Wine is not the first thing one associates with NASCAR and American stock car racing, but interest in and the popularity of wine has been growing in the NASCAR world. The linking of wine with NASCAR and stock car racing in America may seem odd to outsiders who tend to associate beer with NASCAR, but it should be a long-term benefit for the wine industry because it will lead more and more people to being introduced to more and better wines — especially people who might otherwise see wine as too elitist.
Unfortunately, the introduction of wine into NASCAR is not proceeding in a trouble-free or criticism-free manner. Some people object precisely because they continue to perceive wine as too elitist — and some of that is the fault of those responsible for bringing the wine into the NASCAR world. Others object not because of the wine itself, but because they see it as a symptom of a deeper problem: the treatment of NASCAR as little more than a marketing vehicle, a platform for corporate networking, and a means for extracting money from fans of car racing. They have an even better point.
