March 9, 2018 • 39 mins
Sure, we've watched Pixar's Cars a few times. But doesn't mean we know anything about racing. Will and Mango dive into the strangely boozy origins of NASCAR, why you might need a yacht to enjoy Formula One, and how driver Dick Trickle made sure every race got off to a smoking start. (Spoiler: it involved drilling a couple holes in his helmet.)
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I guess what, Well, what's that? Ma? So I'm not
(00:02):
really into car racing, you know this? I mean I
have watched Talladega Nights. I'm also familiar with Pixars Cars
Movie and Cars too, So actually know, I say that
basically I'm an expert, but I think you are an expert.
That's fair to say. But as we're looking into the
strange origins of NASCAR and F one this week, I
actually stumbled into this story about TLC's NASCAR Wives reality show.
(00:24):
Have you heard about this? I haven't. Was this like
Jersey Shore Real Housewives or what? Yeah? I mean that
was kind of the idea, but they wanted to play
on stereotypes and have all the usual drama you have
baked into these things. And the hope was that I
would appeal to all the NASCAR fans out there. But
they actually had to cancel the show because the wives
got along too well. Isn't that great? That actually kind
(00:44):
of makes me like NASCAR even more. I know, but
today's show is really for outsiders like us, Like what
makes NASCAR and F one racing so appealing? And why
do people bring their yachts to one type of car
race while families caravan to the other and that's what
today's shows all about. So let's dive in hei their
(01:21):
podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson
and as always I'm joined by my good friend man
guest Ticketer. And on the other side of the soundproof glass,
he's the only guy who wears driving gloves while seated
at a soundboard. That's our friend and producer Tristan McNeil.
I mean, in all fairness to Tristan, his chair does
have wheels on it. That's a good point. I didn't
think about that well either way. It's it's nice when
(01:42):
he gets into the spirit of the day's topic. And
you know, as you might have guessed, for this episode,
we're headed off to the races and we're gonna take
a look at two of the world's most popular motor sports.
Now we're talking NASCAR and Formula One, But even though
those sports may seem similar on the surface, each one
has its own very distinct style, history and fan base.
So today we're going to break down the differences and
(02:04):
really try to get a sense of how these vastly
different racing institutions have managed to share the road For
I guess it's about seven decades now, so you know,
a few years back, I was chatting with our friend
Dan Riley, who has written some amazing stories on F
one for g Q, and one of the things he
told me was that when this F one champ came
to the US, he was actually taking selfies of himself
(02:24):
in Penn Station in New York City and no one
recognized him. He's like this insane superstar. And apparently the
TV audience for the races there is like five million viewers,
which is like five Super Bowls. I mean, I mean,
it's incredible. But in the US he's totally anonymous. Actually,
the other thing he told me was that Dan actually
got to send in the passenger seat as the driver
(02:45):
drove on an F one test course in Jersey City.
But he was driving a minivan, and he said he
was terrified, Like the driver knew exactly how to handle
all the curves and corners and straightways, but he was
in total control. But still a minivans shouldn't go that fast.
How that is terrifying. I can't say that I've ever
driven my minivan as fast as he was probably drying,
(03:07):
but you're right, I mean, they have such different audiences.
I actually remember going to Austin one year. I think
we were presenting it south By Southwest that year, and
I was talking to the clerk at the rental car
place and just made a comment just in passing that
South Buy has to be one of the worst times
of year for you, right, And he actually said, it's
nothing compared to when they have the F one races,
because you know, not only is there this insane crowd there,
(03:30):
but all these rich people just come in and buy
up all the houses so they have a place to party.
I was like, so what do they do with them
after that? And he said they actually just sell them
a couple of months later. Like the audience is just
that rich and it's kind of insane. But that's what
makes the comparison between the two sports so interesting. And
I didn't realize before this episode that NASCAR and F
(03:52):
one they actually pretty much came up together mid century.
And you know, NASCAR was officially incorporated in the US
and nine, and then Formula one was just a couple
of years later than that in Europe. That's crazy, Like
I never would have imagined that NASCAR was older than
Formula One, but It is interesting to think about those
like early post war years and how I guess like
(04:12):
the whole world was just itching to get back to
friendlier competitions, and I'm sure they were also curious to
see what some of the new technology could do when
it was put to more fun uses. Well, you know,
there's a lot of obvious stuff that's similar between the two,
But I do think we should probably talk about, you know,
what sets NASCAR and f one apart from each other
before we get too deep into their history. So for starters,
(04:33):
we definitely need to take a look at the cars themselves,
since that's ultimately where the biggest differences lie. So you know,
right off the bat, it's it's easy to tell enough
one car from a NASCAR just by the shape of
the car. You've got these nascars that look a little
bit more like the kind of car you see on
the road every day, you know, the boxy, more enclosed
kind of sedan type vehicle. And you know, I actually
(04:54):
think your car may even have the Giant Tide logo
on the front. I think, how great would it be if,
like Giant Cup, they started sponsoring people's daily commutes, Like
if teachers didn't have to pay for the gas to
go to work because it was all covered by folders
or something. It'd be great in factual the car design.
You know, I love boxing cars as a former Volvo
station Wagon driver, but F one racers are the ones
(05:15):
that look completely different than what you or I would drive, right, Yeah,
I mean there may be what most people would think
of when you're trying to picture a race car, and
they have that kind of that narrow open cockpit design
and the wheels that stick out to the sides, and
the big spoiler on the back, and overall they tend
to just look more sleek than their NASCAR counterparts. And
and that sleek design is actually crucial because in F
(05:37):
one racing, the aerodynamics that's really of equal importance to
the power of the engine. So everything about the car
is designed to minimize the drag and maximize the speed.
And this also means that Formula one cars tend to
be much lighter. So looking at it's about fift undred
pounds on average for an F one car, and that's
compared to over three thousand pounds for a typical NASCAR
(05:59):
so it's twice as heavy when you're talking about a
NASCAR that's funny, And I've actually read that like F
one drivers tend to be lighter, like they're like five
eight in size and and on the lighter side. But
like looking at that weight comparison, like my expectation would
be the F one cars will be faster than NASCAR cars, right,
well not really. I mean the lighter weight and sleeker
design of the F one racers means, you know, they
(06:19):
can actually achieve these high speeds with less powerful engines.
But they do tend to be a little bit faster
than nascars, and both kinds of vehicles top out in
the range or around two hundred miles an hour. But
you can actually push an F one to two hundred
five or even as high as two hundred fifteen miles
an hour without as much trouble. That's crazy, and that
(06:39):
is terrifying to me, like those sorts of speeds. But
you know what's funny, Like I was thinking about the
cars cars to actually pick, and I just assumed that
they made the F one cars in the NASCAR cars
about the same speed because it would appeal to American audiences.
I didn't realize that it would be like factually accurate
that there's the same, but cars too is very factually
accurate of them. Credit well, Pixars great at that, Like
(07:01):
even up like that movie they actually used the number
of balloons that would lift that house, like theyd with engineers.
But that's pretty But I I do think there's something
that's like exponentially more dangerous about driving than anything else
we do in our day. And I can't imagine like
driving at two hundred or two hundred five miles per hour.
(07:21):
It just seems insane. Yeah, and you know, an F
one racing in particular, it was actually a pretty deadly
sport when it first started. In fact, just looking at
the numbers that there were thirteen drivers that were killed
in the first decade of Formula one races alone. And
but but thankfully, you know, these safety standards have been
greatly improved over the years. And actually no one has
died behind the wheel of an F one car since
(07:43):
n so we're talking decades now since there's been a fatality.
That's pretty impressive. I wouldn't have imagined that. And of course,
if we're going to talk about the danger aspect of
high speed motorsports, we should also talk about something that
goes hand in hand with it, which is the spectacle
it provides, right, because, like you said at the top
of the show, these are two of the biggest motor
sports in the world, both in terms of revenue and
(08:04):
in fan bases. All right, So I looked into this
on the Formula one side, and it really is an
international sport in terms of its audience. So you've got
twenty or so annual races that make up the Grand
Prix series, and those actually take place in nineteen different countries,
which is pretty remarkable, and you've got up to three
und thousand people gathering for a single event. Now, in
(08:25):
terms of overall viewership, that's what you mentioned earlier. You've
got nearly half a billion people that watch at least
fifteen minutes of F one racing at some point during
any given season, and that's according to BBC's top Gear.
But you know, when you add up all the revenue
from ticket sales and advertising that F one industry makes
roughly about one and a half billion dollars a year,
(08:45):
which isn't too shabby. And okay, so F one racing
definitely has global appeal on its side. But here in
the US, there's no question that NASCAR reigns supreme. In fact,
about seventy five million American adults consider themselves NASCAR fans,
which is one in every three people, and of that
huge pool of fans, about three point five million crand
(09:06):
the cells into speedways around the country every year. Meanwhile,
NASCAR races are also broadcast to a hundred and fifty countries,
which helps drum up about three billion dollars in sponsorship money. Well,
I'm curious, like, did you get a sense for who
these fans are? I mean, and NASCAR fans tend to
be stereotyped pretty hard. I mean, you know, as people
from the rural South or mill America who are wide
(09:27):
and lower income. But I'm kind of hoping there's a
little more nuanced there than most people might guess. Yeah,
it's kind of interesting, and we'll talk about the statistics
in a second. But I know we've both driven to
the brickyard because we ended up on work trips in Indianapolis.
