Since the time I became a NASCAR columnist, there have been several occasions when the passion of the NASCAR fans would reach higher levels than normal. Debates about such issues as the implementation of the Chase for the Cup and Buschwhacking have inspired endless debates, and that’s just two topics on a list of many.

Anyone who follows the debates either by reading the columns in the media, lurking on a message board, or listening to them at a racetrack knows that a certain segment of the NASCAR population can escalate their gloom-and-doom to epic proportions. Since I became a fan in 1999 I have read various articles that promised the imminent demise of NASCAR, and some by columnists who promise not only that, but that they themselves are through with NASCAR, and are going to quit following the sport before the end comes. That they have written more than one of these articles speaks volumes about their credibility. They remind me of people in trouble-filled marriages who threaten to leave on a regular basis, or, on a lesser scale, of people at message boards who leave impassioned posts about why they’re never coming back to that particular board again, and within a week are posting as usual. The phrase ‘Say what you mean and mean what you say’ comes to mind, doesn’t it?

The doomsayers have leapt upon the recent race ratings indicating fewer people tuning in as ‘proof’ of their stance that NASCAR has one foot in the sports-that-used-to-be-popular graveyard. Call me dubious, but until the ratings are nearing an early-morning farm report, I’m not ringing the ‘NASCAR’s dead’ bell.

There is too much that is good about NASCAR to prepare its ceremonial death shroud. It is the sport least-touched by scandals, one that encourages its heroes to include their families in their lives as much as possible, and one in which is blessed by clergymen not afraid to utter the name ‘Jesus Christ’ in the invocations. The list of charities and organizations that are supported by drivers, teams, and fans is a lengthy one, and random acts of kindness by many people in the world of NASCAR are common.

No matter what system the drivers are racing under, every week they rev those engines and strive to win no matter what car has been prepared (or mandated) for them. I cannot imagine what would have to happen to inspire me to not want to watch my favorite drivers as they take to the track each week. I believe the more the sport becomes a business, the more the drivers prove to me that they still just want to race to win; that they are still, in spite of it all, the racing warriors that I have grown to idolize.

On this Good Friday, in-between church services, personal reflection, and shopping for Easter dinner, take one moment to remember what is good about NASCAR, and just for that one moment leave the sarcasm and doom-saying out of it. What is left is quite pleasant indeed.