Malverne native writes book on NASCAR fans

While growing up in Malverne, Andrew Giangola was an avid sports fan. He followed the Rangers, Mets and Knicks. Like most Long Island kids, he didn't know too much about auto racing.

He visited the old Freeport Speedway once and had a great time. But soon after they waived the checkered flag, his focus shifted right back to the Mets.

"I did enjoy watching Richard Petty and David Pearson and Cale Yarborough when they raced on 'ABC's Wide World of Sports,' " Giangola said. "When it was on, I loved it. But I wasn't seeking it out."

NASCAR would ultimately seek him out. Giangola graduated from Fordham in 1985 and worked in various public relations job until 2003. That's when he was recruited for a job with NASCAR.

He was hooked

"My first race was at Talladega," said Giangola, referring to the super speedway in Alabama. "Talk about a baptism by fire. One or two laps in, watching those cars come around three-wide, I thought this was the coolest thing I've ever seen. It's such a sensory experience - the sound of the cars, the smell of burning rubber, it's unlike any other sports experience."

What he also found was that the fans were unlike the ones he saw at traditional stick and ball sports.

"When you walk into the infield during a race, it's 'You hungry? You want a burger, a hot dog, a beer?' " said Giangola, 46 and now living in Manhattan. "It's a welcoming atmosphere. Being in the infield during a race is really being in NASCAR Nation."

NASCAR Nation is a movable feast. It's thousands of fans who travel from race to race during NASCAR's season. They camp out on the infield for as many as four days before a Sprint Cup race and by comparison can make football tailgating appear to be a quaint backyard barbecue.

Seeing this week after week led Giangola, NASCAR's director of business communications, to write a book, "The Weekend Starts on Wednesday: True Stories of Remarkable NASCAR Fans."

Fanatic fans

Among those profiled in the book are a man who attends races wearing only a strategically placed Goodyear tire, a woman who dons a nurse's outfit when her favorite driver wrecks and a lifelong fan who has attended all 51 Daytona 500s. And, yes, that fan, 83-year-old Jack Hege, is scheduled to be at today's Daytona 500.

There is a Long Islander profiled in the book. Russ Friedman, a former Marine from Huntington Station and a recipient of two Purple Hearts, won a fan essay and had a race named in his honor at Richmond International Raceway last season.

"What I really want to come out of this book is for people to see the generosity and decency of these fans," Giangola said. "Someone once said going to a race is like the Super Bowl meets Woodstock meets the Iowa State Fair. And sure, the [Jeff] Gordon fans don't necessarily like the [Dale] Earnhardt [Jr.] fans and vice versa. But I can't imagine 180,000 Islanders and Rangers fans in the same place and getting along as well."