David Ragan and his sponsor, UPS, keep fans posted through their Twitter feeds. Social media's various incarnations -- Twitter, Facebook and the like -- serve different purposes, but the results are largely the same: They bring groups of people closer together through what often amounts to simple, informal conversation.
NASCAR and many of its teams and drivers have wasted little time delving into this phenomenon.
But instead of simply bringing fans closer to the action, the sanctioning body sees social media as a way of getting back to a past era of the sport.
"I think it really goes back to the roots of the sport," said Andrew Giangola, NASCAR's director of business communications. "When you look at NASCAR, proximity to the racing action and access to the biggest stars was part of the lore of NASCAR. Years ago, the race would end and the gate stands would open. You'd be able to talk to Lee Petty, Fireball Roberts. As the sport's grown bigger, we can't have that mass influx onto pit road to meet drivers after the race."
Thus, NASCAR and those associated with it use social media to close the proverbial gap.
NASCAR has an official fan page on Facebook, where fans can post their own videos and leave messages. In addition, fans can see behind-the-scenes footage from events.
"Today we use technology to provide fans with that up-close access," Giangola said.
This past weekend, as 43 cars roared around Atlanta Motor Speedway, it may have been difficult keeping track of David Ragan and his No. 6 team watching the television coverage. Unless you were connected to Twitter.
He and his main sponsor -- UPS -- have Twitter feeds. And during Atlanta's race day, no less than 35 tweets were sent out, updating fans on before-race happenings as well as in-race details pertaining to Ragan.
"David says car bounces a bit on first couple laps and then evens out," read one tweet during the race.
Another had a link to a photo taken from the No. 6 pit box.
While Ragan, 23, is preoccupied during a race, a member of his team will be the one to keep fans abreast of race happenings. And Ragan says he's keenly aware of the potential impact of social media.
"We were pretty socially interactive before the UPS era with Facebook and My Space," said Ragan. "But UPS has elevated it to the next level. They do a great job. Being a young guy, I know how a lot of people use those resources for information. We've seen not only the younger generation involved but so many others as well.
"I think a lot of fans want the inside on what's happening. The goods and bads of things that happen through a weekend. It's cool how technology can bring information to fans."
And NASCAR only sees social media's reach extending.
"As bandwidth gets better and connections get better, you'll see more drivers posting more video away from the track," Giangola said. "We're excited about it. There will be new technologies. Who knew about Twitter six, eight months ago . . . or who knows in six to eight months. Whatever the technology is, we'll encourage our drivers to use it."
Contact Shawn Fenner at (804) 649-6412 or sfenner@timesdispatch.com.
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