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NASCAR dads don't ride buses. They don't stand on windy Long Island Rail Road platforms and suffer the serial indignities of daily round-trips into Penn Station. And they would never think of boarding a New York City subway train without a sidearm handy. No way, hoss. NASCAR dads know what Americanism is all about. It's about a wide open road with no cops in sight and the sun in your rearview mirror and a hot cup of coffee or a cold beer nestled snugly in your beverage holder. It's about a high-performance vehicle - one that's large, and preferably one...

Presumptive Democratic frontrunner John Kerry on Monday blasted President Bush's visit to the Daytona 500 as a "photo opportunity." In a dramatic shift from his recent more populist rhetoric, Kerry went on to refer to Middle America's cherished sporting event as the "Declassé 500," noting with disdain that the race audience consists in large part of men who, when in the workplace, have their names appear on their shirts. Kerry went on to add that he did have some slight interest in visiting the track to watch them wave "the chessboard flag" but, on balance, couldn't justify it as, "St....

DAYTONA BEACH -- A beer-soaked Madia Paris-Wells looked shaken. She and 35 other George Bush protesters had encountered plenty of profanity along their prerace march Sunday to the Daytona International Speedway from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. But a beer bottle, thrown by an enraged race fan, turned dissent into near disaster. The glass bottle shattered on a narrow aluminum pole, barely missing the head of Paris-Wells, a 23-year-old Embry-Riddle student. "That was real close," she said, watching as a police officer led a woman away in handcuffs. "I'm glad the cop ran after (her). They handled it real well." One of...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - President Bush showed a prized group of voters yesterday that he's not ashamed of the disputed time he spent in the Army National Guard. At NASCAR's famed Daytona 500, the President inspected a stock car sponsored by the Guard and was asked whether he wanted to tool around in one of them. "Well, I'd like to, but I'm afraid the agents wouldn't let me," Bush said with a smile. "I flew fighters when I was in the Guard, and I like speed." If Democratic allegations that Bush was AWOL in 1972 bothered anyone in the crowd,...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - President Bush throttled up his re-election campaign Sunday by donning a racing jacket and opening the Daytona 500, NASCAR's most prestigious event in a sport that draws a prized voter profile. "Gentlemen, start your engines!" Bush said, squinting up from pit road to the grandstands, where some 180,000 fans roared. Bush seemed to relish a chance to see what he called "one of America's great sporting spectacles." His motorcade took a slow half-lap around the flat shoulder of the track.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush will woo this year's political in-group, "NASCAR dads," with a visit to Florida on Sunday to attend the Daytona 500, the showcase race of the stock car circuit. Bush, who is to participate in the race's opening ceremonies, will be seeking the attention of the estimated 75 million Americans who follow the sport. Some political strategists view NASCAR fans as emblematic of a major bloc of swing voters in this year's presidential campaign -- culturally conservative family men whose middle class status is threatened by a shaky jobs market. "It's a natural constituency for us,"...

Okay - the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban is set to sunset in September of 2004, two months before the general election: http://www.awbansunset.com/future.html I can see many, many scenarios, but all of them get back to Soccer Moms -vs- NASCAR Dads. Here are two of them: 1) There is another big terrorist attack, the Soccer Moms get scared, and come home to the Republicans. Voter sentiment favors the Second Amendment, self-defense, and self-preservation. Bush supports sunsetting, Kerry supports extension, big win for Bush. 2) No further terrorist attacks. Further drip, drip, drip of causualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. Voters become complacent...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - President Bush (news - web sites) was giving the "Drivers, start your engines" cry Sunday to begin NASCAR (news - web sites)'s Daytona 500 in a high-profile speedway visit to court the highly sought votes of the millions of fans of one of the nation's fastest-growing sports. Boarding Air Force One with his wife, Laura, to leave Washington's sunny cold for breezy Florida and what has been called the "Great American Race," Bush made gestures to reporters as if he were steering a car around an oval track. By the time he arrived at the track,...

Republican Party pit boss Ed Gillespie's pedal-to-the-metal style is aimed at more than just getting the vote out for President Bush. He's now going full speed ahead to register voters, especially NASCAR fans. A voter registration drive at last week's Daytona 500 was so successful that the GOP plans to take its "Race to Victory" bus to other NASCAR sites.

