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A Night at the East Lincoln Motor Speedway: Faith, Family, and Pride Kendall Williams Senior Honors Thesis Department of American Studies The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 2020 Approved: ____________________________ Bernie Herman, Thesis Advisor Elizabeth Engelhardt, Second Reader Neal Caren, Third Reader Introduction: “Boogity, boogity, boogity, let’s go racing, boys!”1 “My son Dillon, he does the prayer, we stand up for the national anthem, I mean it’s a good sport and everybody seems to be on the same page as far as our views, as far as our country, you know. Religion, I wouldn’t know, I would think most of them there was Christians because they don’t complain about Dillon saying the prayer or whatever, and if they did, we wouldn’t care because that’s the way we feel.”2 Tim Sigmon, the former owner of East Lincoln Motor Speedway (ELMS), captures the essence of life at the track—he speaks to patriotism and Christianity, two of the main values that permeate ELMS culture and make the track socially meaningful. The track is a space for like-minded people—who mostly self-identify as white, Protestant, working class, patriotic, conservative Southerners—to come together and express the values that they share. Throughout this thesis, I utilize qualitative, ethnographic data to explore these values to understand how ELMS’s status as an outlet for expressions of faith, family values, and pride can help us understand a very particular Southern identity (see Figure 1). I argue that the track promotes community and bonding between like-minded individuals by allowing them to express meaningful values in a time when such values are often not welcomed by the general public. I also explore how track life promotes polarization by creating an echo chamber where alternative viewpoints are not available. I begin with a brief synopsis of the three values I have chosen as the focus of this thesis before providing some background information and a chapter overview. 1 “Darrell Waltrip Boogity Boogity Boogity Compilation.” YouTube. eaton011, May 13, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8by2zu8PgQ. 2 Sigmon, Tim. Interview by Kendall Williams. Personal Interview. September 11, 2019. 2 Figure 1. This photo represents the values of faith, family, and pride. Faith is demonstrated in the cross tattoo, family can be seen in the various generations present, and pride is visible in the racing flags and the American flag. Photo courtesy of Lee Kington, former track photographer and current overseer of the Kids Club. ELMS provides a seemingly unconventional space for people to practice their faith—a nondenominational, Protestant, Fundamentalist, Evangelical form of Christianity that is associated with the Southern Bible Belt. As the American South is globalized, the connections between religion and place are becoming less clear. Because so many of the track community members share a similar faith, they are able to grow alongside one another. Driver Chris Smith informed me that he is “pretty sure everyone else has the same agreement that God’s God and that’s who [they] worship.”3 Members of the community become closer to each other as they 3 Smith, Chris. Interview by Kendall Williams. Personal Interview. April 3, 2020. 3 “witness” and become closer to Jesus. The track facilitates this Christian practice by having a track chaplain pray over every race; the drivers and fans partake by standing, bowing their heads, and remaining reverently quiet. Second, ELMS promotes the transmission of family values from older to younger community members through the practice of several generations working together on cars in order to reach a common goal, and by encouraging children at the track to watch their parents and grandparents race. Families spend time together, and during this time, elders pass on knowledge, beliefs, and values to the youth. This secular form of witnessing allows values to become family values, as they are no longer held by just the individual, but by the family. ELMS community members place value on raising kids to be Christian, hard-working, tough, self- sufficient, and proud. One of the most prominent family values demonstrated is a strong work ethic. The racing community is comprised of hard-working people. Unlike top NASCAR drivers, drivers at ELMS do not have professional pit crews. Instead, they rely on friends and family members. They all labor together to ready their cars each week, work that is demanding both physically and mentally. Third, racing fans demonstrate pride in many realms of their lives. They exhibit pride for their country and outwardly celebrate their patriotism. This thesis discusses pride in the context of country, region, sport, community, and values. Members of the ELMS community are proud to be American, and they are just as proud to be Southern. They embrace the term “redneck” and the traits it represents. Racing is part of a particular Southern experience. ELMS fans, drivers, and