5 Things I learned at NASCAR’s Sylvania 300

Cass Anderson

new hampshire mid track 640x856 5 Things I learned at NASCARs Sylvania 300

Last weekend at the Sylvania 300 I was able to strap on my ‘Murican boots, put on my freshest flannel and cross ‘experience a NASCAR race’ off of my bucket list.  In one fell swoop my NASCAR knowledge went up exponentially thanks to the Sylvvania team and their nifty ‘all access’ passes.  I was able to get down in to the infield of the race track with the drivers for a pre-race tour of some of their ‘haulers,’ sit in on the pre-race driver’s meeting and watch the president of NASCAR  admonish the drivers for rule-breaking and helping out their team members during the last lap of races.  So with my newly gained knowledge of one rule under my belt I pretty much started fancying myself an expert on the sport, and on that note I present 6 things I learned as  NASCAR’s Sylvania 300.

 

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#1 Drivers competing in NASCAR events do not need a valid driver’s license to participate

Drivers must possess a valid NASCAR license, but one issued from a state or country is not required.  I was told about this quirky rule from Truck racer Matt Crafton while we were touring his haluder pre-race, and at first it struck me as rather odd.  But after chatting with Matt for a while about the frequency with which drivers get speeding tickets in their free time it all seemed to make sense.

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#2 California, not the South, is the hot bed for NASCAR activity

As an outsider to the sport my impression has always been that NASCAR was dominated by Southern drivers, yet such is not the case.  In fact, 9 of the 43 drivers to start in the Sylvania 300 were from California, far and away more than any other state being represented.  Furthermore, California is home to two tracks that host NASCAR races: Fontana and Sonoma.

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#3 The race cars and trucks can be completely rebuilt on site (almost).

I’ve always known that the pit crews are mechanical geniuses and can replace or repair major car parts faster than I can shotgun a beer, but I wasn’t aware that their ‘haulers’ contain the parts and tools to completely rebuild a car from scratch, except for the engine.  As it turns out, according to Sylvania sponsored driver Matt Crafton, most teams don’t even own their own engines and they lease them.  They also generally only travel with their one racing engine and supplemental parts.

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#4 Headlights burn out quickly

Not particularly tied to the racing on the track, but I found out over the course of the weekend that the headlights in your car typically lose 20% effectiveness every two years.  The recommended time to change your headlights is at the end of daylight savings time as this is when the largest percentage of nighttime driving takes place.  Now as someone who has never changed their headlights once and who is consistently astonished by the brightness of the headlamps on rental cars, this made all the sense in the world to me.  So guy tip #1 of the weekend: make sure you’re changing your headlights.

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#5 The pre-race flyover is one of the greatest traditions in sports

The flyover, or ‘flypast’ as its called in the UK, is a ceremonial event in which a military aircraft passes over the crowd just before a race.  This is usually synced up with the singing of The Star Spangled Banner.  If there’s one thing that can get a crowd of 100,000 race fans all hopped up on freedom and cheering at the top of their lungs it is without a doubt the flyover.  For proof of concept see video below:

 

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