NASCAR fans are a passionate lot, make no mistake about it. The vast majority of us have a favorite driver, and we are fiercely loyal to that driver, the team he drives for and the company that sponsors him.

You’ve probably seen the slogan (or variations of it), “NASCAR, not a sport, but a way of life”, and how can anyone argue with that since our shopping habits are dictated by the guy we root for on race day?

Not only do we buy the products produced or sold by our drivers’ sponsors, but we’ll go so far as to refuse to even think about buying something from a competitor.

Faced with a clogged toilet, a Tony Stewart fan would pee in the trash can before buying a plunger at Lowe’s, and a Carl Edwards fan would jot notes on his stomach (the fan’s stomach, not Carl’s) before going to Staples for a pack of Post-Its.

A Jamie McMurray fan would never think of touching a drop of Southern Comfort (which is probably for the best, fan or not) and a Kurt Busch fan (I know, he doesn’t have any, but play along) would drink sewer water before drinking any beer but Miller Lite, although some people would argue the two pretty much taste the same.

A Kevin Harvick fan would push his car miles to get to a Shell station rather than the Exxon around the corner, and if you ever see a Reed Sorenson fan in a Wal-Mart, there’s a good chance he’s recently suffered a sharp blow to the head and doesn’t know where he is (admittedly, it’ll be tough to pick him out of the crowd, because most of the people shopping in there match that description).

A Denny Hamlin fan would drive cross country to hand deliver a package before using UPS, if only for the fact that lots of people don’t even realize UPS still sponsors a car, since we never see it on Sunday.

You’ll never see a Mark Martin fan in line at the Navy recruiting center and you’ll never, ever see a Dale Earnhardt Jr fan drinking anything but Bud (if only because Bud cans have been proven, by Jr’s fans, to be extremely aerodynamic when it comes time to throw things onto the track).

A Kasey Kahne fan (especially one of the three stalker women who have long out stayed their welcome in the All-State commercials), would stomp the #### out of the Geico gecko and a Ricky Rudd fan would would snack on tree bark before even considering anything but a Snickers bar.

This list* could go on and on, but you get the point. Fans refuse to spend money with competitors to our favorite drivers’ sponsors and that’s why the sponsors continue to pour money into the sport.

What’s that? You don’t want to be limited in your buying choices? Then you should consider becoming a Kyle Petty fan. He has so many different sponsors even he can’t keep up with them all, so you’re free to spend your money with anyone you choose.

You could also become a fan of Michael Waltrip, David Reutimann, AJ Allmendinger, Brian Vickers, Dave Blaney or Jeremy Mayfield. All these drivers actually do have single sponsors, but few ever make a race, so you can just pretend you don't know what you should be buying. (You'll have your Sunday's free to do whatever you like as well, since you won't need to watch the race to know your driver finished 50th again.)

*I’m really glad I didn’t try to compile this list when Mark Martin was sponsored by Viagra.

Dan Williams