employees take great pride in the sport that they love, as well as their track. Lastly, 4 they recognize that the values that they share contribute to the ELMS environment, and they are proud to hold these values. Together, pride, family, and faith come together to show that local dirt track racing, at ELMS specifically, allows for the expression of a particular set of Southern values. These three prominent values resonate amongst many members of the ELMS community. Analyzing the celebration of these three values demonstrates the social value of racing through communities formed around racing at local tracks as well as larger venues utilized in big events like the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. These values are analyzed through the lens of racing, with the focus being on ELMS. ELMS is a 1/3 of a mile dirt track located in Stanley, Lincoln County, North Carolina.4 Stanley is in the Piedmont region, about thirty minutes northwest of Charlotte. While the people who spend time at ELMS tend to be very similar to one another demographically and ideologically, their relationships are not entirely harmonious. Drivers and fans often argue over racing-related issues (rules, calls, etc.). In this racing community, people are brought together over shared views and experiences, while simultaneously being driven apart from one another over racing matters. The majority of the time, ELMS attendees continue coming in spite of disagreements. There are connections keeping them at the track beyond the opportunity to race, even where there are other tracks to which they could go. Jessica Beaver, for example, 4 “East Lincoln Speedway Videos.” Dirt Track Racing Videos. Dirt Track Racing Videos. Accessed April 29, 2020. http://www.dirttrackracingvideos.com/south/dirt-tracks-in-north-carolina/east-lincoln- speedway/#sthash.FZC7CYss.dpbs. 5 drives forty-five minutes each way, each week to be a part of the ELMS community.5 A sense of community is what keeps these people coming back week after week. Providing for the expression of values around faith, family, and pride, the track allows for a place where folks feel they are understood and where they belong. Driver Lindsey Dyer reflected, “we’re there to be a family. We’re there to be with our friends.”6 A newcomer to the track would be able to judge from the sayings emblazoned on fans’ shirts, that everyone stands for the Star-Spangled Banner, and that no one is openly opposed to having the track chaplain pray before every race, and determine that the fans of ELMS constitute a like-minded community. As our political climate becomes more and more polarized, other aspects of society follow suit.7 The media has an incentive to exaggerate, slant, and distort news, as it attracts an audience and, by extension, market share.8 The result is that the general public becomes more polarized from being exposed to distorted truth claims—polarization and the media feed off of each other in a self-reinforcing cycle. Polarization is dangerous for any society because it drives people apart, ultimately resulting in a lack of understanding, increased violence, and the dismantling of communities.9 As communities are dismantled, they become more needed. In other words, as more outside sources threaten the well-being of the track, the more useful it becomes in allowing people to surround themselves with like-minded individuals. 5 Beaver, Jessica. Interview by Kendall Williams. Personal Interview. April 3, 2020. 6 Dyer, Lindsey. Interview by Kendall Williams. Personal Interview. April 4, 2020. 7 Jilani, Zaid, and Jeremy Adam Smith. “What Is the True Cost of Polarization in America?” Greater Good Magazine. The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley, March 4, 2019. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_is_the_true_cost_of_polarization_in_america. 8 “How Politically Polarized Media Is Driving Our Alternative Realities.” PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, April 20, 2017. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/politically-polarized-media-driving-alternative-realities. 9 Jilani, Zaid, and Jeremy Adam Smith. 6 My thesis presents the story of ELMS and its people through the voices of the people I engage. My analysis is intended to provide the reader with an explanation as to the interpretation and importance of the information that I gather while conducting ethnographic research. I quote members of the East Lincoln Motor Speedway community, and I highlight their stories to encourage understanding. Readers will gain an understanding of the importance of race tracks as social infrastructure in a corner of the American South, as well as grassroots insights into the political polarization of our nation. My thesis offers a unique opportunity for people to hear voices firsthand, rather than through a news source. My thesis serves as a case study that allows readers to learn about how race tracks provide social infrastructure through a season of weekly races.

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