fans who whooped, hollered and talked to their heroes at Dover, it's being able to be in a place where no one else gets to go, doing things that none of the other 129,500 fans on hand are doing.

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Those 500 were on the backstretch at Dover, which is usually far from the bright lights and glitz of driver introductions. They were in the verge between the infield proper and the racetrack, where the safety crew sometimes hangs out, and they had been there for a while.

When the trucks came rolling around Turn 2, moving at a crawl, that's when the excitement level picked up.

Those 500 fans belong to the Official NASCAR Members Club, NASCAR's only licensed fan organization, and they were happy.

As the trucks came into view, shutters started snapping, drivers started waving inside instead of out, and the 36-foot banner with the ONMC logo started to draw some attention. A few Members had brief conversations with the drivers as they rolled past, usually accompanied by a smile and a wave and a memory that will last for quite some time.

Driver introductions is a big-ticket item for the ONMC, as Members often get to attend the pre-race ceremonies right there on the front stretch. It depends on the track; some, like Richmond International Raceway, Talladega and others, allow the ONMC to form a cordon through which the drivers walk, slapping hands all the way. The manufacturers, like Chevrolet during the Chevy Rock & Roll 400, are happy to work with the ONMC because the Members are well-behaved and know the rules for such events.

There's something about seeing a race fan get so excited about being close enough to their heroes that they can reach out and touch.

Maybe that's what differentiates the ONMC from the other top sports in this country. Can you imagine being on the field when the starting lineups are announced for the Super Bowl? ONMC Members can, because they get to do it nearly every week.

Drivers notice, too. At Richmond, one Member wished Juan Montoya good luck and a safe race in Spanish. Montoya stopped, turned and gave the Member a big smile and a thumbs-up. That race fan went away happy, you can be sure.

Once the pre-race festivities were over, the 500 dispersed to their seats in the stands, richer for the experience. Then the weird stuff started happening on the track.