But you know, you're so close to Talladega and Birmingham.
Have you ever actually gone to a race. I've never
actually been to a race, and I've driven past Talladega
(09:49):
so many times. It's It's right in between the two
cities that I spend a lot of time in between,
you know, Birmingham where I'm from, in Atlanta, where offices are,
and every time I go buy they have these massive
flags that are flying nearby, and it's just such an
interesting place, and I've always wanted to go to a race.
But there is one thing that I observe every single
time I go by there, and I'm really curious to
(10:09):
look this up, but I think they might be on
the running for the largest gathering of porta potties in
the world. I mean, it is unbelievable. If you drive
by there on a race week, I swear it seems
like there are just thousands of these things out there.
So I kind of want to look into this at
some point, just to see if they might have that
claim to fame. I like that NASCAR, you know, followers
(10:32):
are just like you and me. They also use the
bathroom they too, you know, we're all alike, Mango. There's
so much that that makes us in common. So I
didn't find any statistics about that toilet situation you're talking about,
but I did find some statistics on NASCAR fans in
an Atlantic article and while some of the stereotypes we
commonly associated with NASCAR are borne out by the numbers,
some definitely aren't. So for instance, two political polling groups
(10:56):
found that of all American voters identified themselves NASCAR fans,
and sixty percent of those fans live outside the southeast US.
I definitely wouldn't have predicted that, So, like, of all
American voters are NASCAR fans, that is unbelievable. All right,
so it's maybe more geographically diverse than we might have thought.
But what about other stuff like income and gender and ethnicity,
(11:19):
Like our NASCAR fans more diverse in those areas too, well,
yes and no, So the stereotype about most NASCAR fans
being white is certainly true, and in fact, gorn to
Nielsen's data, NASCAR's audience actually has the highest share of
white people among all broadcast sports. It's a whopping percent,
like I couldn't believe. But that said, NASCAR also boasts
(11:40):
the highest share of female viewers. Thirty seven percent of
its audience is made up of women, And even in
terms of finance, like, there's a greater degree of variety
than we've been told. So, for example, of the voters
who self identify as NASCAR fans, forty two percent earned
between forty thousand and a hundred thousand a year, which
means like a good chunk of NASCAR fans are wealthier
(12:01):
than the average American. And to be frank like everyone
drivers have actually talked about it. They claimed they're envious
of some of the NASCAR audience because it's more of
a sport that families can watch together and instead of
something that feels like a little colder and just about status.
And even the drivers like they're more approachable. M well,
all right, So, so public opinion maybe a little off
(12:22):
base about NASCAR fans and in some ways, and I
guess pretty accurate in others. And I do like that
the sports styles itself is something made by and and
four ordinary people. I mean, you think about it, there's
no Lamborghinis or Ferraris in the sport, and in said
you're gonna find these cars by like Ford and General Motors,
And of course they've been modified after the facts that
they can hold their own on these races, but there's
(12:43):
still somewhat of the level of familiarity there, and I
guess it does make the sport feel more approachable no kidding.
You know, I've never been to either NASCAR F one race,
and I'd actually love to go to both. But my
friend Jeremy once told me that you'd actually see Amish
families come it over downs to watch races, and I
think that's kind of amazing, right, like something I never
would have guessed. But I also don't think you'd find
(13:04):
the Amish going to F one racist, so right. I
knew you were talking about the wealth that would find Austin,
but I read this one article that said the yachts
people bring to Monaco or Belgium or wherever are a
hundred fifty million dollar boats, which is insanity, and you wonder,
like why they're dropping so much on a boat, and
the author's answer was, well, you need something to take
(13:25):
to your private islands. Yeah. I mean it makes a
good point. You got you gotta get there somehow, I know.
But like that audience feels like such a barrier of
entry to me. I mean, like Formula one just feels
as elitist as it gets. Yeah, I mean that that
sounds pretty accurate. And I've heard the sports compared, like
you know, like hot dogs versus or derves or sometimes
you know, beer versus champagne when you're thinking about the
(13:47):
difference between the two. So obviously I get the connection
between beer and NASCAR, but like champagne actually has a
connection with Formula one, right, oh definitely. I mean, you know,
the idea of popping champagne bottles has long been associated
with huge wins or winning championships and sports, and and
actually that act of celebration got it start from F
one racing. So this goes back to nineteen fifty. This
(14:09):
is when the first French Grand Prix was held in
the country's Champagne region, and naturally, because of where it
was held, the winner of that year's race was presented
with this bottle of the regions trademark beverage. And actually
that's a custom that's still around the day. I mean,
that's a little like how a Federer won a milking
cow for a winning a tennis tournament in Switzerland. I think,
did that really happen? Yeah? You didn't know what to
(14:29):
do with it. I can I can imagine, like you
wanna pack it and take it on the plane or what,
But so so so the winner just emptied the bottle
into the crowds or something like that seems like something
that would have really ticked off the audience. Well not really.
I mean the first time in F one racers sprayed
the crowd with the champagne happened. It was really more
like a decade later, I think it was in the sixties,
(14:49):
and and the locals were okay with it because you know,
this was actually a mistake. And so Nick Carvel had
this great article on it and g Q, and he
described the event this way, says, upon winning the twenty
four Hours of Laman in nineteen sixty six, Joe Sifford
accidentally sprayed the crowd as the bottle of champagne had
been sitting out in the sun, causing pressure to build
up inside the magnum. The next year, Californian racer Dan
(15:13):
Gurney deliberately copied Stiffer's gesture when he won the same race,
and a tradition was born, which is awesome, but like
a magnum, like that's two wine bottles right, Well, actually
it's even more nowadays. So currently F one winners receive
a full Jereboma champagne for the big win. So wait,
what's a jerivon? Well, it's actually the equivalent of four
standard wine bottles, so all the better to soak the crowd,
(15:36):
what I guess. But for anyone who wants to re
enact their favorite F one victories, the official champagne of
the league is the g h Mom cordon Rouge, so
you can score your own jereboma of it for about, yeah,
like four hundred bucks. So I can definitely see where
the NFL just sticks with buckets of Gatorade. But you know,
Formula one isn't the only motorsport with boozy roots, and
(15:57):
in fact, it is actually a strong case for thinking
of NASA car as an unintended product of the prohibbsion era.
You know, I've read something about this before, but I
didn't really get the full story. So do do you
mind just kind of walking us through this? Definitely, But
first let's take a quick break. You're listening to Part
(16:26):
Time Genius and we're talking about the ins and outs
of NASCAR, So I go, drinking and driving definitely don't
go well together. But you're actually saying there's a connection
between the two that somehow gave rise to NASCAR. Yeah, so,
decades before NASCAR came along, apple Achian bootleggers began running
homemade whiskey up and down the East Coast during Prohibition,
and many of these guys were family farmers You'd fallen
(16:46):
on hard times and turned to moonshine as a way
to keep their heads above water. And of course, desperate
or not, what they were doing was very, very illegal,
so it helped to have a car that could make
some serious tracks whenever they crossed paths with federal agents.
So the biggest godsend for these bootleggers actually came from
Henry Ford in two and that's because that's the year
(17:06):
he debuted the V eight engine. This is kind of
a weird connection though, because it wasn't Ford a teetotaler.
I mean, I actually think I've read that he made
all his employees take a temperance pledge just to work
in his factories, right, Yeah, so he wouldn't have been
too pleased to learn that his flagship engine was basically
driving the bootlegging business. But the V eight was perfect
(17:26):
for it, like it was fast enough to evade the
law and tough enough to withstand the strain of all
those mountain roads. And of course bootleggers didn't stop there
for added security. They actually started souping up their cars
with all these features straight out of like a speed
racer cartoon. What I mean, like, I'm imagining the ability
to like press a button and spray oil all over
the road or stuff like that. Yeah, so, I I
(17:48):
know you're joking, but I mean oil slicks, smoke screens,
you name it. Like they even rigged up that classic
gag where like a bucket of taxes spilled out onto
the road straight out of super Mariot cars. Seriously, except
like they were high tailing away from the cops. And also,
this is a little aside, but I remember this from
mental flass that when like bootleggers would be on the
run and have to flee their cars, they actually had
(18:10):
these shoes made that had hoofprints on them. So basically
they'd leave these deer tracks in the mud instead of
shoot prints. Isn't that like super crafty? It is crafty.
But I think we've got a little off track here, Like,
so what does this have to do with NASCAR. Well
before provision even ended, some of the bootleggers had started
having these informal races, you know, just for kicks. That
does make sense. I mean, you've got all these tricked
(18:32):
out cars, it does seem like it'd be pretty tempting
to have some fun with them, exactly. And and then
in the nineteen thirties, like bootleggers started taking their moonshine
mobiles to the local racetracks and even county fairgrounds, and
that's where they really started to build an audience, and
eventually like tens of thousands of people would show up
to some of these races. All right, so this is
kind of like the birth of stock car racing in America.
