NASCAR Spotters

As a relatively new fan of NASCAR, I'm starting to learn some of the little intricacies of the sport. When I first started watching NASCAR, I had no idea who all those voices belonged to that instructs each driver over his headset. I always figured it was his crew chief and maybe some people in his pits, but that was a little confusing because I've actually been in the pits at a local race track for a newspaper story I did last year and a person doesn't even have full few of the cars from the pits as the cars make their way around the track.

Recently, I learned that sometimes the drivers are communicating with their crew chief, but all drivers also communicate with their "spotter." Spotters are guys who climb the bleachers in the grandstands and they go as high as they need to so they can get the best view of the entire track. As the race progresses, the spotters inform their drivers when they have a car breathing down their neck, when one is about to pass—and where that car is located (high or low), which direction to go when a wreck occurs in front of them, and many other useful tidbits of information—including the track position of rivals, and maybe which line is working best for the fastest cars.

In a way, spotters remind me of friends. They have a better view on our lives than do. They don't always know our motivations, but they can see our actions, and if they are good friends, they can see when we need a little pep talk to get back on track or they can warn us of impending danger. And when we appear to be on the right track, they can simply celebrate with us. But I'm not all that sure that we enjoy having people that close to us. It can be unnerving.

I've admitted that to a couple of my friends in the past, but at the same time, it's a wonderful thing to have people watching out for you. Not because they want to judge you, but because they love you and they truly want what's best for you—even when, and maybe even especially when, we aren't as concerned about what's best, but rather, what's easiest.

At times, exchanges between NASCAR drivers and their spotters can be a little heated. A spotter might see that his driver isn't running on a line that is most beneficial, but in the driver's stubbornness, he ignores his spotter's advice, and he stays with the line that he wants to run. Invariably, his pride costs him positions later in the race.

How much better off would all of us be if we listened to friends a little more closely?

UPDATE: I received a nice e-mail from Clance over at The Church of the Great Oval letting me that I made an error in this post and I want to correct it. Here's what he said: "Your comparison of a spotter and driver, and dependence on our friends (though obviously a perspective of a new NASCAR fan... Spotter's views keep the driver's alive. Not just running a line. Drivers don't choose to ignore their spotters ever. Ignoring a spotter would mean death. (Mistakes… timing… reflexes… not ignoring… ) was a nice analogy."