Longwood professor studies the culture of NASCAR

John D. Miller teaches early-American literature at Longwood University, but lately he has lectured on a more contemporary theme: NASCAR and globalization.

A fan himself, Miller says the lure of NASCAR is not so much the cars and the race as the spin they bring to an archetypal American narrative.

"I think most fans are attracted to NASCAR because it celebrates this national culture," he said.

NASCAR's popularity has increased with the rise of globalization, which some people see as a threat to traditional American identity, he said. They look to NASCAR as a way "to celebrate and reaffirm a traditional set of American values."

That script is followed from the start of the race. Miller notes that NASCAR is the only professional sport that still begins with a prayer over the public address system.

"And more often than not, it's a Christian prayer," he said.

The national anthem is sung by a national recording artist, accentuating its importance, and the military fly-by seals the association between patriotism and the military.

When the race is over, the cameras remain fixed on an elaborately pre-staged celebration for the winner, who thanks God, his corporate sponsors, his team and family.

The symbolism, according to Miller, is that the driver who wins values American ideals.

NASCAR incorporates elements of danger, the military, patriotism and religion, he said.

"To me, that's kind of a quintessential American script," said Miller, who recently gave a talk on campus titled "Becoming a Citizen of NASCAR Nation: Toyota, Stock Car Racing, and American Culture in an Era of Globalization."

Fans don't have to be interested in watching cars going around and around to be part of NASCAR nation.

"You can still go to a race and be part of this elaborate ceremony," he said, and "consider yourself to be part of this community that celebrates and recognizes and values things that are traditionally thought to be under siege by globalism."

But ironically, globalism is making inroads into NASCAR, such as Toyota's attempt to sell its trucks to fans.

"This is the fabulous paradox," Miller said, that multinational corporations are following fans to the races "because they're attracted to the same legitimating function that NASCAR serves."

Miller dates his own interest in NASCAR to his teen years living in a Virginia Beach neighborhood where driver Ricky Rudd's brother also lived.

A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a doctorate from the College of William and Mary, Miller wrote his master's thesis at Auburn University on the culture of NASCAR.

While it may seem the antithesis of the early-American literature classes he teaches at Longwood, Miller sees parallels.

"What interests me about early-American literature is the way writers were using culture to create a sense of what an American was," he said. Writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson emphasized an American identity that was distinct and independent from European culture, for example.

Miller looks to NASCAR for the stories it tells about America "that help define that cultural identity for people, for readers or for sports fans."

Even the drivers fit into this literary theme. Fans tend to gravitate toward the ones who are not necessarily winners like Jimmie Johnson but who have "a certain type of charisma," Miller said.

"You have these Horatio Alger, rags-to-riches-type drivers like Clint Bowyer. You have the antihero, Jesse James-type figures like Dale Earnhardt or Robby Gordon," he said.

"These are characters that are archetypes in American literature and American culture," he said.

Contact Karin Kapsidelis at (804) 649-6119 or .