(18:53):
But the actual formalized NASCAR league that does it also
have its ties with bootleggers. It does. So racing had
become an organized sport by the nineties, and most of
the people involved in it had connections to bootlegging in
one form and another. There's actually a great book about
this called Real Nascar, and it talks about just how
much of the sport owes to moonshiners. So the author
(19:14):
rights quote. What most chroniclers of stock car racing and
NASCAR have failed to note is that a large percentage
of the early mechanics, car owners, promoters, and track owners
had deep ties to the illegal alcohol business. It would
not be an exaggeration to say that the sport was
built on the proceeds of the manufacturer transport and sales
of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of cases of liquor, right,
(19:38):
I mean, that's amazing. So even if they weren't bootleggers themselves,
like the mechanics definitely knew they were working on bootleggers cars,
and similarly, all these track owners they were taking cuts
from illegal sales in exchange for use of their track.
That connection definitely goes much deeper than I would have expected.
So so what about the drivers though, Like, did any
bootleggers go on to become NASCAR drivers? Absolutely, And one
(20:00):
of the most famous is Junior Johnson, who came from
a long line of North Carolina bootleggers and went on
to become a NASCAR Hall of Famer and team owner.
There's actually a great old story about him in Esquire,
and he and plenty of other former Moonshiners were recruited
as drivers in the late forties by a fellow stock
car driver, this guy named Bill France, Sr. And France
actually became an important figure in all this. He started
(20:21):
promoting his drivers at different races in the Daytona Beach area,
but he was soon annoyed by how much the racing
rules varied from one event to another. So in December
of France actually called him meeting of all the top
stock car drivers and he got the mechanics and owners
to come in as well, and they all discussed how
to standardize the rules, and by the end of the meeting,
they agreed to form the National Association for Stock Car
(20:44):
Auto Racing, which is NASCAR. So that's what it stands for. Okay, yeah, definitely.
And and Bill France Senior became the first president of
NASCAR once the league was officially incorporated, this is in February.
Under his leadership, the sport began to distance itself from
its boot like roots, and they started going after corporate
sponsorships and you know, building a wider audience. And by
(21:05):
the time his son, Bill Frands Junior took over the
presidency in nineteen seventy two, NASCAR had become this incredibly
popular regional sport in the South. But it was Bill Jr.
Who really made the sport huge. He had this three
decade run as president and that's when the sport transformed
into the multibillion dollar global industry. That that's what you
know that today. And I'm guessing like sponsorship probably played
(21:28):
the biggest role in this transition. Huh. Yeah. So the
turning point of that actually came in nineteen seventy and
that's when Junior Johnson approached the R. J. Reynolds tobacco company.
So Johnson had retired as a driver by this point,
but he stayed in the league as an owner, and
he hoped that the cigarette company might want to sponsor
his car in the upcoming season. So, I mean, why,
why would this be an unprecedented move? Was it just
(21:50):
that it was a tobacco company or what? So I
looked into this because I was confused about it too.
But the thing is, like President Nixon had actually signed
a bill in April nineteen seventy that had banned all
cigarette advertising on TV beginning of the following year, So
Johnson knew the company would be looking for new ways
to spend its advertising budget the next year. And of course,
Johnson liked to live dangerously, you know, like cigarette advertising
(22:13):
didn't bother him at all. But R. J. Reynolds was
a long shot. Like until that point, most of NASCAR
sponsorships were limited to local or regional businesses, and a
company as big as R. J. Reynolds with would be
like a huge win for the sport. But instead of
just sponsoring like one car, Reynolds decided to turn down
that offer and they put their money behind a hundred
thousand dollar championship series called the Winston Cup. It was
(22:35):
this super smart marketing move for them, and until two
thousand three it remained the top series in NASCAR until
it took on a new sponsor. It became the next
Heel Cup and then like it changed hands to the
Sprint Cup, and I think it's now like the Monster
Energy Cup, the Monster Energy Cup. Well, you know, if
Booze and cigarettes acted as NASCAR's backbone for the first
(22:56):
what three or four decades of its existence, like how
do we eventually get from the air two Tide and
Monster Energy drinks. So that change actually happened in the
mid eighties, and this is when Procter and Gamble decided
to sponsor a few cars with brands like Crisco and Folgers.
And this is when Tide comes into the mix as well.
And once other companies had heard how the logo branded
(23:17):
cars had boosted p ANDNG sales. They all decided to
throw their hats in the ring as well. So you know,
you fast forward thirty years and everything from like Cheerios
to spam too. Even the Cartoon Network is out a car.
It's amazing, and they've paid pretty handsomely for that honor.
Like I think of primary sponsorship, which is when the
logo is on the hood of a car and it's
(23:37):
also on the racing teams uniforms, that runs between ten
and twenty five million dollars. Wow, I mean, and so
is it worth it for these companies to spend that
much money? You know, you always ask these things, and
I looked into it. Put the market research bears out
like NASCAR fans are apparently three times more likely as
non fans to buy products from companies that sponsored their
(23:58):
sport of choice. And part of the reason is that
they're so attached to the drivers that they're also trashed
to the driver's sponsors. But another big part is just
how much exposure these brands get. So like the Las
Vegas Review Journal report that the average screen time for
a car's primary sponsor during a race, it's about twelve
and a half minutes. Like imagine how many millions of
(24:19):
dollars it would cost Eric commercial that long, and that
exposure only goes up if a sponsor's driver wins or
sadly Rex's car like in fact, a pr man for
the Richard Children's Racing team once told a reporter quote,
if you crash, crash fabulously, and make sure your logo
is not wrinkled up. So class all right, well speak
(24:39):
in which we should probably take some time now to
talk about the history of NASCAR is more posh counterpart.
But before we do that, let's take a quick break.
Welcome to Parts and Genius. All right, well, so what's
(25:02):
the story behind Formula One? Like was it started by
smugglers or maybe some jewel thieves? You know, that might
be a nice story, but there's actually no criminal component
for this one. And instead what we get with Formula
one is a professional racing league that really gradually grew
from those pioneering car races in France. That these were
taking place back before nineteen hundred. I mean think about that,
(25:22):
these were the earliest days of motor racing. So explain
this to me, Like, if racing was that popular from
the start over there, why did it take so long
for FLYN to be formalized. Well, it's actually because the
beginning of World War Two. You know, you had European
racing that had continued growing in popularity through the early
decades of the twentieth century, and this was right up
until the Germans began to dominate in the nineteen thirties.
(25:44):
So although there were plans for an official Formula one championship,
and they had already been discussed by this point, they
had to be set aside until after the war. So
once again there's a pesky world war that spoils are fun,
spoils all the fun. But you know, by nineteen forty six,
the term Formula one was formally defined and these plans
were put in motion for the Sports owned Drivers Championship.
(26:04):
Now it did take a few years to figure out
all the details, but it was in nineteen fifty that's
when the very first F one World Championship was finally held,
and this was at the Silverstone Circuit in England. Okay,
so don't laugh, but you just mentioned that Formula one
was officially defined at one point, and it occurs to
me that I have no idea what the term really means, Like,
does it refer to a certain kind of fuel the
(26:25):
cars use, or maybe a certain kind of motor oil.
Good guesses, but but actually not accurate on that. And
I can't laugh at you because I didn't know this
either until I looked it up. But you know, the
formula and Formula one racing actually refers to the rules
that govern the car's design. So you go back to
the beginning on this. That formula was taken from the
pre war regulations that really pertained the engine's capacity, and
(26:48):
it was first known as Formula A. Now, over the years,
the formula has been tweaked a good bit and now
it counts for both like new technology and environmental concerns,
but it's still based on the car's engine. So, for example,
the current formulas built around this hybrid power unit that
actually includes the turbo charge V six engine, but it's
electrically assisted by this power generated from kinetic energy as well.
(27:10):
Oh wow, And and do most F one teams build
and modify their own engines like NASCAR teams. Also, this
is an aside, but I think it's funny that F
one is so fancy, like partially because I remember that
in that documentary about Senna, the driver, which is honestly
so good. The way he came up in F one
was by raising go carts like go carts feel so
everyk in the world. I know, I love that. It
(27:31):
definitely feels that way. But you know what's funny is
that unlike NASCAR, there there really isn't much room for
improvisation enough one, And I kind of wonder if the
improv part is is maybe that American influence on the sport.
But instead you've got these eleven official F one teams
and they all get their power trains from one of
four engine manufacturers. So you've got Ferrari, Honda, Mercedes, Benz,
(27:53):
and Renault. And you know, even if a n F
one team doesn't build their own engine, they're still responsible
for much of the does sign of the car. And honestly,
I mean that's the part that seems to count for
the most in Formula one. Yeah. So, one thing I've
always heard about F one is the huge emphasis it
plays on like top of the line tech and this
efficient design. Like some people swear that the whole thing
(28:14):
is just this elaborate pet project of technicians and engineers
masquerading as a sport. It's almost like the racing is
secondary to these design teams getting to experiment and mess around. Well,
I mean, I think for some there's probably a lot
of truth to that. You know, many long time fans
really think the focus on the car itself has long
since eclips the actual drivers. And this is something that
(28:35):
first started happening back as early as the seventies. And
these cars had steadily grown faster and more sleek since
those very early days of the sport and all the
r and D for this constant quest to reduce drag
and increase cornering speeds, it was starting to get super expensive,
you know, so much so that by the seventies there
were really no private entries in this sport because it
(28:56):
was just so expensive. I mean, that's almost a shame.
