Bleacher Report - Articles by April Gates

NASCAR: Strong Enough For a Man, But Made For a Woman

April Gates — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:38:03 -0400

I know NASCAR got it's start in the South and with a majority following of rough and tumble men at the heart of it.

A few weeks ago I had a light bulb moment. You know an idea so good and bright, the light bulb over your head lights up.

Yes, one of those.

It was during the race at Infineon in Sonoma, California.

Admittedly a race that isn't usually my favorite.

Of course as anyone who knows me will attest, the only reason I'm sure it became a watchable race is because my driver, Kasey Kahne, road coursed his way to victory that fine day.

As I sat and watched the race, I was Twittering updates and comments to my fellow race friends.

Yes, I admit I'm a bit of a technological junkie, but that's another story for another day.

So as I Twittered away in my happy place, I got an RT from my BFF. (You know, a Return Tweet from my Best Friend Forever.)

She could feel my excitement and wanted to know what channel the race was on. After several minutes she responded with excited tweets of her own.

But here's a little background on my BFF.

She's into the Lakers.

She and her family are heavy into basketball.

She's not into NASCAR.

Being the great BFF she is, and with basketball season over, she decided to give my excitement for NASCAR a try.

She marveled at how intense the racing was.

She critiqued the other drivers and their racing abilities.

She asked questions.

Before she knew it, she was-dare I say it—enjoying the race. When the checkered flag dropped, she was just as celebratory for Kasey's victory as I was!

Within minutes of a usually boring road race, a new NASCAR fan and a new Kasey Kahne fan was born.

So that got my wheels turning.

Growing up on the West Coast, much less in the Central San Joaquin Valley where agriculture and farming are the way of life, how would your average everyday little girl find her way to NASCAR?

I grew up with an affection for racing.

Much like other admirers of the sport, I came by it naturally.

My grandfather had raced back in the late 40's on local tracks just for fun.

My father was a big Dale Sr. fan, and so the love of stock-car racing was passed on to me.

At the time my father didn't have sons, so onto the girls it went.

So when I got married 18 years ago, NASCAR wasn't a prerequisite, but it was high on the "what-we-need-to-have-in-common-before-I-marry-you" list.

Thankfully both my husband and I share an affection for NASCAR. He roots for Tony Stewart, but I don't hold it against him.

All kidding aside, how do gals not brought up with the love of racing find their way to NASCAR?

Well that answer is simple...those of us that do have the love, need to share it.

Share it LOUD and share it PROUD.

My BFF sees what fun my husband and I, and our guests, have when we are infield in Fontana for four days straight twice a year.

She sees the pictures.

She reads the blogs.

Now, she sees the Twitters.

After one simple afternoon she found out how great NASCAR really is.

I'm always thrilled and honored to read or hear about women in NASCAR.

As for being female fans of a sport like NASCAR, I say the more the merrier.

Spread the word.

What may have started out as our grandfather's sport is no longer that. It's quickly become a fantastic past time and a sport worthy of our attention.

Don't be afraid of choosing a driver and yelling with the men.

I've got my cow bells, driver gear, sun screen, and a blender full of margaritas.

Come on, get on the train ladies! We're infield bound, and we're the life of the party!

The Coke Zero 400: Again and Again

April Gates — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:23:48 -0400

NASCAR is NEVER boring. Especially when you've got veteran and multi-talented drivers like Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart vying for the lead.

Emotions can and usually do, run high on the track and outside the cars.

Emotional? How can NASCAR be considered an emotional sport?

If you've ever watched the drivers and crew before a race you'll notice most drivers begin to get really focused. Most quiet down and you can see the determination on their faces. Longer races are usually harder on the body and require longer pre-race prep time. Hydration, physical fatigue as well as mental fatigue, are all major factors of a race. Getting yourself emotionally prepared for the race is almost as important as physically prepared.

