by Hank Brockett and Ted Slowik
7/16/01
The Chicago area's first Winston Cup race attracted veteran fans from across the country and helped introduce the increasingly popular sport to many newcomers.Before the death of Dale Earnhardt, Mike Johnson of North Aurora didn't know much about NASCAR racing.
On Sunday, he found himself in the stands of the Chicagoland Speedway with sons Adam, 7, and Noah, 5, his fandom increasing with every lap.
"I watched (the crash) on the news; then I started watching the races on TV, and I decided to give it a shot," Johnson said.
The Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan said the appeal lies in seeing the cars and drivers in person.
"The experience itself is great," he said. "No other sport can compare to this live, with an unobstructed view and feeling the power of the cars as they go by."
But as the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing wins converts and becomes increasingly mainstream, it does so at a price.
To recoup the $130 million investment in Chicagoland Speedway, its owners barred fans from bringing in their own food and drinks, something unthinkable at tracks in the Southeast.
A NASCAR fan should be permitted to carry his own water and beer to his seat, said Billy King of Lexington, Tenn.
Sunday's race culminated more than two years of work and planning that began in January 1999, when the Joliet City Council hastily approved the development after residents of other towns resisted attempts to build a track in the area.
The weekend's events were run with military-like precision, as commanders marshaled an army of workers and deployed equipment using sophisticated communications.
"I'm ecstatic. It's tough to take two years of your life and put it into four days, but that's basically how it is," Joie Chitwood said Sunday morning.
Chitwood is vice president and general manager of Raceway Associates, the conglomerate that built Chicagoland Speedway.
During pre-race ceremonies, Chitwood introduced executives from International Speedway Corp. and Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corp., the two companies that own 75 percent of Raceway Associates, as well as the nine original owners who developed Route 66 Raceway and own 25 percent of Raceway Associates.
The years of preparations reached a crescendo at the start of Sunday's race, as four F16 fighter jets buzzed the crowd and parachutists sailed onto the infield trailing a huge American flag.
The drama peaked when the 43 stock cars began the race, vibrating the grandstands with sheer horsepower and a deafening roar.
Booming sport
A Winston Cup race must be experienced first-hand to be truly appreciated.
Jack Forman of Kenosha, Wis., knows a thing or two about NASCAR racing.
Forman made the drive to the Tropicana 400, just like he made the drive for the inaugural event at the Route 66 Raceway -- and just like he would go to the Daytona 500 almost yearly when he lived in Florida.
"They needed to have a Winston Cup race in the Midwest," Forman said. "There's lots of fans here that drive all over to see the races."
With an influx of new fans increasing NASCAR's name and placing it in the national spotlight, Forman said things certainly have changed since he attended his first race.
"It's unreal how this has grown," he said. "In the '60s, we used to go down to Daytona, pay $20 to go into the infield the night before in a truck full of fans."
But the new fans, young and old, don't make Forman worry at all about whether his sport of choice is just a fad for some.
"NASCAR fans seem to be some die-hard people," he said. "They religiously follow the event, and support the products."
The Jeff Gordon fan does bemoan Chicagoland Speedway's prices for beverages combined with the track's no-cooler policy.
"With pop costing $3.50, I have real trouble paying even a dollar," he said. "The prices are a little large. Are they really taking that much revenue away from the racetrack?
"The real shame is if you've got someone who can't afford to pay for them," he continued. "Water is a commodity that should be available to everyone for free."
Like other cultural phenomena under constant pressure to raise the bar of entertainment -- from Hollywood movies to Major League Baseball -- NASCAR will continue delivering what people want, as long as they're willing to pay for it.
New track, new guard
NASCAR's changes and its new fans don't really bother Bernie Rauguth, who came to Chicagoland Speedway from St. John, Ind., with sons Chris and Kyle and family friend Preston Dahl.
After all, each generation for his family means indoctrinating new fans into the sport.
"It's great," he said. "The more the merrier. It seems to be catching up to the popularity down South. Down there, they eat, sleep and drink racing."
As for the new track, Rauguth said it compares favorably to other speedways he's visited, including Michigan International Speedway; Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte (actually located in Harrisburg, N.C.); Daytona International Speedway, and Talladega Superspeedway.
Given the family's previous experience, they knew arriving near racetime wouldn't be a wise move.
So they arrived at the track at 7:30 a.m., six hours before the gentlemen started their engines.
"We've been to enough races to know what happens when you come late," he said.
They also knew the danger of hot sun and little shade.
Like others in the stands who used battery-operated fans, water-soaked headbands and neck-covering bandanas, the Rauguths prepared with sunscreen and plenty of fluids.
"We'll drink a lot of water, and if it's a good race, we won't mind the heat," he said. "It's like the drivers say: It's not hot in the car if you're winning."
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