Observation One

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

NASCAR: Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond
Note: This observation took place during the first part of the race at Richmond International
Raceway, starting at the green flag and ending at lap 100 of 400. This observation covered a
time period of about 45 minutes but the timing of events will be based off of number of laps
completed at the time a specific event occurred.
Important Background Information: This is race was the last race for the chase for the Sprint
Cup. The race was held at Richmond International Raceway and consisted of 400 laps. It was
also a short track race meaning the track was tighter which makes an already competitive race
even more exciting. Any of the teams that were not already locked in the chase were giving it
their all to win this race. This was their last chance to get in the chase for the Sprint Cup. They
will not have another chance but will still race the remaining races. In these remaining races
they just will not be considered as a threat because they are not in the chase. The fans were
especially excited for this race since they would get to see who would take the last spot in the
Chase.
Figured world: A part of society with set of rules and expectations of behavior to set standards
for the people within as far as how they should act, their manners and how they function.
The purpose of NASCAR is to entertain its huge fan base as well as express the teams
competitive nature. There is a lot more to NASCAR than just the race on race day.
NASCAR teams work around the clock to come up with new ideas and techniques to
give them the competitive edge. NASCAR has many different communities just for one
team. Theres the office where all the financial and advertising is handled then theres
the engineering community where new ideas are formed and tested. The garage itself is
another community where the cars are built and repaired then there is also the track
where the race is held and some of the team attends. In the office employees would be
expected to act professional as many office environments would be expected to act.
Communication is expected whether it be through email or verbal conversation. The
engineering department may be in an office setting or shop setting depending on if
theyre designing or building prototype parts. Different types of engineers have to
interact with each other to make a design come together and work correctly. In the shop
employees would be expected to act in a professional manner but may have a more laid
back atmosphere. Everyone has their own job and specialty to accomplish a big task such
as building a race car. At the track the atmosphere consists of a lot of noise and can be
hectic at times. Drivers and their teams are expected to do whatever is necessary to win
the race since in the end that is their goal and that is what all the communities mentioned
before are aiming for. Drivers and their pit crews should also be respectful of others
though in situations such as a collision both drivers should act in a professional and
respectful manner which isnt always the case. The drivers know what is wrong and what
is right. They should try to run a clean race whenever possible but sometimes the
competitive aspect plays a part in their driving style. When it comes down to the final
laps and its between win and get in the chase or take second and be done for the season
the driver has to decide what actions they will take. Some drivers will get very
aggressive to take that first position while others will keep it clean and if they dont get
the win at least they can say they were beat fair and square. Most races start with over 40

cars and by the end there are usually just over 30 left because of things like wrecks and
broken parts.
Vocabulary
Green flag: Signals the start of the race
Red flag: This signals the drivers to pit in the event of a wreck or rain
White flag: One lap to go
Yellow flag: Caution
Checkered flag: End of race
Black flag: The driver is ejected from the race
Pits: In the center of the track where drivers refill tanks and change tires
Example of a pitstop

Domain: The common goal that the people of the community strive for and also the ways in
which they collaborate with each other to achieve that goal.

A Teams Victory: There are many things that contribute to a driver winning a race.
One of the reasons is that their team had the mindset that they were going to win. They
all took care of their responsibilities to make sure that their drivers car was fastest out
there. Their victory was their domain.
National Anthem: Before the race begins everyone rises for the National Anthem. The
whole community is focused on the domain which is honoring this great country and the

men and women that protect it. They all share the same interest for NASCAR and see
that they could not enjoy it without the soldiers who protect them.
Artifacts: Thoughts, beliefs or physical objects that are important or play a major role in the
community.

Drivers Car: A drivers car plays a very significant role in the outcome of the race. A
teams car must be set up perfect for the track and that is noticeable by how much faster
their lap times are than their competitors. A NASCAR driver is only as good as their car
and their car performing well depends upon the crew working on it.
Drivers Mindset: Even when a driver is not doing well they must keep an open mindset.
Anything can happen throughout the course of a race but if a driver loses focus they will
not be able to take advantage of another drivers mistake which could be the difference
between winning and losing. Jamie McMurray is a perfect example as he started 15th in
the 400 lap race at Richmond and finished 4th. Just because he did not have a great start
he did not lose his belief that he would make it to the front.