Once on track and never one to be outdone, Stewart is usually one to put the pedal down and push her for all she's got when it's crunch time. He doesn't usually disappoint himself or fans if at all possible.

Then there's Shrub—Kyle Busch.

Most often prone to hot-headed moves and emotional outbursts, all things that have at one time or another plagued ol' Mr. Stewart. He isn't likely to let off the gas or close his mouth, even when it might be best.

These two are so much alike when it comes to racing, but they are just at different points in their likeness, too.

Tony has somewhat mellowed and matured. I won't use the wine analogy, because frankly, wine could never be that hairy. But the difference is quite noticeable in him. Not as quick to outbursts, quieter in tone, but just as sassy when asked what he deems a silly question by a roving reporter. That will probably never change.

Shrub on the other hand is always a bit on the wreck-less side. He hasn't had the fine tuning that Tony has learned. I must believe that given time, Shrub will hone his skills.

Both are masterful drivers, with skills on the track that out-do most of their fellow drivers. Mistakes are not something that either admit to readily or that happen often.

So when the closing laps of the Coke Zero 400 began looming, both drivers had but one thought between them, "Get out of the way bud, I'm taking the checkers!" Those in the near vicinity be damned, we're gonna duel this out!

Here's where watching a NASCAR race can become emotional.

My driver who was running about 12th to 15th at this point, and vying for every position he can get before the checkers drop, becomes a casualty of the two running up front.

No one wants to see their favorite driver caught up in the melee of mangled autos. But every good NASCAR fan knows at some point it's going to happen. It's just the nature of the beast. It's just racing.

When it happens you're not ready for it.

No matter how small an accident it might be, it still pisses you off. At a track like Daytona where drafting is such a major component of being able to run up front, even the slightest ding in a front end can take enough air out of your sails to render you useless in the race.

No thanks to David Stremme's stellar driving abilities, Kasey Kahne overcame an incident early on and was able to keep himself on the the lead lap and get back up front. This was in part thanks to some great pit stops and good crew chiefing.

And that's where he was riding when the big one finally happened, and my emotions got involved.

Nevertheless, seeing it happen once is almost like seeing a ghost. You ask yourself, did I just see that? Did I see that right? Noooo!! And then, they play it again. And again. And again.

I missed it the moment it initially happened. Good thing for me they replayed it several hundred times, along with some callous commentary to go with it.

It was here that my husband tells me the severity of the accident and I look up to see them replaying it, but me only seeing it for the first time.

My emotions kick into high gear when after several minutes Kasey hasn't responded to Kole's questioning if he's OK. Kenny Francis chimes in and we are finally rewarded with a "that hurt" from Kasey, to which I respond with flowing tears.

Now a new emotion begins to emerge from me as I watch the post-accident coverage.

Anger.

I'm angry that the commentators aren't saying anything about those involved in the worst of the accidents, Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne. Are they OK? How badly are they injured? I really couldn't tell you because they had moved on to the Victory celebration only pausing from top five interviews long enough to show the accident again and again and to offer some ridiculous commentary to go along with it.

Even Darrel Waltrip had enough sense to be emotional, respectful and worried during the accident of the Daytona 500, that took our beloved Dale Sr. Is it unfair of me to ask the same thing of today's commentators?

I'm also angry at Kyle Busch.

I'm angry at him for making such a boneheaded move at such a critical point in the race. Why not just race him clean, door to door? Why the block? When does that EVER have the desired effect going those speeds?

Never.

My anger subsided at the poor doofus looking askew exiting his car to go on a manhunt for Tony Stewart. Why be mad at him? He just did what you would have done Shrub. He raced you fair and square. He didn't lift and kept the nose pointed at the finish line. All things you would have done were the roles reversed. After all that's just racin'.

Who would think to classify watching a NASCAR race as emotional? I guess for some it might not be, but for me, it really is.

Win, lose or draw. Angry, sad, happy or glad—that's NASCAR and that's why I love it!