<p>DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Here's a challenge: Try finding a Democrat in the NASCAR garage.</p> <p>Richard Petty looked around and smiled.</p> <p>"You'd be hard-pressed," said Petty, the winningest driver in Nextel Cup history and — oh, yeah — a hard-core Republican.</p>

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (AP) — Here's a challenge: Try finding a Democrat in the NASCAR garage. Richard Petty looked around and smiled. "You'd be hard-pressed," said Petty, the winningest driver in Nextel Cup history and - oh, yeah - a hardcore Republican. If President Bush was looking for a friendly audience in this vitriolic election season, he sure picked the right place. Bush is assured of getting a warm welcome - especially from those on the track - when he attends Sunday's Daytona 500. "He's just a great American," said Terry Labonte, a Bush supporter and fellow Texan. "In times...

WASHINGTON - The political season revving up, President Bush (news - web sites) will attend the Daytona 500 Feb. 15 in Florida, his 19th trip to the state that decided the 2000 presidential race. Bush plans to spend that Sunday night in Florida where his brother, Jeb, is governor, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Friday in announcing the trip to the auto race. That same night in Wisconsin, Democrats are scheduled to hold a debate in advance of that state's primary on Feb. 17. The NASCAR (news - web sites) crowd represents an expanding group of voters that...

The political season revving up, President Bush will attend the Daytona 500 Feb. 15 in Florida, his 19th trip to the state that decided the 2000 presidential race. Bush plans to spend that Sunday night in Florida where his brother, Jeb, is governor, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Friday in announcing the trip to the auto race. That same night in Wisconsin, Democrats are scheduled to hold a debate in advance of that state's primary on Feb. 17. The NASCAR crowd represents an expanding group of voters that is important to Bush in his re-election. He has a...

Nascar events are a home away from home for millions of Americans. Pollsters and politicians would love to be invited over for dinner. FIRST race of the year, the 500 at Daytona, I'm standing next to Nascar dad for the anthem. Takes off his sunglasses, holds his hand over his heart. He's a big man, 40's, 6-foot-3, a gut-sprung 225, biker leather head to toe and a beard on him like ZZ Rasputin.Comes to the end of our national song, 250,000 people shouting and applauding, flags snapping everywhere, and a sound rumbles low up out of the ovation and comes...

<p>Howard Dean supporters are making a big play for the so-called "NASCAR Dads" by sponsoring a race car in the Busch Series this year.</p> <p>At $2.5 million, it's a risky price tag for Team Dean Racing, because Mr. Dean is in tight races in must-win primaries and might not even win the Democratic nomination; the NASCAR season runs through November.</p>

<p>Howard Dean supporters are making a big play for the so-called "NASCAR Dads" by sponsoring a race car in the Busch Series this year.</p> <p>At $2.5 million, it's a risky price tag for Team Dean Racing, because Mr. Dean is in tight races in must-win primaries and might not even win the Democratic nomination; the NASCAR season runs through November.</p>

How to Woo NASCAR Fans By William Schneider Posted: Friday, December 12, 2003 ARTICLES National Journal   Publication Date: December 13, 2003 Stock car racing is a populist sport. That's the whole point. "When NASCAR was formed in 1948, there was a definite shortage of new cars in the postwar era," the association's Web site recalls. "The feeling was that race fans wouldn't stand for new cars being beat up on a race track while they were driving a rattle-trap prewar automobile." The tradition persists: Stock cars are standard-issue cars--Fords, Pontiacs--modified for racing. No Lamborghinis. The stereotype of the NASCAR...

Move over "soccer moms." Hello "NASCAR dads." . Soccer moms are hopelessly Democratic leaning, so both parties won't be fighting over them as much in 2004 as in 2002 and 2000. And "office park dads" have marched pretty much into the Republican column, so they will sort of be on their own in the November election. The NASCAR dads are a big, significant voter group in the 2004 contest. Democratic pollster Celinda Lake coined the term two years ago after listening to swing voters in focus groups constantly bringing up the sport when she asked them what they liked to...

Watching politicians court the Bubba vote will make this political season worth the price of admission. Male rednecks are the new soccer moms, according to presidential campaign strategists. Pundits believe this maligned and misunderstood voter subgroup — more politely dubbed NASCAR Dads — holds the key to winning vital Southern states. They may even move the needle in places like Michigan, where redneck roots run deep. Spotters will be looking for pickup trucks instead of minivans this time around. Witness the recent battle between Democratic presidential contestants Howard Dean and Dick Gephardt over their Bubba credentials. Dean claims he can...

<p>LAKEVILLE, Conn. -- The smell of burnt rubber filled Lime Rock Park on a brilliant fall day this weekend as three dozen stock cars thundered around the track hitting speeds of 140 mph along the straightaways. On the grassy hills overlooking the track some 15,000 to 18,000 fans, mostly middle-aged white men with their sons in tow, spread out in canvas sport chairs with coolers at their sides, their minds on racing and most certainly not on politics.</p>