Actors: Someone in the specific community that is important. An actor can be very important
to the point that the community wouldnt function without them or a minor character that may
affect minor aspects of the community.

NASCAR Officials: The officials play a major role by making sure that the race is safe.
Besides doing tech inspections they also monitor the fans to make sure they are safe also.
An example is the caution called at Richmond on lap 329 because an official spotted a
man climbing the crash fence.
Drivers: The drivers are definitely an important aspect to the race. Without drivers the
race wouldnt happen but this does not mean that the drivers are most important.
Everyone on a NASCAR team plays an equal role in the success of a team. A driver does
have control on the outcome of a race though. His decisions affect a lot. An example
would be deciding whether or not to try to pass through a gap that really isnt enough
room for their car. If that were to cause a wreck it would be blamed on the driver but if
he made the pass and gained a position then he would be praised for that decision.
Spotters: A drivers spotter is his second set of eyes while racing. Without spotters the
driver would have no idea what is happening around him such as collisions, other drivers
trying to pass and things such as debris on the track. Since race cars dont have mirrors
spotters take their place and can give them warning about things that are happening ahead
since when going high speeds that little extra warning can be the difference between
reacting fast enough to avoid a wreck or being too slow and colliding head on with
another car.

Communities of Practice: A group of people that have the same beliefs and ways of doing
things. They also communicate with each other as well as have the same mindset as one
another. Theyre all connected in some way like goals or just by doing similar tasks as one
another.

Fans: The fans all have an interest in NASCAR whether it is for the excitement or the
true love for the sport. Without the fan base NASCAR would not exist because there
would be no funding. Fans interest in NASCAR is what keeps NASCAR alive and that is
one of the things everyone in the community has in common.
Drivers: All drivers have the same goal in mind which is to win. They all compete in the
same way but have some varying techniques to attempt to gain an edge on their
competition.
Pit Crews: Pit crews have to have all members minds in the same place. Changing 4
tires and refueling a car in under 12 seconds requires a lot of teamwork. If they dont all
have the same end goal in mind they wont function efficiently. All members have the
same mindset as well as all pit crews. Every pit crew is the same as far as their goals.
They all need to do the same things when their teams car comes into the pits.

Practices of the Community- The people of the community doing things like working at the
same place or having similar habits or personalities as one another. They also complete tasks
in the same manner or with the same end goal

Pit Crews: The pit crews for each team do the same things as each other. It is standard
procedure for them to work on the car to get it ready for the race, go to the race and
perform pit stops then bring it back to the shop to fix, rebuild and improve the car. All
the pit crews do these things making them practices of the community.
Practice and Testing: All drivers go out and test their cars. This is their way of finding
problems before race day and assures that their car is ready to go. This also improves
their driving skills which makes them faster when it actually comes down to the race.
Building Cars: All of the cars are built in the shop. There are mechanics that stay at the
shop just to build and perfect cars that dont ever come to the races. They rely on
information gathered by the team at the race to decide what to change on the other cars
back at the shop. There is a lot of behind the scenes work like the mechanics working on
cars at the shop that fans dont even realize. Without the guys back at the shop the cars
would not make it to the races every weekend. The mechanics also fix cars such as
rebuilding and swapping motors every week and swapping suspension setups depending
on what track they will be running that weekend.

Literacy Practices: How the people within a community communicate. This can be direct
communication or communication that is presented in a suggestive manner.

Announcer: There is an announcer at every race. The announcer verbally communicates

with all of the fans about things such as statistics of drivers and sometimes a play-by-play
of the race. This is more prevalent when watching NASCAR on TV when the viewers
cannot see all aspects of the race.
Crew to Driver: The driver is in constant verbal communication with his crew telling
them things such as how the car is handling and problems he may be having. This
communication is vital so that the crew can make necessary changes so that their car is as
fast as possible.