NASCAR: Not Your Usual Loudon

April Gates — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:17:58 -0400

What is typical for one race may be atypical of another. Case in point: Loudon, NH and the 2009 Lenox Industrial Tools 301.

Despite having the field set with the points standings, what began with a rained-out qualifying ended up being a pretty exciting race on Sunday.

I wasn't able to watch from home, so it was a very different race.

A few things became apparent to me as the race began. First off, I realized that this was not going to be a fun race to watch because a) I was unable to watch from the comfort of my big comfy couch, and was without my race aids (my laptop with NASCAR.com's Raceview and in-car audio), and b) we're racing in Loudon.

Early on, I thought to myself, "Boy this is going to be a snooze-fest!" You know there are just times that I don't care to see Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson race one more lap, or win one more race.

Sometimes I think if I have to listen to one more race reporter talk about their stats I might have to stuff my ears with toilet paper.

Now, I know full well there are millions of people out there that just love those two, but I'm not really one of them. I understand that they aren't running the races for little ol' me, but occasionally I do like to see someone else win a race, or, at the very least, run up front for a spell.

I've always been a champion for the privilege of being able to listen to drivers/teams in-car audio communications. I think it's a real treat, and a great way to really hear what's going on with your driver's car. Why is that car slowing down? What adjustments are they going to make on the next stop? Why did they only take two instead of four?

A myriad of questions are answered each week just by listening to Kenny and Kasey talk on the radio. Not being able to hear the exchanges between driver and crew chief makes a huge difference in knowing what's going on with your driver while they are in the car and on the track, not to mention how that's affecting his race.

Watching a race without the benefit of in-car audio really affects how much I'm enjoying the race. Call me nosy, but I guess I just want to know it all.

What started off with rain being the biggest factor in no actual qualifying, ended the race as well. I'd say fifty laps into the race it became apparent that this wasn't going to be just your run-of-the-mill boring race at Loudon.

Rain was off in the distance, but was closing in fast, which made the drivers drive more aggressively, which in turn made for some pretty exciting racing.

As awful as it sounds, I like it when they wreck. Yes, I will admit, I get a perverse giggle when I see my least favorites out of the race or heavily damaged. I make no apologies, as long as no one is injured.

Who knew there would be a, "big one" at Loudon, but there was. I'm thankful my driver adeptly maneuvered through it safely. Without the benefit of in-car audio I wasn't able to hear Kole talk him through it, which I missed.

So when rain did finally become a factor in the outcome of the race, we were almost to the checkers. Thirty-something laps to go and it would have been over anyway.

Could young Logano have kept the rest of the pack at bay long enough to seal the deal? I think so.

He has one of the best crew chiefs out there in Greg Zippadelli. Zippy is a talented and very knowledgeable master atop the pit box. I have to say that young Logano's driving has greatly improved. He has been giving some solid performances on track, and his Chase points prove it.

So that brings to me the question: is it fair that when races are called for rain the leader at that point is the winner?

I know there are lots of folks out there who say no, but I'm gonna have to go with yes in this case.

Smart maneuvering, great pit strategy, great driving, and keeping your nose clean are all things that contributed to him being in the right place at the right time, and ultimately him being in the lead when the race was red flagged.

My driver has been the benefactor of that call before. Did I doubt his having earned the win regardless of how he got it? Nope. He raced his way there. The field didn't pull over and let him by. He drove his car there fair and square, just like Joey Logano did. He was in the right place at the right time, the lead.

After all, isn't that where they were all racing to anyway?

My Name Is April and I'm a Hypocrite

April Gates — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 22:14:05 -0400

Let me start by saying I don't like the taste of crow. Apparently I'll be getting used to that flavor very quickly.

Only mere hours ago, I lamented the fact that there wasn't anything remotely interesting to me about a road course. The NASCAR gods decided today would be the day that I would eat those words.

Only hours after uttering those words, my driver went on to win the race on yes. You guessed it—on a road course.

