Although far from its glory days of the early-90’s, IndyCar maintains a loyal fanbase in the United States. However, some of these fans, rather than enjoying multiple forms of racing, decry what is perceived as “manufactured drama” in the country’s most-popular racing series, Nascar. One such fan is Mark Brian, who has steadfastly refused to support Nascar in any way, instead preferring IndyCar racing with its “Push-to-Pass” aspect as a “purer form of racing”.
“IndyCar racing is just more real”, Brian said from his home in suburban Chicago. “There’s no playoffs, no stage racing, and certainly no media manufacturing hype like you see in ‘Taxi-Cab Racing’ down south. Instead, its just man, machine, and a button that adds extra horsepower for certain race tracks. Now THAT’S real racing.”
Brian, who has followed IndyCar racing most of his life, is a veteran of the so-called “Open Wheel Civil War” that divided the sport between the oval-centric IRL and the road-course-based CART in the late-90’s. Despite the damage the divide did to the highest levels of open-wheel racing in the USA, Brian was never swayed to follow the more-successful and accessible stock car series.
“What do they have, 36 points races now?” Brian scoffed. “Even when IndyCar was split down the middle, I don’t think we had that many races. There’s just something about the idea of putting the cars on the grid, letting them race, and see who comes in first place without any cheesy crap getting in the way that really resonates with me. For people like me, its pedal to the metal and nothing else—well, except for occasionally pressing a button as well.”
Brian, who regularly takes to social media to bash Nascar fans as “hillbillies” and “fake racing enthusiasts”, has remained unwavering in his support of the less-popular IndyCar style of racing, which he insists is a purer form of racing that is on its way back to the top.
“IndyCar was there before Nascar, and it’ll be there after Nascar too—mark my words”, Brian insisted. “It would take a LOT from Nascar to get me to watch their events—maybe drop the Chase, or playoffs, or whatever its called. Maybe have them race to the finish, not have breaks in between. And maybe add a button to provide extra horsepower once in a while. Until then, its just IndyCar for me, although I do catch F1 once in a while—DRS is really something.”