I am curious though, like how much do these cars
actually cost? So it varies, of course, but a good
rule of thumb is to take a team's entire racing
budget for a year and then cut that in half.
So for the top teams, we're talking about spending upwards
of two hundred and fifty million dollars on the sport
each year. Yeah, so that's about a hundred and twenty
(29:19):
five million of that that goes towards the car for
that season, And even the bottom teams are dropping huge
dollars on this, anywhere from like twenty to fifty million
dollars on average. I mean, that's insanity to me. So
why are these so expensive? Like, are the materials just
that price? Well, it's not so much the individual parts
that cost so much. It's actually, you know, the entire
(29:40):
labor force needed to design and develop and and build,
and then even beyond that, just to constantly modify the product.
And at this massive amount of cash needed to keep
pace with the wealthier teams, it's actually really starting to
affect the outcomes of the races. If you look at
the highest ranking teams in the league, they also happen
to be the ones with the most money. And then
on the other around of the spectrum, the last place
(30:01):
finishers are typically the poorest teams. And there's no coincidence
to that. So I remember hearing that the cash prizes
in Formula one are among the highest in all of
organized sports. So couldn't it just be that the winning
teams are the richest because they're the ones that just
keep getting all the prize money. Well, you know, if
all the teams were starting on even footing, that might
be the case. But in reality, I mean, there are
(30:22):
different deals for different teams, and some of the longest
running ones get tens of millions of dollars just for
showing up to the race. It doesn't even matter if
they win, you know. And if you go back from
like Night one, all the way up to say two
thousand and thirteen, all the teams competed under the same
financial deal. But then what you started to see happening,
like these car manufacturers and long running legacy teams, they
(30:45):
started angling for these special privileges and unique deals, and
and so the league finally cave to this pressure because
it was actually afraid these big names would just walk
away from the sport. So there was a really interesting
article in the New York Times, and it was pretty
insightful in the way that it looked at this. This
was back in two thousand and sixteen. And there's one
part that sums up the problem pretty nicely. And I'll
(31:06):
just read this to you. It says today, even among
the top teams, financial success does not correspond directly with
success on the track. Mercedes does not receive as much
money as Ferrari, the Italian team that's been around since
Formula One start in nineteen fifty, and that receives seventy
million dollars a year because of that legacy. Ferrari special
payment just for taking part is more than the total
(31:29):
earnings of the bottom five teams and last year, oh man,
I mean that's a little discouraging. And I do wonder
if the average F one fan knows about these dealings, right, Like,
it seems like the kind of thing that could really
turn people off the sport. Well, definitely, And it all
goes back to that sense that the cars are the
true stars and F one not really the drivers. And
it's kind of a tough pill to swallow for a
(31:50):
lot of sports fans because there's so much of their
enjoyment that comes from reveling and human ability, So it
is kind of tough when they're treated as almost interchangeable
in the car itself is really the only constant. So
I I guess that makes sense, And I'd say that's
only partially true, right, Like they're they're obvious stars at
the sport, and you read about the seven minute pit
(32:10):
stops where humans are making all these like microscopic changes
to tire pressure and alignment to like corner a specific
term better. But I do get your point right, Like
nobody watches tennis to see their favorite racket in action.
I don't know, there's nothing more beautiful than a really
elegant racket. But you know what's funny is uh Andy
Roddick actually used to play with an old babble at racket,
(32:33):
but the company used to paint it to look like
a new model. It's so crazy playing with an old racket.
That's pretty weird. Yeah, because he just got accustomed to it,
all right. Well, back to what we were talking about here,
so that there's something I hope that the F one
League does take note of. And then this is for
the fans, like, because there's really a lot of skill
that goes into being a professional racer, and I don't
think most of us recognize that half as much as
(32:56):
we should. Really. Yeah. I found an Atlantic article that
was kind of written in defense of motorsports, and there
was one quote that really stuck with me. It was
about stock car racing, but I really think it applies
to all forms of motorsport, so I'm gonna pull it up.
It goes quote. The athletes who drive these cars, and
yes they are athletes even though they are sitting down,
(33:17):
must possess steel nerves, quick reflexes, highly developed small motor skills,
and the mental acuity to develop elaborate plans for dominating
a track crowded with cars that could kill them. And
true fans understand the complexity of the sport and can
discuss in great detail the combination of skills crucial for success. Well,
that kind of feels like the perfect place to leave
(33:38):
our discussion. But I do have a few more racing
facts dying to share these, So what do you say?
We had to the fact of m H. So, I
know people love to debate whether things like NASCAR are
actually sports, but I don't think there's any debating that
you have to be in good shape to withstand some
(33:58):
of what your body's experienced things. So I was looking
into some of the numbers, and first of all, the
temperature in the car and the NASCAR races often over
a hundred degrees and on turns the drivers are feeling
up to three g's of force on them. They means
three times the force of gravity. And also drivers are
losing up to ten pounds in sweat over the course
of a race. Ten pounds in sweat, Yeah, that's crazy.
(34:20):
I was actually looking at some of this too, And
it's not only these things, but like a driver's heart
rate typically stays between like hundred and twenty and a
hundred and fifty beats per minute throughout the race. Now
we're talking three hours from any of these races, and
so that's actually about the same as a serious marathon
runner over that period of time. And and I realized
this is about f one. But some of the drivers
(34:41):
can actually go two minutes without blinking. That's how intense
their concentration is. That's amazing. So here's a funny one.
I saw a fact that drivers in the major NASCAR
races all have to pass physicals and a drug test,
and I guess there's some sort of vetting process, but
one thing they're not required to show is a driver's license.
So technically you can have someone like tearing up the
(35:01):
tracks and nearly like two hundred miles per hour who
actually wouldn't be able to drive to the grocery store
after the race. I love the idea that that could
possibly happen. Well, so I've often wondered about the beating
that the car parts take during the races and how
long these parts last. Did you know the F one
car engines actually only last a couple of hours before
they just blow entirely. Like, that's a little bit shorter
(35:22):
than the fifteen to twenty years most of us expected
of our own car engines. And also, not surprisingly, the
tires only last about sixty or so miles in each race.
And that's incredible. Did you know there are actually no
air bags in Formula one cars? Wait? What is it
just like to add an extra element of danger or No,
it just turns out that there's so many other safety
mechanisms that are more effective at keeping the drivers safe.
(35:45):
So I mean, it would be nearly impossible for a
driver to be ejected from the car because of how
well they're strapped in, like the crazy protective helmets and
the five point harnesses which keep the drivers from slamming
into the front of the car, which is really the
main point of an air bag. And all this on
top of the fact that the driver is inside a
survival cell that's designed to protect them in the vent
of a crash. All right, Well, here's another one I
(36:06):
found so there are small planes that take off at
slower speeds than you'd find an F one car traveling
during a race. The aerodynamic science involved in creating that
downward force, you know, to keep them on the track.
It's actually pretty amazing. And by the way, F one
cars can go from zero to a hundred miles per
hour back to zero and about four seconds. What that's ridiculous.
(36:28):
So as it heads up, Well, one thing you do
not want to take with you to a race, if
you get a chance to sit on the infield, is
shelled peanuts. And there are many superstitions in racing, like
apparently green cars are bad luck, but one of the
weirdest is this one around peanut halls. So there's an
article in Snopes that claims that the tradition possibly dates
back to a race in n seven where peanut shells
(36:48):
were found in a few cars that all happened to
crash in the race. And there are a few other
stories that have contributed to this. But trust me, don't
bring those shelled peanuts. I know you love to crack
over the baseball games, right, Well, I've got to tell
you about my favorite NASCAR driver of all time and
that's Dick Trickle. I mean, his name alone is pretty
great and horrible at the same time. But so Dick
(37:10):
loves smoking so much that he drilled a hole in
his helmet so that he could smoke through his headgear.
And he even had a cigarette lighter installed into his
car because he didn't want to bother his pit crew
every time for all light. That's pretty great. So I
think you have to take home the prize with that one.
Thank you know. I think we did a pretty good
job in this episode of like debunking some of the
(37:30):
stereotypes and then we just came right back to it
with that last fact. But I'll take the victory either way.
I know we're both that much more excited to try
to get to a race. You know, we probably should
have come up with a contest like the listener that
gives us the best fact. We would actually come to
visit them and then they could pay for us to
go to a NASCAR race. Doesn't it seem reasonable to me?
(37:51):
Or let us get on your yacht and then we'll
go to a Formula One race together. But either way,
if we forgot some great facts, and I know we
did about either NASCAR or Formula one or any other
type of racing. We'd love to hear from you as always.
You can email us part Time Genius at how stuff
Works dot com. You can also call us on our
seven fact hotline that's one eight four four pt Genius,
(38:12):
or hit us up on Facebook or Twitter. We always
love hearing from you, but thanks so much for listening.
Thanks again for listening. Part Time Genius is a production
(38:33):
of How Stuff Works and wouldn't be possible without several
brilliant people who do the important things we couldn't even
begin to understand. Christa McNeil does the editing thing. Noel
Brown made the theme song and does the mixy mixy
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is our lead researcher, with support from the research Army
including Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and Lucas Adams and Eve
Jeff Cook gets the show to your ears. Good job, Eves.
