NASCAR came back this weekend with a live race as we took the next careful step closer to a return of normalcy in professional sports. They followed the UFC, the PBR, the Bundesliga, golf and even Cornhole in a welcomed next step in what will be a measured attempt to return to what will be a new normal for the rest of 2020.
The return to racing at Darlington followed a remarkable stretch for NASCAR, which took a bullish first adoptive step into embracing and pushing the engagement limits for iRacing with great engagement and results that will surely help a new group of fans who may not have made it to the track before.
However there is another area which several tracks stepped forward with that made a unique and very personal experience for young people just that much more special. This month Las Vegas, Daytona, Pocono, Texas and Indianapolis came up with programs to give local high school students a unique sendoff, letting the seniors literally drive around the track as they received their diplomas as they crossed the finish line. Safe driving, social responsibility and buzzworthy moments at the quiet massive racing facilities that took a time honored rite of passage…high school graduation…that has been disrupted due to the panademic and found a way to make it even more unique for all.
Its not every community and every school that can undertake such a special opportunity, and the is CNN piece talked about some of the other unique ways high school graduates were being honored, but the effort by the three tracks makes one think of how and where else could the silencing of sports step in to give such special moments. Can a Queens school take a lap around the bases at Citifield? Is it too much to think that some of the massive football stadia in college towns couldn’t have a local class cross the goal line one at a time, and who wouldn’t EVERY race track find the time to embrace local graduates over a period of days in such a way as there is interest. Maybe it doesn’t make the idea that special, but it would be special for a core of the thousands of graduates whose lives have been disrupted.
While it is great to have NASCAR back racing, it is just as important to notice the little best practices along the way that are meaningful to a hyper local audience, and the time, effort and thought put in in Las Vegas, Daytona, Texas, Pocono and Las Vegas is meaningful beyond a checkered flag.
Kudos again to the tracks and the grads, and to those in and around NASCAR who helped the sun shine for some young people who have been blanketed in clouds for the past few months. They are winners all.