Observation 1:
Pre-race: Before every race a lot of fans tailgate just as they would for a football game. This is
a big part of the sport. The comradery at race is hard to beat. Its just a fun time for anyone any
age. A pastor from a local church says a prayer in front of the whole crowd asking for protection
for the drivers as well as thanking God for the ability to be racing this night. The National
Anthem is played followed by four jets flying over the track in formation. Then the famous
words of NASCAR are said Drivers, Start your engines. This gives you an idea of what the
fans do before each race.

Lap 1: Keselowski gains a small lead as the green flag drops after qualifying first earlier in the
day and getting to qualify at the front of the pack. His car was much faster on the start than any
of his competitors. Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick Keep up with him for this first lap.
Lap 30: Kevin Harvick starts running at the top of the track and is paying off. He has moved up
4 positions since he has started running the top of the corners rather than staying low. Other
drivers such as Jeff Gordon are now starting to follow in Kevin Harvicks path by moving to the
top of the track.
Lap 50: Competition caution is put out due to the rain earlier in the day. The teams get a chance
to check how their tires are wearing and change them if they decide to. Harvick is leading with
Keselowski closely behind. More people are starting to take Harvicks high line making it
harder for him to get past the slower cars.
Lap 58: On the restart after the caution Brad Keselowski takes the lead since he made it off pit
road first but Kevin Harvick is still right on his back bumper. Both drivers are back to using the
bottom of the track since they are on new tires.
Lap 98: Harvick is gaining ground on Keselowski again. It has been 43 laps since the restart
after the caution and the first time Harvick passed Keselowski was on lap 43. Harvick is slowly
moving back to his high line in hopes to improve his lap times.

Lap 110: Lap traffic really starts to hinder Harvick as he falls further and further behind while
trying to fight through the slower cars in the pack. Keselowski is running his fastest laps of the
night and has a big lead continuing to pull away.
Finish: Brad Keselowski ends up taking first followed by Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer in third.

Observation 2: Chicagoland 400

Note: This observation took place during the first 100 laps of the myafibstory.com 400 at
Chicagoland Speedway on September 14, 2014. This observation covered a time period of
about 1 hour but the timing of events will be based off of number of laps completed at the time
a specific event occurred. Celebration after Keselowski took the win.

Important Background Information: This is the first race of the chase for the Sprint Cup.
NASCAR is using a new format this year which involves elimination so based on points earned
in a 3 race series some drivers will move on to the next series and some will be eliminated. At
the end there will be a race consisting of 4 drivers that are still in the chase and the winner will
be the Sprint Cup Champion. The fans are eager to see how this new format works out as far as
how it changes the level of competitiveness and excitement which is what the fans are really
there for.
Lap 1: Kyle Busch takes the lead at the start of the race with Carl Edwards in 2nd and Ryan
Newman in 3rd.
Lap 16: Front of the order gets shuffled. Busch is now leading with Gordon, Newman and
McMurray close behind.
Lap 24: Larson passes 8 drivers in 1 lap to move from 28th place to 20th. He was one of the
drivers thought to have a chance at winning this race but ended up with a bad starting position.
Now hes showing that he may be able to work his way back to a top 5 finish.

Lap 32: Gordon passes Busch low in turn 3. McMurray also manages to work his way by Busch
as well as Newman and is challenging Gordon for the lead.
Lap 43: Drivers such as Harvick, Hamlin, Newman and Edwards take their first pit stop early to
make some adjustments in hopes to gain positions later when all the other drivers make their pit
stops.
Lap 47: Brad Keselowski takes the lead as everyone else makes their stops and then decides to
take his pit stop as well as add some tape to his front spoiler to help adjust balance.
Lap 64: Denny Hamlin tells his pit crew that the tone of his car has changed. His pit crew tells
him to stay out but worry that they may have motor problems.
Lap 68: NASCAR officials spot debris in turn 2 so a caution is issued and some drivers in the
back of the pack are able to make up almost 30 seconds.
Lap 73: Kahne and Harvick both restart the race at the back of the pack. Kahne was penalized
for speeding on pit road while Harvick had to make a stop to tighten loose lug nuts. Kurt Busch
was also penalized for hitting a cone at the entrance to pit road.
Lap 95: Matt Kenseth is the first driver to be able to hit 200 mph during this race so far.
Lap 100: Top 5 is Gordon, Keselowski, Busch, Newman and then McMurray in 5th after he
tagged the wall on lap 87.
Finish: Again Brad Keselowski takes first followed by Jeff Gordon then Kyle Larson.

