by Ian W.

Created on: April 27, 2008   Last Updated: April 29, 2008

So I was watching television the other day (the Stanley Cup playoffs are in full swing and I just cannot get enough of them) and I saw like a bazillion commercials for the upcoming NASCAR race in Talladega. This got me thinking. Why do we still have NASCAR, and INDY racing for that matter, in this country when we are obviously faced with a gas shortage and possible gas crisis. This does not really make sense to me, and it sparked this article.

I think the U.S. Congress (and I know they have a lot to worry about already, but this is important) should ban the sport of NASCAR. At least until we can find a way to run cars on something other than gasoline. I mean this so called sport is an enormous waste of space and resources. Can anyone explain to me how it makes sense to get in a car and drive in circles for hours on end? In times of low gas prices, watching cars go in fast circles was just stupid. Now, however, with gas prices approaching an average of $4.00 per gallon across the United States, it is moronic.

How does this make sense? Is NASCAR really that important to the United States? Does it boost the economy? Does it pacify enough of the masses to justify its wasteful existence? Does it cure cancer? I do not understand the appeal of NASCAR (obviously), but I do understand that it wastes gas for no reason other than to entertain a bunch of people with nothing better to do than watch cars drive in circles for at least five hours. Sure, the car owners and the sponsors are the ones paying for the gas (and I would bet that they pay a hefty chink of cash to fill all those cars before each race), but that does not change the fact that they are essentially wasting a non-renewable energy source, indirectly driving the price of gas ever higher.

I never thought I would be talking about NASCAR in terms of national interests, but it appears that the world has gotten so crazy that I have to do exactly that. The gas shortage/crisis is something that will affect each and every American. As gas prices go up, so do shipping costs, and when shipping costs go up, the price of goods goes up. If you do not believe this to be true, just check your grocery bill. You'll probably notice that it's gone up substantially in the past few months. We need to stop wasting anywhere we can, and NASCAR is a good place to start. Banning NASCAR could, in fact, bring gas prices down overnight. That might be unlikely, but I would not be surprised to see prices drop by as much as ten cents if NASCAR was disallowed.

How can Congress ignore this important issue? Our nation is over-dependent upon gas and oil, and this sport just encourages that over-dependence. If Congress were to pass a law that either banned NASCAR, or at least limited the number of races that can be held each year, they would be taking a big step in preserving what gas we have left in reserve.

So, it would be in all of our interests to ban NASCAR because then at least we would know that what gas we have left is not being used just for the sake of using it. I mean if we are going to continue to allow NASCAR and other forms of professional racing, we might as well just pour the gas on the ground and light in on fire. Is that not what we are essentially doing anyway when we allow NASCAR to happen?

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