(38:55):
If you like what you heard, we hope you'll subscribe,
And if you really really like what you've heard, maybe
you could leave a good review for us. Do we do?
We forget Jason Jason, who
I guess what, Well, what's that? Ma? So I'm not
(00:02):
really into car racing, you know this? I mean I
have watched Talladega Nights. I'm also familiar with Pixars Cars
Movie and Cars too, So actually know, I say that
basically I'm an expert, but I think you are an expert.
That's fair to say. But as we're looking into the
strange origins of NASCAR and F one this week, I
actually stumbled into this story about TLC's NASCAR Wives reality show.
(00:24):
Have you heard about this? I haven't. Was this like
Jersey Shore Real Housewives or what? Yeah? I mean that
was kind of the idea, but they wanted to play
on stereotypes and have all the usual drama you have
baked into these things. And the hope was that I
would appeal to all the NASCAR fans out there. But
they actually had to cancel the show because the wives
got along too well. Isn't that great? That actually kind
(00:44):
of makes me like NASCAR even more. I know, but
today's show is really for outsiders like us, Like what
makes NASCAR and F one racing so appealing? And why
do people bring their yachts to one type of car
race while families caravan to the other and that's what
today's shows all about. So let's dive in hei their
(01:21):
podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson
and as always I'm joined by my good friend man
guest Ticketer. And on the other side of the soundproof glass,
he's the only guy who wears driving gloves while seated
at a soundboard. That's our friend and producer Tristan McNeil.
I mean, in all fairness to Tristan, his chair does
have wheels on it. That's a good point. I didn't
think about that well either way. It's it's nice when
(01:42):
he gets into the spirit of the day's topic. And
you know, as you might have guessed, for this episode,
we're headed off to the races and we're gonna take
a look at two of the world's most popular motor sports.
Now we're talking NASCAR and Formula One, But even though
those sports may seem similar on the surface, each one
has its own very distinct style, history and fan base.
So today we're going to break down the differences and
(02:04):
really try to get a sense of how these vastly
different racing institutions have managed to share the road For
I guess it's about seven decades now, so you know,
a few years back, I was chatting with our friend
Dan Riley, who has written some amazing stories on F
one for g Q, and one of the things he
told me was that when this F one champ came
to the US, he was actually taking selfies of himself
(02:24):
in Penn Station in New York City and no one
recognized him. He's like this insane superstar. And apparently the
TV audience for the races there is like five million viewers,
which is like five Super Bowls. I mean, I mean,
it's incredible. But in the US he's totally anonymous. Actually,
the other thing he told me was that Dan actually
got to send in the passenger seat as the driver
(02:45):
drove on an F one test course in Jersey City.
But he was driving a minivan, and he said he
was terrified, Like the driver knew exactly how to handle
all the curves and corners and straightways, but he was
in total control. But still a minivans shouldn't go that fast.
How that is terrifying. I can't say that I've ever
driven my minivan as fast as he was probably drying,
(03:07):
but you're right, I mean, they have such different audiences.
I actually remember going to Austin one year. I think
we were presenting it south By Southwest that year, and
I was talking to the clerk at the rental car
place and just made a comment just in passing that
South Buy has to be one of the worst times
of year for you, right, And he actually said, it's
nothing compared to when they have the F one races,
because you know, not only is there this insane crowd there,
(03:30):
but all these rich people just come in and buy
up all the houses so they have a place to party.
I was like, so what do they do with them
after that? And he said they actually just sell them
a couple of months later. Like the audience is just
that rich and it's kind of insane. But that's what
makes the comparison between the two sports so interesting. And
I didn't realize before this episode that NASCAR and F
(03:52):
one they actually pretty much came up together mid century.
And you know, NASCAR was officially incorporated in the US
and nine, and then Formula one was just a couple
of years later than that in Europe. That's crazy, Like
I never would have imagined that NASCAR was older than
Formula One, but It is interesting to think about those
like early post war years and how I guess like
(04:12):
the whole world was just itching to get back to
friendlier competitions, and I'm sure they were also curious to
see what some of the new technology could do when
it was put to more fun uses. Well, you know,
there's a lot of obvious stuff that's similar between the two,
But I do think we should probably talk about, you know,
what sets NASCAR and f one apart from each other
before we get too deep into their history. So for starters,
(04:33):
we definitely need to take a look at the cars themselves,
since that's ultimately where the biggest differences lie. So you know,
right off the bat, it's it's easy to tell enough
one car from a NASCAR just by the shape of
the car. You've got these nascars that look a little
bit more like the kind of car you see on
the road every day, you know, the boxy, more enclosed
kind of sedan type vehicle. And you know, I actually
(04:54):
think your car may even have the Giant Tide logo
on the front. I think, how great would it be if,
like Giant Cup, they started sponsoring people's daily commutes, Like
if teachers didn't have to pay for the gas to
go to work because it was all covered by folders
or something. It'd be great in factual the car design.
You know, I love boxing cars as a former Volvo
station Wagon driver, but F one racers are the ones
(05:15):
that look completely different than what you or I would drive, right, Yeah,
I mean there may be what most people would think
of when you're trying to picture a race car, and
they have that kind of that narrow open cockpit design
and the wheels that stick out to the sides, and
the big spoiler on the back, and overall they tend
to just look more sleek than their NASCAR counterparts. And
and that sleek design is actually crucial because in F
(05:37):
one racing, the aerodynamics that's really of equal importance to
the power of the engine. So everything about the car
is designed to minimize the drag and maximize the speed.
And this also means that Formula one cars tend to
be much lighter. So looking at it's about fift undred
pounds on average for an F one car, and that's
compared to over three thousand pounds for a typical NASCAR
(05:59):
so it's twice as heavy when you're talking about a
NASCAR that's funny, And I've actually read that like F
one drivers tend to be lighter, like they're like five
eight in size and and on the lighter side. But
like looking at that weight comparison, like my expectation would
be the F one cars will be faster than NASCAR cars, right,
well not really. I mean the lighter weight and sleeker
design of the F one racers means, you know, they
(06:19):
can actually achieve these high speeds with less powerful engines.
But they do tend to be a little bit faster
than nascars, and both kinds of vehicles top out in
the range or around two hundred miles an hour. But
you can actually push an F one to two hundred
five or even as high as two hundred fifteen miles
an hour without as much trouble. That's crazy, and that
(06:39):
is terrifying to me, like those sorts of speeds. But
you know what's funny, Like I was thinking about the
cars cars to actually pick, and I just assumed that
they made the F one cars in the NASCAR cars
about the same speed because it would appeal to American audiences.
I didn't realize that it would be like factually accurate
that there's the same, but cars too is very factually
accurate of them. Credit well, Pixars great at that, Like
(07:01):
even up like that movie they actually used the number
of balloons that would lift that house, like theyd with engineers.
But that's pretty But I I do think there's something
that's like exponentially more dangerous about driving than anything else
we do in our day. And I can't imagine like
driving at two hundred or two hundred five miles per hour.
(07:21):
It just seems insane. Yeah, and you know, an F
one racing in particular, it was actually a pretty deadly
sport when it first started. In fact, just looking at
the numbers that there were thirteen drivers that were killed
in the first decade of Formula one races alone. And
but but thankfully, you know, these safety standards have been
greatly improved over the years. And actually no one has
died behind the wheel of an F one car since
(07:43):
n so we're talking decades now since there's been a fatality.
That's pretty impressive. I wouldn't have imagined that. And of course,
if we're going to talk about the danger aspect of
high speed motorsports, we should also talk about something that
goes hand in hand with it, which is the spectacle
it provides, right, because, like you said at the top
of the show, these are two of the biggest motor
sports in the world, both in terms of revenue and
(08:04):
in fan bases. All right, So I looked into this
on the Formula one side, and it really is an
international sport in terms of its audience. So you've got
twenty or so annual races that make up the Grand
Prix series, and those actually take place in nineteen different countries,
which is pretty remarkable, and you've got up to three
und thousand people gathering for a single event. Now, in
(08:25):
terms of overall viewership, that's what you mentioned earlier. You've
got nearly half a billion people that watch at least
fifteen minutes of F one racing at some point during
any given season, and that's according to BBC's top Gear.
But you know, when you add up all the revenue
from ticket sales and advertising that F one industry makes
roughly about one and a half billion dollars a year,
(08:45):
which isn't too shabby. And okay, so F one racing
definitely has global appeal on its side. But here in
the US, there's no question that NASCAR reigns supreme. In fact,
about seventy five million American adults consider themselves NASCAR fans,
which is one in every three people, and of that
huge pool of fans, about three point five million crand
(09:06):
the cells into speedways around the country every year. Meanwhile,
NASCAR races are also broadcast to a hundred and fifty countries,
which helps drum up about three billion dollars in sponsorship money. Well,
I'm curious, like, did you get a sense for who
these fans are? I mean, and NASCAR fans tend to
be stereotyped pretty hard. I mean, you know, as people
from the rural South or mill America who are wide
(09:27):
and lower income. But I'm kind of hoping there's a
little more nuanced there than most people might guess. Yeah,
it's kind of interesting, and we'll talk about the statistics
in a second. But I know we've both driven to
the brickyard because we ended up on work trips in Indianapolis.