My driver, Kasey Kahne, fought one of the hardest battles he's faced in a very long time on the track to take the checkers at Infineon Raceway for the Toyota/SaveMart 350.

I'm what could conservatively been classified as an "obsessed NASCAR fan." Yes, I have driver apparel. Yes, I have personalized plates indicative of my favorite driver. Yes, I travel and attend several NASCAR races a year. Yes, I foam at the mouth when someone disparages my driver. So to be sure, I take my NASCAR very seriously.

So serious in fact that I am willing to submit myself to sitting in 1000 degree heat, drive hours on end, and plan vacations around races just to watch a race. There's something so riveting and exhilarating about watching one in person.

But certain tracks I think might be better appreciated by watching from the comfort of my big comfy couch—such as today's race in Sonoma, Calif. I will admit—I watched, and dare I say I enjoyed the race today. It was as if someone were out to prove a point to me.

There I sat, laptop ablaze with Raceview and IM (to fellow Kasey fans and friends to discuss race status), iPhone with Twitter updates from friends and race teams, and the very important in-car audio from Team No. 9 streaming into my brain (yes, my husband tells me frequently what a dork I am).

I sat for every single lap. Every single caution. Until a strange thing happened. I realized that I had forgotten I didn't like road courses! But I could barely hear it over my screaming and yelling, whoopin' and hollerin' about how much I was loving this race.

I guess the differences like watching with all the accoutrement's of home—laptop, 50" plasma, in-car audio, IM's—are what made this type of race palatable. I guess maybe the next time I spout about not liking a certain type of track in person, I should reserve judgement until I watch it from home...and my driver wins the race.

Congratulations Team Kasey Kahne and RPM!!

There, that wasn't so bad after all.

Road Course: Friend or Foe?

April Gates — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:13:22 -0400

While I pride myself on being a long time NASCAR fan, there are a few things about myself that I know I'm skewed on. Major instance being, I can not stand road course races! None of them. Infineon, Watkins-Glen or Montreal.

There just isn't anything remotely appealing to me about them.

You can't see everything. The sounds are different. Things aren't user friendly when you're track side.

My very first race as a paying fan was Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA—June 2005. I was a guest of our local Dodge dealer. My husband and I were fortunate enough to enjoy the pre-race festivities inside the Dodge Dealers tent that included a Q&A with the Dodge drivers.

What an experience!

Then came the race itself. It was such a letdown after such great pre-race experiences. I had a great view of Turn two. I saw Dale Jr. spin it and wreck out right in front of me. I was able to get some great pics of that, but don't ask me what happened in Turns five, eight, or 11, because I couldn't see it!

So with Infineon upon us again, I got to thinking: What do road courses offer us? Why do we have them? Are they necessary to our sport?

I understand the diversity that making a right turn can bring to a NASCAR driver. After 34 races of left turns I suppose a race with some right turns might be a novel change. From what I know of the car set up...very different.

Everything on a road course car is completely different than an oval track car. Infineon offers a plethora of different bankings, curves, corners, speeds, gearing ratios—you name it, and they have it. But from a fan perspective, it's the pits! I suppose if you sat atop the hill where the spotters sit, you might have a decent view of most of the track, I'm assuming. I like being able to sit and see everything happening on the track.

Whether it's atop my trailer in the infield or atop my grandstand seats—I want to be able to see it happen when it happens!

I also mention the sounds are different on a road course. I wasn't aware there was a difference until I attended my first race at California Speedway in Fontana. There is no comparison.

That long drawn out beautiful sound of 850 horses running full speed round and round is exhilarating. That sound of 43 cars going wide open on the back stretch in Fontana is something that can't be duplicated. I love that sound.

I realize that these are only my opinions. These are the issues that I feel so strongly about. I can't seem to find any reason for road courses to be included in our schedule. What am I missing? I can't be the only one that thinks these things.

My answers are strictly pertinent to me...or are they?