Observation 3: Pocono 400

Note: This observation took place during the first 50 laps of the Gobowling.com 400 at Pocono
Raceway on August 3, 2014. This observation covered a time period of about 1 hour but the
timing of events will be based off of number of laps completed at the time a specific event
occurred. This shows how big the crowd is.

Important Background Information: This race took place before the chase was decided so
there is a lot at stake. The winner of this race earns a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup which
is one of the last few chances for a driver to earn a spot. This a two and a half mile track so they
will be running 160 laps.
Prerace: The announcers are talking to Matt Kenseths crew about what they are willing to risk
to win this race and they state that they will do whatever it takes to try to get the win while still
maintaining fair sportsmanship. This is the mindset of most of the teams as theyre all looking
for their spot in the chase but some are not as laid back and will take extreme measures to get
this win.
Lap 1: Brad Keselowski is running fourth place and almost spins out in turn 2 but makes an
unbelievable save all while trying to pass Kurt Busch. A spin out there would have ended the
race for him since the multiple cars behind him all would have crashed into him.
Lap 9: Jimmie Johnson blows a tire and hits the wall causing a caution for debris on the track.
About half the field takes advantage of it to make a pit stop for right side tires and minor chassis
adjustments.
Lap 16: Danica Patrick has a tire blow out and hits the wall drawing another caution. Giving the
drivers that did not pit earlier another chance.
Lap 24: Kyle Bush in the #18 car has engine problems and gives up 12th position to Carl
Edwards and goes back to the garage to try to fix the problem.
Lap 30: As another caution comes out it shows that the decision that Kurt Busch and a few other
drivers made to pit on lap 10 is paying off. Kurt Busch worked his way back up to 6th before the
caution and now as the other drivers pit he takes the lead.

Lap 45: Jeff Gordon takes the lead as the two top spots make a pit stop. Logano let Gordon by
him into 3rd as a courtesy since Gordon was running faster lap times. It also gives Logano a
chance to watch Gordon to see what hes doing to be so fast.
Finish: Dale Earnhardt Jr. takes first followed by Kevin Harvick then Joey Logano.

Observation 4: Watkins Glen 355

Note: This observation took place during the last 10 of 90 laps of the Cheez-It 355 at Watkins
Glen on August 10, 2014 and covered a time period of about 1 hour but the observations will
be based off of the number of laps completed at the time a specific event occurred. This shows
how much of an elevation change there is throughout the track and turns that NASCAR
drivers arent use to.

Important Background Information: This race is not an oval or circle track. It is more like an
Indy car track. There are a lot of hairpin turns as well as short straight aways. This track is a
little over 2 miles long and the cars never reach high speeds. The average speed is about 90 mph
which is half of what the average on a normal track would be. Drivers will be going through
tires quite fast because of all the turns. The layout of the track makes for some very technical
and exhilarating racing. Theres always something happening rather than just holding the same
position for multiple laps like on circle track.
Lap 80: The announcers are talking to the crew chiefs about fuel. Many teams were worried
about running out on the final laps but since the caution came out and the drivers were able to
take it easy they believe theyll make it to the end of the race.

