NASCAR has fully embraced the social-network movement, encouraging their drivers and teams to use Facebook, Twitter, and their own websites to reach out to fans with regular updates. Andrew Giangola, director of business communications for NASCAR, said the association has always felt it had a closer relationship to its fans than other pro leagues, and social networks are a terrific way to bring fans and the sport closer together.
 
“When the sport first started, literally, the gates would open underneath the flag stand after the race and fans could stream down to pit road and get to meet and talk to their favorite driver,” he said. “But as the sport has grown bigger, you can’t do that anymore. But what you can have today is technology fitting the bill of providing fans with that kind of access and connection to their drivers.”

For many of the drivers, social networks are a natural part of fan interaction, and many would probably use the various sites even if they weren’t NASCAR drivers. David Ragan of UPS Racing #23 car, keeps in touch with fans via Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, his personal web site and on the UPS Racing site.
 
“Being a younger guy, it just seemed appropriate to have those links to our website since we have a lot of young fans,” Ragan said. “We started our Facebook and MySpace over a year ago. There was a lot of interest. People put up a lot pictures and comments, and we felt like that was a really good deal. So we started a Twitter account early in the 2009 season and it seems like the wave of the future to stay connected, not just at the racetrack but on an everyday basis.”

Mark Dickens, a spokesman for UPS Racing, said UPS was familiar with social networking sites, but didn’t start getting involved with them until early this year. “It provided us with an opportunity to experiment with those communication tools a little bit,” he said, “and as a result of what we’ve done with our racing program we’re looking into other ways we can use Facebook and Twitter … to help us with some of our other communications’ efforts.”
 
Brian Vickers, who drives the #83 car for Red Bull Racing, also started using the familiar networking sites within the past couple of years.  “It’s an opportunity to communicate better with the fans,” Vickers said. “I’m fortunate and honored to have anybody that would care, so it kind of kept growing and the next thing you know, it was growing by hundreds of fans a day and it just got really big.”
 
Twitter has allowed NASCAR fans to follow a race when they are away from the TV. When the Watkins Glen race was rained out and had to be held on Monday, thousands of fans found out the results via Twitter. Of Twitter’s top-trending topics for Race Day, Tony Stewart, Watkins Glen, and NASCAR were all in the top seven.
 
NASCAR is finding ways to mesh new media and journalism. The NASCAR Citizen Journalists Media Corps, formed in July 2009, is comprised of several professional and amateur websites devoted to NASCAR. Giangola pointed out a couple of examples of the different types of sites on the network and who is providing the coverage. Racintoday.com was formed by a group of reporters who were displaced from their old papers. Thefastandthefabulous.com is run by a female fan, Valli Hilaire, in California, whose love of NASCAR began in 2001.
 
“We’ve gone out and evaluated these independent websites and these bloggers, and the ones we’ve liked we’ve invited to be part of the new media corps,” said Giangola. “They have the opportunity to apply for media credentials at the track. They’ll have other media driven opportunities at NASCAR and a range of access and connections to the sport that only were available to media. Now, we’re considering the citizen journalist media as well.”
 
NASCAR is also trying to use social networks to bring new and old fans together. The stereotype is that Facebook and Twitter are populated just by teens and 20-something’s, but older fans that grew up in the pre-internet age are flocking to social networking sites to keep in contact with friends and follow their favorite personalities. Ragan thought it might have been an issue at the start, but it was a problem that soon abated. “Most of our fans that joined recently from Twitter or Facebook have probably been over the age of 25,” Ragan said. “There are a lot of middle-aged guys and girls that are interested in our sport. It’s no longer just a teenage thing.”
 
Ragan was also confident that social networks have a bright future, at least when it comes to following sports. “As long as there is a desire to know what is going on in an athlete’s life, there’s always going to be a need for it,” he said. “People want real-time updates and I don’t see it going anywhere but up over the next few years just because it’s instant information and everyone wants to find stuff out quick.”