NASCAR, drivers should make time and place for autographs

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Athletes and/or celebrities should be glad to sign autographs anywhere and anytime because without the fans they would be nothing and wouldn’t have all their money and things that come with it.
That’s such an easy stand to take. It’s also gutless.
But coming up with realistic guidelines for when someone who’s famous should be expected to grant an autograph request is nearly impossible. That’s because there are an infinite number of circumstances that come up if you’re talking about every situation in which every famous person comes in contact with every person wanting an autograph.
It’s fair to say that fans ought to treat athletes and celebrities as human beings. Fans always should politely ask for (and not demand) an autograph in a context that respects a celebrity’s space and privacy. Celebrities should understand that fans don’t know if they’ll ever get an opportunity to see a famous person again, and therefore should have a little extra tolerance if a fan comes off as a bit too eager.
I think that it’s OK for an athlete or celebrity to say no to an autograph request if he’s in an airport or a restaurant or somewhere with his friends and family if that’s what he chooses to do. He doesn’t need to be a jerk about it, but if you’re willing to risk losing a fan by saying “no,” in that situation I think that’s fine.
This subject comes up as a result of a little kerfuffle that cropped up in racing during the run-up to the 2009 NASCAR season.
On the NASCAR Sprint Media Tour hosted by Lowe’s Motor Speedway, officials from the Speedway Motorsports Inc. tracks talked about how they hope drivers will do more to help tracks and the sport weather a rough economy this year by being more accessible. NASCAR president Mike Helton and driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. both responded by saying that the drivers are already as accessible as or more accessible than their counterparts in other endeavors.
In the big picture, it’s true that drivers should do as much as they can to help sell their sport. They have a big stake in NASCAR’s success and the time and effort they invest in meeting fans and helping sell tickets will only pay off for them down the road.
But the legitimate issue the drivers have, I think, is this far-reaching expectation that they must make themselves available at all times in all circumstances to pose for pictures with or sign an autograph for anybody who wants one.
Think about it. Let’s say you see a driver in Wal-Mart in the Charlotte area on a Tuesday night with his wife and kids. Is he on the clock? Is he not allowed to go to Wal-Mart and not have it turn into an appearance because somebody recognizes him and the next thing you know he’s drawn a crowd? The same thing is true at the track. If you’re a fan and you’re in the garage during a practice session, you’re in the race teams’ work place. That’s neither the time nor the place for an autograph session.
One problem is that some tracks will “upsell” tickets to fans that promise them “access” to the drivers. That might mean the garage area or something like the FanZone here at Daytona. If a fan pays $75 for that access, he’s going to expect something out of that. The track may not come right out and say “here’s where you can meet and talk to you favorite driver,” but that’s the implication.
The way to fix a lot of this, I think, is to provide a structure – to provide that time and that place where the driver and the fan know that autographs are the purpose. It’s something that would be relatively easy to do.
Every day there is qualifying for a NASCAR Sprint Cup race, each driver knows that 30 minutes after the last car runs he has to present himself at some designated place inside the track for an autograph session. The session lasts two hours. Drivers know not to schedule sponsor appearances or fan club gatherings in that window. If you miss the autograph session, unless there’s a specific exemption granted you forfeit all practice for your team the rest of that weekend.
Tracks sell tickets to qualifying as they do now. Admission to each autograph session is $10. Half the money from that goes to the NASCAR Foundation. The other half goes to a local charity designated by each track.
As fans enter, they can request a wristband for any driver’s autograph line. Each driver has a maximum of 100 wristbands. If your favorite guy’s wristbands are gone, you can pay your $10 and get somebody else or you can leave without paying. If a driver has nobody in line and you want to get him without a wristband, that’s fine, too.
But understand that when the two hours are up the drivers are free to go and be with their families and friends. And from that point on, for the rest of the weekend, drivers are told not to sign autographs in the garage or on pit road – no matter what. NASCAR policy.