Will Losing the Race for NASCAR's Hall Give Democrats a Flat?

Yesterday, one of the South’s most important cultural and economic institutions, NASCAR, announced that Richmond, VA (along with Kansas City) was out of the running for its racing Hall of Fame, leaving Daytona Beach, Atlanta, and Charlotte as the 3 finalists. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch,

“The Virginians Racing for the Hall of Fame board meeting was pegged as another strategy session for snagging NASCAR's $103 million shrine. But after a stunning announcement late yesterday afternoon from NASCAR, the focus of today's gathering at the Greater Richmond Partnership will switch from winning the bid to wrapping it up.”

State and local officials put quite a bit of effort into this project, and in particular the move to bring the facility to Virginia would have added another feather in the stock-car racing cap of out-going Gov. Mark Warner (D). Warner rode his now-famed support for NASCAR and its fans to victory in 2001, even sponsoring a racing crew. Gov-elect Tim Kaine (D), a former Richmond mayor, expressed his support in the waning days of the campaign, but his efforts to woo NASCAR lovers was not as vigorous as his predecessor.

That NASCAR won’t be coming to Richmond will be a blow to the Commonwealth and the Richmond region, which itself is home to two popular “short-track” events. It remains to be seen whether the loss of the Hall will have an impact on future Democratic efforts to capitalize on the political potency of NASCAR in order to reach out to rural Virginians, especially rural whites. In the absence of real political fallout from the loss of the Hall, it would still be wise for Democrats to keep an affinity for the popular stock car racing series. Otherwise, they’ll continue to get lapped by Republican in the race for the hearts and minds of Virginians who are citizens of the NASCAR nation.