But you know, you're so close to Talladega and Birmingham.
Have you ever actually gone to a race. I've never
actually been to a race, and I've driven past Talladega
(09:49):
so many times. It's It's right in between the two
cities that I spend a lot of time in between,
you know, Birmingham where I'm from, in Atlanta, where offices are,
and every time I go buy they have these massive
flags that are flying nearby, and it's just such an
interesting place, and I've always wanted to go to a race.
But there is one thing that I observe every single
time I go by there, and I'm really curious to
(10:09):
look this up, but I think they might be on
the running for the largest gathering of porta potties in
the world. I mean, it is unbelievable. If you drive
by there on a race week, I swear it seems
like there are just thousands of these things out there.
So I kind of want to look into this at
some point, just to see if they might have that
claim to fame. I like that NASCAR, you know, followers
(10:32):
are just like you and me. They also use the
bathroom they too, you know, we're all alike, Mango. There's
so much that that makes us in common. So I
didn't find any statistics about that toilet situation you're talking about,
but I did find some statistics on NASCAR fans in
an Atlantic article and while some of the stereotypes we
commonly associated with NASCAR are borne out by the numbers,
some definitely aren't. So for instance, two political polling groups
(10:56):
found that of all American voters identified themselves NASCAR fans,
and sixty percent of those fans live outside the southeast US.
I definitely wouldn't have predicted that, So, like, of all
American voters are NASCAR fans, that is unbelievable. All right,
so it's maybe more geographically diverse than we might have thought.
But what about other stuff like income and gender and ethnicity,
(11:19):
Like our NASCAR fans more diverse in those areas too, well,
yes and no, So the stereotype about most NASCAR fans
being white is certainly true, and in fact, gorn to
Nielsen's data, NASCAR's audience actually has the highest share of
white people among all broadcast sports. It's a whopping percent,
like I couldn't believe. But that said, NASCAR also boasts
(11:40):
the highest share of female viewers. Thirty seven percent of
its audience is made up of women, And even in
terms of finance, like, there's a greater degree of variety
than we've been told. So, for example, of the voters
who self identify as NASCAR fans, forty two percent earned
between forty thousand and a hundred thousand a year, which
means like a good chunk of NASCAR fans are wealthier
(12:01):
than the average American. And to be frank like everyone
drivers have actually talked about it. They claimed they're envious
of some of the NASCAR audience because it's more of
a sport that families can watch together and instead of
something that feels like a little colder and just about status.
And even the drivers like they're more approachable. M well,
all right, So, so public opinion maybe a little off
(12:22):
base about NASCAR fans and in some ways, and I
guess pretty accurate in others. And I do like that
the sports styles itself is something made by and and
four ordinary people. I mean, you think about it, there's
no Lamborghinis or Ferraris in the sport, and in said
you're gonna find these cars by like Ford and General Motors,
And of course they've been modified after the facts that
they can hold their own on these races, but there's
(12:43):
still somewhat of the level of familiarity there, and I
guess it does make the sport feel more approachable no kidding.
You know, I've never been to either NASCAR F one race,
and I'd actually love to go to both. But my
friend Jeremy once told me that you'd actually see Amish
families come it over downs to watch races, and I
think that's kind of amazing, right, like something I never
would have guessed. But I also don't think you'd find
(13:04):
the Amish going to F one racist, so right. I
knew you were talking about the wealth that would find Austin,
but I read this one article that said the yachts
people bring to Monaco or Belgium or wherever are a
hundred fifty million dollar boats, which is insanity, and you wonder,
like why they're dropping so much on a boat, and
the author's answer was, well, you need something to take
(13:25):
to your private islands. Yeah. I mean it makes a
good point. You got you gotta get there somehow, I know.
But like that audience feels like such a barrier of
entry to me. I mean, like Formula one just feels
as elitist as it gets. Yeah, I mean that that
sounds pretty accurate. And I've heard the sports compared, like
you know, like hot dogs versus or derves or sometimes
you know, beer versus champagne when you're thinking about the
(13:47):
difference between the two. So obviously I get the connection
between beer and NASCAR, but like champagne actually has a
connection with Formula one, right, oh definitely. I mean, you know,
the idea of popping champagne bottles has long been associated
with huge wins or winning championships and sports, and and
actually that act of celebration got it start from F
one racing. So this goes back to nineteen fifty. This
(14:09):
is when the first French Grand Prix was held in
the country's Champagne region, and naturally, because of where it
was held, the winner of that year's race was presented
with this bottle of the regions trademark beverage. And actually
that's a custom that's still around the day. I mean,
that's a little like how a Federer won a milking
cow for a winning a tennis tournament in Switzerland. I think,
did that really happen? Yeah? You didn't know what to
(14:29):
do with it. I can I can imagine, like you
wanna pack it and take it on the plane or what,
But so so so the winner just emptied the bottle
into the crowds or something like that seems like something
that would have really ticked off the audience. Well not really.
I mean the first time in F one racers sprayed
the crowd with the champagne happened. It was really more
like a decade later, I think it was in the sixties,
(14:49):
and and the locals were okay with it because you know,
this was actually a mistake. And so Nick Carvel had
this great article on it and g Q, and he
described the event this way, says, upon winning the twenty
four Hours of Laman in nineteen sixty six, Joe Sifford
accidentally sprayed the crowd as the bottle of champagne had
been sitting out in the sun, causing pressure to build
up inside the magnum. The next year, Californian racer Dan
(15:13):
Gurney deliberately copied Stiffer's gesture when he won the same race,
and a tradition was born, which is awesome, but like
a magnum, like that's two wine bottles right, Well, actually
it's even more nowadays. So currently F one winners receive
a full Jereboma champagne for the big win. So wait,
what's a jerivon? Well, it's actually the equivalent of four
standard wine bottles, so all the better to soak the crowd,
(15:36):
what I guess. But for anyone who wants to re
enact their favorite F one victories, the official champagne of
the league is the g h Mom cordon Rouge, so
you can score your own jereboma of it for about, yeah,
like four hundred bucks. So I can definitely see where
the NFL just sticks with buckets of Gatorade. But you know,
Formula one isn't the only motorsport with boozy roots, and
(15:57):
in fact, it is actually a strong case for thinking
of NASA car as an unintended product of the prohibbsion era.
You know, I've read something about this before, but I
didn't really get the full story. So do do you
mind just kind of walking us through this? Definitely, But
first let's take a quick break. You're listening to Part
(16:26):
Time Genius and we're talking about the ins and outs
of NASCAR, So I go, drinking and driving definitely don't
go well together. But you're actually saying there's a connection
between the two that somehow gave rise to NASCAR. Yeah, so,
decades before NASCAR came along, apple Achian bootleggers began running
homemade whiskey up and down the East Coast during Prohibition,
and many of these guys were family farmers You'd fallen
(16:46):
on hard times and turned to moonshine as a way
to keep their heads above water. And of course, desperate
or not, what they were doing was very, very illegal,
so it helped to have a car that could make
some serious tracks whenever they crossed paths with federal agents.
So the biggest godsend for these bootleggers actually came from
Henry Ford in two and that's because that's the year
(17:06):
he debuted the V eight engine. This is kind of
a weird connection though, because it wasn't Ford a teetotaler.
I mean, I actually think I've read that he made
all his employees take a temperance pledge just to work
in his factories, right, Yeah, so he wouldn't have been
too pleased to learn that his flagship engine was basically
driving the bootlegging business. But the V eight was perfect
(17:26):
for it, like it was fast enough to evade the
law and tough enough to withstand the strain of all
those mountain roads. And of course bootleggers didn't stop there
for added security. They actually started souping up their cars
with all these features straight out of like a speed
racer cartoon. What I mean, like, I'm imagining the ability
to like press a button and spray oil all over
the road or stuff like that. Yeah, so, I I
(17:48):
know you're joking, but I mean oil slicks, smoke screens,
you name it. Like they even rigged up that classic
gag where like a bucket of taxes spilled out onto
the road straight out of super Mariot cars. Seriously, except
like they were high tailing away from the cops. And also,
this is a little aside, but I remember this from
mental flass that when like bootleggers would be on the
run and have to flee their cars, they actually had
(18:10):
these shoes made that had hoofprints on them. So basically
they'd leave these deer tracks in the mud instead of
shoot prints. Isn't that like super crafty? It is crafty.
But I think we've got a little off track here, Like,
so what does this have to do with NASCAR. Well
before provision even ended, some of the bootleggers had started
having these informal races, you know, just for kicks. That
does make sense. I mean, you've got all these tricked
(18:32):
out cars, it does seem like it'd be pretty tempting
to have some fun with them, exactly. And and then
in the nineteen thirties, like bootleggers started taking their moonshine
mobiles to the local racetracks and even county fairgrounds, and
that's where they really started to build an audience, and
eventually like tens of thousands of people would show up
to some of these races. All right, so this is
kind of like the birth of stock car racing in America.
