Open question for any NASCAR fans out there:

I can see where auto racing would be interesting. But how do you figure out which driver to back? I posed this question to a friend who's into it, and his answer was along the lines of "I was a big xxxxxx fan, and then he died and his team owner signed so and so..." which didn't get to the root of the question.

For other sports there are aspects of territoriality; one tends to gravitate toward the teams/athletes from a hometown or alma mater. For a time I pulled for Alan Kulwicki, just because he was the only driver A) competing as driver/owner, B) hailing from the North, and C) possessing a college degree. But now he's dead and as far as I can tell there's no one setting himself apart in that way.

Anyway: how does one look at this homogenous group of crackers, who all drive one of three types of automobile (so far removed from an everyday model that rooting for Dodge Charger is just silly); and decide to exalt one over all others? Then, how do you decide "I will HATE this other driver. So much so that I will purchase a sticker with a bootleg Calvin peeing on his number."?

Does it have to do with the corporate sponsorship? Because "Tide makes my clothes clean and fresh-smelling...go, Travis Kvapil!" is just dumb.