Marillion and F1 Stock Car Racing

It's a bit of a diversion from my usual sporadic ramblings about knitting and jewellery, but something struck me recently and I wanted to talk about it here.

I am a Marillion fan. It may surprise to you to know that there are still a few of us about. They are still making albums. Most people know of them via their single Kayleigh which was released in 1985 and write them off as a 1 hit wonder.

Many people thought the band split up when Fish (lead singer) left. Not so. In fact, they've recorded 15 studio albums; 4 with Fish, 11 with Steve Hogarth (who oddly enough, is still the "new" lead singer in some peoples minds).

The band are still making music, but they rarely chart. They last got in the charts in 2004 when the singles You're Gone and Don't Hurt Yourself got to number 7 and 16 respectively. They are something of an unknown to most people and those that do know of them and are fans of the Hogarth era too tend to be passionate about the band. Myself included. We love the music and often tend to think that it's often underrated by the music industry. Ask a radio station for some Marillion and they'll play Kayleigh, or if you're lucky, Lavender or Incommunicado. What many Marillion fans would love to hear is some of the later Hogath era Marillion on the airwaves.

We are that passionate about the band that we will preorder albums and pay up front and wait for up to a year for the album to come to us. The band couldn't afford to tour America, so the fans clubbed together and raised the money for the band to be able to do a decent tour of America. I remember chatting to a guy on the last tour who had flown over from America to see every UK based gig. Must have cost him a fortune, but this is the level of passion and love for a band that is mostly unknown to Joe Public.

What does this have to do with F1 Stock Cars?

I had never heard of stock car racing until a few months ago. If you'd have mentioned them, I'd have thought you were referring to banger racing, which couldn't be further from the truth. The cars are custom built with odd looking spoilers (shale or tarmac spoilers, dependant on the surface the cars are racing on) and are raced anti clockwise on a short oval track. Contact is allowed, but by no means is the race a destruction derby. The cars engines are huge (I can't remember the bhp off the top of my head, but it's quite high).

It's not a team sport, unlike the Grand Prix. During the race, it's every man for himself (or herself!). However, it's a sport that has involved 3 or 4 generations of families and while there's the famous Smith v's Wainman rivalry, there are also fans and drivers who have made good friends through their love of stock cars and might only see each other every few months. When they do meet, it's as though they saw each other only last week.

I have noticed that the F1 stock car fans are also passionate about stock car racing. I have only been to two meetings and for me, it's been as interesting to observe the fans as it has been to watch the races.

Both sets of fans will say that their idols (for want of a better word!) are underrated and are some of Britain's best kept secrets. Amongst both sets of fans are people that are devoted enough to get tattoos (I have a Marillion tattoo myself!) of their favourite drivers numbers or logo from their favourite album cover.

To me, stock car racing seems to have brought families together - it's very much a family friendly event. It's common to see kids running around "playing" stock cars, while the Dads are looking at the cars in the pits (fans are allowed access to the pit areas). It is very much a family day out.

As for Marillion, I know of at least one couple who got together due to their love of the band. Marillion fans often say that the band provides the soundtrack for their life, because of the depth of the music and the meaningful lyrics. In fact, one of the taglines on the bands websites is "Find a better way of life".

The pride and affection of both sets of fans is incredibly clear to me. I think that's why I'm drawn to stock cars; because I want more people to know about it in the same way that I want more people to know about Marillion.

If you've read all this, have a beer :)