There are few more devoted followers than NASCAR fans, whose fervor rivals — and sometimes exceeds — their Christian faith. So it should come as no surprise that a college lecturer has made their twin passions the subject of a new book, Godspeed: Racing Is My Religion.
“You can’t separate them,” says the author, L.D. Russell. “A race is a kind of morality play in which fans witness the drama of human existence. We live in the face of unbeatable odds. The ultimate defeat is waiting for us.”
Without question, he writes, “Racing is a religion, a cult of true believers with their own rituals, myths and a system of ethics that rival Confucianism.” Russell compares the NASCAR rule book with the Bible’s book of Deuteronomy.
Today, like millions of NASCAR fans, Russell, 52, expects to be glued to his television.
“I never miss the Daytona 500,” he says, but at the same time he’ll also be going over papers from the course he teaches on racing and religion at Elon University in North Carolina.