Monday, April 1, 2013

Breaking for Easter

Before the teams and drivers of NASCAR head to Martinsville this weekend, I thought it might be time to revive this blog with a post about NASCAR, Easter, and Mother's Day.  As part of my research about the effects of automobiles on the South, I have noted that since preachers were among the first to adopt the "new" technology they were rarely in a position to condemn the cars themselves, as a destroyer of family and community values.  Instead, preachers often placed the blame at the feet of drivers and their poor behavior.  At the same time NASCAR was gaining traction in the South by the mid-1950s and competing on Sundays as the post World War II revival was underway, preachers worried about speed limits and the rising number of auto related deaths.  When they complained about NASCAR, they lamented the added distraction to a growing number of distractions for Sunday observance.

In an interesting move, NASCAR gave drivers two Sundays off that might have riled southern Christians more than any other: Easter and Mother's Day.  Yesterday was one of those days "off" for the Association's three top series.  In the South, like other places in the U.S., the two high attendance Sunday's are Christmas and Easter, in that order, unless Christmas day falls on a Sunday and then the Christmas Eve service takes the top spot (at our church: Christmas Eve service always wins).  The season is over before Christmas, so only Easter has to compete.  And as the movie Thunder Road asserted, even bootleggers listen to their mommas when they are in their mother's presence, particularly if she is religious.

It appears to me that NASCAR's gift to the teams has less to do with teams and more to do with their fan base, who likely would have to listen to momma fuss if their true loyalties were revealed on Easter and Mother's Day.  In the fight for cultural dominance, the two giants, the Church and NASCAR, made peace and break for Sunday on those two days every year.  After resurrection and celebrating momma, it's back to racing.

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