(18:53):
But the actual formalized NASCAR league that does it also
have its ties with bootleggers. It does. So racing had
become an organized sport by the nineties, and most of
the people involved in it had connections to bootlegging in
one form and another. There's actually a great book about
this called Real Nascar, and it talks about just how
much of the sport owes to moonshiners. So the author
(19:14):
rights quote. What most chroniclers of stock car racing and
NASCAR have failed to note is that a large percentage
of the early mechanics, car owners, promoters, and track owners
had deep ties to the illegal alcohol business. It would
not be an exaggeration to say that the sport was
built on the proceeds of the manufacturer transport and sales
of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of cases of liquor, right,
(19:38):
I mean, that's amazing. So even if they weren't bootleggers themselves,
like the mechanics definitely knew they were working on bootleggers cars,
and similarly, all these track owners they were taking cuts
from illegal sales in exchange for use of their track.
That connection definitely goes much deeper than I would have expected.
So so what about the drivers though, Like, did any
bootleggers go on to become NASCAR drivers? Absolutely, And one
(20:00):
of the most famous is Junior Johnson, who came from
a long line of North Carolina bootleggers and went on
to become a NASCAR Hall of Famer and team owner.
There's actually a great old story about him in Esquire,
and he and plenty of other former Moonshiners were recruited
as drivers in the late forties by a fellow stock
car driver, this guy named Bill France, Sr. And France
actually became an important figure in all this. He started
(20:21):
promoting his drivers at different races in the Daytona Beach area,
but he was soon annoyed by how much the racing
rules varied from one event to another. So in December
of France actually called him meeting of all the top
stock car drivers and he got the mechanics and owners
to come in as well, and they all discussed how
to standardize the rules, and by the end of the meeting,
they agreed to form the National Association for Stock Car
(20:44):
Auto Racing, which is NASCAR. So that's what it stands for. Okay, yeah, definitely.
And and Bill France Senior became the first president of
NASCAR once the league was officially incorporated, this is in February.
Under his leadership, the sport began to distance itself from
its boot like roots, and they started going after corporate
sponsorships and you know, building a wider audience. And by
(21:05):
the time his son, Bill Frands Junior took over the
presidency in nineteen seventy two, NASCAR had become this incredibly
popular regional sport in the South. But it was Bill Jr.
Who really made the sport huge. He had this three
decade run as president and that's when the sport transformed
into the multibillion dollar global industry. That that's what you
know that today. And I'm guessing like sponsorship probably played
(21:28):
the biggest role in this transition. Huh. Yeah. So the
turning point of that actually came in nineteen seventy and
that's when Junior Johnson approached the R. J. Reynolds tobacco company.
So Johnson had retired as a driver by this point,
but he stayed in the league as an owner, and
he hoped that the cigarette company might want to sponsor
his car in the upcoming season. So, I mean, why,
why would this be an unprecedented move? Was it just
(21:50):
that it was a tobacco company or what? So I
looked into this because I was confused about it too.
But the thing is, like President Nixon had actually signed
a bill in April nineteen seventy that had banned all
cigarette advertising on TV beginning of the following year, So
Johnson knew the company would be looking for new ways
to spend its advertising budget the next year. And of course,
Johnson liked to live dangerously, you know, like cigarette advertising
(22:13):
didn't bother him at all. But R. J. Reynolds was
a long shot. Like until that point, most of NASCAR
sponsorships were limited to local or regional businesses, and a
company as big as R. J. Reynolds with would be
like a huge win for the sport. But instead of
just sponsoring like one car, Reynolds decided to turn down
that offer and they put their money behind a hundred
thousand dollar championship series called the Winston Cup. It was
(22:35):
this super smart marketing move for them, and until two
thousand three it remained the top series in NASCAR until
it took on a new sponsor. It became the next
Heel Cup and then like it changed hands to the
Sprint Cup, and I think it's now like the Monster
Energy Cup, the Monster Energy Cup. Well, you know, if
Booze and cigarettes acted as NASCAR's backbone for the first
(22:56):
what three or four decades of its existence, like how
do we eventually get from the air two Tide and
Monster Energy drinks. So that change actually happened in the
mid eighties, and this is when Procter and Gamble decided
to sponsor a few cars with brands like Crisco and Folgers.
And this is when Tide comes into the mix as well.
And once other companies had heard how the logo branded
(23:17):
cars had boosted p ANDNG sales. They all decided to
throw their hats in the ring as well. So you know,
you fast forward thirty years and everything from like Cheerios
to spam too. Even the Cartoon Network is out a car.
It's amazing, and they've paid pretty handsomely for that honor.
Like I think of primary sponsorship, which is when the
logo is on the hood of a car and it's
(23:37):
also on the racing teams uniforms, that runs between ten
and twenty five million dollars. Wow, I mean, and so
is it worth it for these companies to spend that
much money? You know, you always ask these things, and
I looked into it. Put the market research bears out
like NASCAR fans are apparently three times more likely as
non fans to buy products from companies that sponsored their
(23:58):
sport of choice. And part of the reason is that
they're so attached to the drivers that they're also trashed
to the driver's sponsors. But another big part is just
how much exposure these brands get. So like the Las
Vegas Review Journal report that the average screen time for
a car's primary sponsor during a race, it's about twelve
and a half minutes. Like imagine how many millions of
(24:19):
dollars it would cost Eric commercial that long, and that
exposure only goes up if a sponsor's driver wins or
sadly Rex's car like in fact, a pr man for
the Richard Children's Racing team once told a reporter quote,
if you crash, crash fabulously, and make sure your logo
is not wrinkled up. So class all right, well speak
(24:39):
in which we should probably take some time now to
talk about the history of NASCAR is more posh counterpart.
But before we do that, let's take a quick break.
Welcome to Parts and Genius. All right, well, so what's
(25:02):
the story behind Formula One? Like was it started by
smugglers or maybe some jewel thieves? You know, that might
be a nice story, but there's actually no criminal component
for this one. And instead what we get with Formula
one is a professional racing league that really gradually grew
from those pioneering car races in France. That these were
taking place back before nineteen hundred. I mean think about that,
(25:22):
these were the earliest days of motor racing. So explain
this to me, Like, if racing was that popular from
the start over there, why did it take so long
for FLYN to be formalized. Well, it's actually because the
beginning of World War Two. You know, you had European
racing that had continued growing in popularity through the early
decades of the twentieth century, and this was right up
until the Germans began to dominate in the nineteen thirties.
(25:44):
So although there were plans for an official Formula one championship,
and they had already been discussed by this point, they
had to be set aside until after the war. So
once again there's a pesky world war that spoils are fun,
spoils all the fun. But you know, by nineteen forty six,
the term Formula one was formally defined and these plans
were put in motion for the Sports owned Drivers Championship.
(26:04):
Now it did take a few years to figure out
all the details, but it was in nineteen fifty that's
when the very first F one World Championship was finally held,
and this was at the Silverstone Circuit in England. Okay,
so don't laugh, but you just mentioned that Formula one
was officially defined at one point, and it occurs to
me that I have no idea what the term really means, Like,
does it refer to a certain kind of fuel the
(26:25):
cars use, or maybe a certain kind of motor oil.
Good guesses, but but actually not accurate on that. And
I can't laugh at you because I didn't know this
either until I looked it up. But you know, the
formula and Formula one racing actually refers to the rules
that govern the car's design. So you go back to
the beginning on this. That formula was taken from the
pre war regulations that really pertained the engine's capacity, and
(26:48):
it was first known as Formula A. Now, over the years,
the formula has been tweaked a good bit and now
it counts for both like new technology and environmental concerns,
but it's still based on the car's engine. So, for example,
the current formulas built around this hybrid power unit that
actually includes the turbo charge V six engine, but it's
electrically assisted by this power generated from kinetic energy as well.
(27:10):
Oh wow, And and do most F one teams build
and modify their own engines like NASCAR teams. Also, this
is an aside, but I think it's funny that F
one is so fancy, like partially because I remember that
in that documentary about Senna, the driver, which is honestly
so good. The way he came up in F one
was by raising go carts like go carts feel so
everyk in the world. I know, I love that. It
(27:31):
definitely feels that way. But you know what's funny is
that unlike NASCAR, there there really isn't much room for
improvisation enough one, And I kind of wonder if the
improv part is is maybe that American influence on the sport.
But instead you've got these eleven official F one teams
and they all get their power trains from one of
four engine manufacturers. So you've got Ferrari, Honda, Mercedes, Benz,
(27:53):
and Renault. And you know, even if a n F
one team doesn't build their own engine, they're still responsible
for much of the does sign of the car. And honestly,
I mean that's the part that seems to count for
the most in Formula one. Yeah. So, one thing I've
always heard about F one is the huge emphasis it
plays on like top of the line tech and this
efficient design. Like some people swear that the whole thing
(28:14):
is just this elaborate pet project of technicians and engineers
masquerading as a sport. It's almost like the racing is
secondary to these design teams getting to experiment and mess around. Well,
I mean, I think for some there's probably a lot
of truth to that. You know, many long time fans
really think the focus on the car itself has long
since eclips the actual drivers. And this is something that
(28:35):
first started happening back as early as the seventies. And
these cars had steadily grown faster and more sleek since
those very early days of the sport and all the
r and D for this constant quest to reduce drag
and increase cornering speeds, it was starting to get super expensive,
you know, so much so that by the seventies there
were really no private entries in this sport because it
(28:56):
was just so expensive. I mean, that's almost a shame.
