1. Dawn M. Drake Department of Geography April 16, 2009
IS NASCAR NATIONALIZING OUT OF THE SOUTH OR IS THE SOUTH LOSING ITS UNIQUENESS: A SPATIAL ANALYSIS, 1992 to 2007
Dawn M. Drake
Department of Geography
April 16, 2009

2. What is the South?

3. What is a “Southern Institution”?
Subjective and personal interpretations
Cobb: “work in progress”
Reed: “sense of peoplehood”
Hallmarks (Sweet tea, NASCAR, etc.)

4. NASCAR’s Roots and Wings
National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing began in 1948 in Daytona Beach, Florida
Traditionally a southern sport with southern drivers and venues
This has been changing since the introduction of cable sports channels
2004 sponsor shifts
In 2007, no North Carolina-born drivers won a race

5. Research Hypotheses
Despite the increasingly nationwide appeal of NASCAR among consumers and the decrease in the number of southern drivers, NASCAR is not losing its southern connections, in terms of the production of NASCAR
Perhaps it is the South instead that is losing its uniqueness

6. Saliency Growth of sports geography Growing popularity of NASCAR
Impacts of corporate sponsorship
Conventional wisdom on the nationalization of NASCAR

7. Literature in Field
Pillsbury (1974) examines tracks and drivers to divide the history of NASCAR into 3 distinct periods
Alderman et al. (2003) examine tracks and drivers as well as two case studies of North Wilkesboro, NC and Charlotte, NC
Hurt (2005) examines tracks, drivers, and fan club membership
All studies predict a future de-southernization and nationalization of the sport
Movement of corporate headquarters (Klier and Testa 2002; Gong and Wheeler 2007)

8. Methods Time Period: 1992 to 2007
Variables: Hometowns of top 35 in driver points, Location of tracks, HQs locations of race sponsors, HQ locations of car sponsors in “Crown Jewel” events
Spatial analysis with GIS

9. Drivers

10. Tracks

11. Race Sponsors

13. Car Sponsors

15. Conclusions
NASCAR is nationalizing, but not at the expense of its southern roots
Drivers are increasingly coming from outside South
Many tracks still remain in South
Race and car sponsors wield enough influence to keep NASCAR tied to South
Nationalization at a level higher than NASCAR?

16. Acknowledgements Dr. Ron Kalafsky, UT Department of Geography
Dr. Ron Foresta, UT Department of Geography
Dr. Ron Mitchelson, East Carolina University