Lap 81: Jimmie Johnson spins out in turn one on the restart after a caution for Carl Edwards
getting a flat tire on lap 78. This spin out also causes Reegan Smith to spin out bringing out
another caution.
Lap 85: Since there are only 5 laps left after the restart all the drivers are going all out. The
battle for the lead is between Ambrose and Allmendinger, Edwards and Busch close behind.
There are a lot of opportunities to pass on this track even though they only have 5 laps since
there are so many turns.
Lap 86: Another caution comes out when Alex Kennedy hits the barriers near the entrance to pit
road. Ambrose is leading at the time of the caution. The caution turns to a red flag so all drivers
stop on the track in order and wait until the wreck is cleaned up to proceed. This is to there
benefit because it wont waste laps in caution.
Lap 88: The green flag finally drops with 2 laps of racing to go. This does not give the drivers
much time to gain positions. They will have to fight hard to get around the cars in front of them.
On the first couple laps after a restart all of the cars are usually really close together so its hard
to pass. This will make the last 2 laps very exciting.
Lap 89: Allmendinger gets very aggressive and ends up pushing Ambrose way outside in turn 5,
6 and 7. He ends up losing a lot of ground and spends the last lap trying to hold off Kurt Busch
for second position.
Finish: Allmendinger takes the win followed by Ambrose then Busch.

Interview One: This was an interview with my roommate. He is not really into NASCAR but
he does like cars in general. This shows that there are some people who like NASCAR even if
they dont like cars and others that like cars and dont really care for NASCAR.
1. How do you view NASCAR as in do you watch it as a serious sport or just for
entertainment?
I watch it for the excitement. Im not super big into the sport I just watch it every once in
awhile to keep me occupied if theres nothing else on.
2. If you could choose to watch a race from the stands or the pits which would you choose
and why?
I would choose the stand since like I said Im not that big into the sport so really dont
think Id enjoy watching from the pits. The stands would be just fine for me.
3. Who is your favorite driver and what do you like about them? (i.e. personality, reputation
etc.)

I think Id pick Kevin Harvick. I hear a lot about him as far as being a great guy to be
around and the fact that he takes part in a lot of organizations and charities makes him a
driver that stands out to me.
4. Explain why there is tension around NASCAR being a sport.
I think some people dont realize the amount of competitiveness in it. Most people think
of a sport as being competitive but they dont see NASCAR like that even though there is
a ton of competition in different parts of it.
5. Name one thing you dislike about NASCAR and why.
The bad publicity it gets for things like crashes. Thats all NASCAR is ever presented as
is drivers getting injured because of wrecks. I think thats giving NASCAR a bad name.
6. How does the media attention of NASCAR influence your perspective?
When I see reports of races I try to ignore them because usually they are not the real story
and are someones opinion or perspective. I do like hearing what drivers have to say
about certain issues though in their interviews.
Interview Two: This was an interview with a friend that I met in my dorm. Hes into jeeps and
offroading and isnt really interested in cars at all. I think this shows how broad automotive
topics can be. Someone can love trucks which is a vehicle but have absolutely no interest in
NASCAR.
1. How do you view NASCAR as in do you watch it as a serious sport or just for
entertainment?
Honestly it doesnt really interest me. If I do watch it its just for a little entertainment
but doesnt last long.
2. If you could choose to watch a race from the stands or the pits which would you choose
and why?
I wouldnt choose either. Id rather watch on TV than in person since I really just
wouldnt be interested so it would be pointless.
3. Who is your favorite driver and what do you like about them? (i.e. personality, reputation
etc.)
I dont really know much about any of the drivers but Ive heard that Tony Stewart is a
pretty good guy even though Hes been getting a bad reputation lately.
4. Explain why there is tension around NASCAR being a sport.

From the perspective of not considering it a sport Id say its because there is no physical
activity involved.
5. Name one thing you dislike about NASCAR and why.
It isnt action packed enough. Each lap seems like a repeat of a previous one until
something exciting happens but those exciting parts dont last long.
6. How does the media attention of NASCAR influence your perspective?
When I see reports of races I try to ignore them because usually they are not the real story
and are someones opinion or perspective. I do like hearing what drivers have to say
about certain issues though in their interviews.