I am curious though, like how much do these cars
actually cost? So it varies, of course, but a good
rule of thumb is to take a team's entire racing
budget for a year and then cut that in half.
So for the top teams, we're talking about spending upwards
of two hundred and fifty million dollars on the sport
each year. Yeah, so that's about a hundred and twenty
(29:19):
five million of that that goes towards the car for
that season, And even the bottom teams are dropping huge
dollars on this, anywhere from like twenty to fifty million
dollars on average. I mean, that's insanity to me. So
why are these so expensive? Like, are the materials just
that price? Well, it's not so much the individual parts
that cost so much. It's actually, you know, the entire
(29:40):
labor force needed to design and develop and and build,
and then even beyond that, just to constantly modify the product.
And at this massive amount of cash needed to keep
pace with the wealthier teams, it's actually really starting to
affect the outcomes of the races. If you look at
the highest ranking teams in the league, they also happen
to be the ones with the most money. And then
on the other around of the spectrum, the last place
(30:01):
finishers are typically the poorest teams. And there's no coincidence
to that. So I remember hearing that the cash prizes
in Formula one are among the highest in all of
organized sports. So couldn't it just be that the winning
teams are the richest because they're the ones that just
keep getting all the prize money. Well, you know, if
all the teams were starting on even footing, that might
be the case. But in reality, I mean, there are
(30:22):
different deals for different teams, and some of the longest
running ones get tens of millions of dollars just for
showing up to the race. It doesn't even matter if
they win, you know. And if you go back from
like Night one, all the way up to say two
thousand and thirteen, all the teams competed under the same
financial deal. But then what you started to see happening,
like these car manufacturers and long running legacy teams, they
(30:45):
started angling for these special privileges and unique deals, and
and so the league finally cave to this pressure because
it was actually afraid these big names would just walk
away from the sport. So there was a really interesting
article in the New York Times, and it was pretty
insightful in the way that it looked at this. This
was back in two thousand and sixteen. And there's one
part that sums up the problem pretty nicely. And I'll
(31:06):
just read this to you. It says today, even among
the top teams, financial success does not correspond directly with
success on the track. Mercedes does not receive as much
money as Ferrari, the Italian team that's been around since
Formula One start in nineteen fifty, and that receives seventy
million dollars a year because of that legacy. Ferrari special
payment just for taking part is more than the total
(31:29):
earnings of the bottom five teams and last year, oh man,
I mean that's a little discouraging. And I do wonder
if the average F one fan knows about these dealings, right, Like,
it seems like the kind of thing that could really
turn people off the sport. Well, definitely, And it all
goes back to that sense that the cars are the
true stars and F one not really the drivers. And
it's kind of a tough pill to swallow for a
(31:50):
lot of sports fans because there's so much of their
enjoyment that comes from reveling and human ability, So it
is kind of tough when they're treated as almost interchangeable
in the car itself is really the only constant. So
I I guess that makes sense, And I'd say that's
only partially true, right, Like they're they're obvious stars at
the sport, and you read about the seven minute pit
(32:10):
stops where humans are making all these like microscopic changes
to tire pressure and alignment to like corner a specific
term better. But I do get your point right, Like
nobody watches tennis to see their favorite racket in action.
I don't know, there's nothing more beautiful than a really
elegant racket. But you know what's funny is uh Andy
Roddick actually used to play with an old babble at racket,
(32:33):
but the company used to paint it to look like
a new model. It's so crazy playing with an old racket.
That's pretty weird. Yeah, because he just got accustomed to it,
all right. Well, back to what we were talking about here,
so that there's something I hope that the F one
League does take note of. And then this is for
the fans, like, because there's really a lot of skill
that goes into being a professional racer, and I don't
think most of us recognize that half as much as
(32:56):
we should. Really. Yeah. I found an Atlantic article that
was kind of written in defense of motorsports, and there
was one quote that really stuck with me. It was
about stock car racing, but I really think it applies
to all forms of motorsport, so I'm gonna pull it up.
It goes quote. The athletes who drive these cars, and
yes they are athletes even though they are sitting down,
(33:17):
must possess steel nerves, quick reflexes, highly developed small motor skills,
and the mental acuity to develop elaborate plans for dominating
a track crowded with cars that could kill them. And
true fans understand the complexity of the sport and can
discuss in great detail the combination of skills crucial for success. Well,
that kind of feels like the perfect place to leave
(33:38):
our discussion. But I do have a few more racing
facts dying to share these, So what do you say?
We had to the fact of m H. So, I
know people love to debate whether things like NASCAR are
actually sports, but I don't think there's any debating that
you have to be in good shape to withstand some
(33:58):
of what your body's experienced things. So I was looking
into some of the numbers, and first of all, the
temperature in the car and the NASCAR races often over
a hundred degrees and on turns the drivers are feeling
up to three g's of force on them. They means
three times the force of gravity. And also drivers are
losing up to ten pounds in sweat over the course
of a race. Ten pounds in sweat, Yeah, that's crazy.
(34:20):
I was actually looking at some of this too, And
it's not only these things, but like a driver's heart
rate typically stays between like hundred and twenty and a
hundred and fifty beats per minute throughout the race. Now
we're talking three hours from any of these races, and
so that's actually about the same as a serious marathon
runner over that period of time. And and I realized
this is about f one. But some of the drivers
(34:41):
can actually go two minutes without blinking. That's how intense
their concentration is. That's amazing. So here's a funny one.
I saw a fact that drivers in the major NASCAR
races all have to pass physicals and a drug test,
and I guess there's some sort of vetting process, but
one thing they're not required to show is a driver's license.
So technically you can have someone like tearing up the
(35:01):
tracks and nearly like two hundred miles per hour who
actually wouldn't be able to drive to the grocery store
after the race. I love the idea that that could
possibly happen. Well, so I've often wondered about the beating
that the car parts take during the races and how
long these parts last. Did you know the F one
car engines actually only last a couple of hours before
they just blow entirely. Like, that's a little bit shorter
(35:22):
than the fifteen to twenty years most of us expected
of our own car engines. And also, not surprisingly, the
tires only last about sixty or so miles in each race.
And that's incredible. Did you know there are actually no
air bags in Formula one cars? Wait? What is it
just like to add an extra element of danger or No,
it just turns out that there's so many other safety
mechanisms that are more effective at keeping the drivers safe.
(35:45):
So I mean, it would be nearly impossible for a
driver to be ejected from the car because of how
well they're strapped in, like the crazy protective helmets and
the five point harnesses which keep the drivers from slamming
into the front of the car, which is really the
main point of an air bag. And all this on
top of the fact that the driver is inside a
survival cell that's designed to protect them in the vent
of a crash. All right, Well, here's another one I
(36:06):
found so there are small planes that take off at
slower speeds than you'd find an F one car traveling
during a race. The aerodynamic science involved in creating that
downward force, you know, to keep them on the track.
It's actually pretty amazing. And by the way, F one
cars can go from zero to a hundred miles per
hour back to zero and about four seconds. What that's ridiculous.
(36:28):
So as it heads up, Well, one thing you do
not want to take with you to a race, if
you get a chance to sit on the infield, is
shelled peanuts. And there are many superstitions in racing, like
apparently green cars are bad luck, but one of the
weirdest is this one around peanut halls. So there's an
article in Snopes that claims that the tradition possibly dates
back to a race in n seven where peanut shells
(36:48):
were found in a few cars that all happened to
crash in the race. And there are a few other
stories that have contributed to this. But trust me, don't
bring those shelled peanuts. I know you love to crack
over the baseball games, right, Well, I've got to tell
you about my favorite NASCAR driver of all time and
that's Dick Trickle. I mean, his name alone is pretty
great and horrible at the same time. But so Dick
(37:10):
loves smoking so much that he drilled a hole in
his helmet so that he could smoke through his headgear.
And he even had a cigarette lighter installed into his
car because he didn't want to bother his pit crew
every time for all light. That's pretty great. So I
think you have to take home the prize with that one.
Thank you know. I think we did a pretty good
job in this episode of like debunking some of the
(37:30):
stereotypes and then we just came right back to it
with that last fact. But I'll take the victory either way.
I know we're both that much more excited to try
to get to a race. You know, we probably should
have come up with a contest like the listener that
gives us the best fact. We would actually come to
visit them and then they could pay for us to
go to a NASCAR race. Doesn't it seem reasonable to me?
(37:51):
Or let us get on your yacht and then we'll
go to a Formula One race together. But either way,
if we forgot some great facts, and I know we
did about either NASCAR or Formula one or any other
type of racing. We'd love to hear from you as always.
You can email us part Time Genius at how stuff
Works dot com. You can also call us on our
seven fact hotline that's one eight four four pt Genius,
(38:12):
or hit us up on Facebook or Twitter. We always
love hearing from you, but thanks so much for listening.
Thanks again for listening. Part Time Genius is a production
(38:33):
of How Stuff Works and wouldn't be possible without several
brilliant people who do the important things we couldn't even
begin to understand. Christa McNeil does the editing thing. Noel
Brown made the theme song and does the mixy mixy
sound thing. Jerry Rowland does the exact producer thing. Gabeluesier
is our lead researcher, with support from the research Army
including Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and Lucas Adams and Eve
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(38:55):
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