Katie Kennedy has grown up watching it.

She is used to the cheers and the screams, and the older she got, the more involved she became. Now, Kennedy yells, shouts and wringes any object that falls subject to her hands.

“NASCAR is much, much more than just a bunch of cars making fast left turns,” Kennedy, a senior in chemical engineering, said.

She is a NASCAR fan through and through, watching the Nextel Cup every week with her roommate, Carrie Brady. But according to Kennedy, Brady knows much more about it than she does.

“In listening to my parents, uncles and other friends discuss NASCAR, I had always heard enough about the drivers and teams to generally know what was going on, but it was, and still is, a learning process to gain knowledge about the cars, strategies and rules,” Kennedy said.

It was much the same for Brady, a senior in civil engineering. Growing up in Charlotte, she felt it was inevitable to learn something about NASCAR.

Brady said her family greatly contributed to the process of her becoming a devout racing fan. Her father and brother are die-hard Dale Earnhardt fans, with her father even owning an extensive Earnhardt memorabilia collection. Her grandmother pulls for anyone on Joe Gibbs racing and some of her friends have discovered newfound interest in racing beyond NASCAR.

“NASCAR is a crazy kind of bond with people. We all have our favorite racers and they may not be the same, but we still get along,” Brady said.

Although Kennedy and Brady are big fans of NASCAR and have visited Daytona and Talladega, both regret not having been to an actual race.”I hope there is a race in my near future, possibly the All-Star Challenge or Coca-Cola 600,” Brady said. “I think it would be fun to even stay in the infield of a race track. But I have been to a pole night, to see drivers qualify for the upcoming race and I have been to other racing events that aren’t NASCAR, such as Legends.”

Both Kennedy and Brady said they believe there are several misconceptions about the world of NASCAR and its fans.

“There are a lot of generalizations that are made about NASCAR and the fans, most of which include the words ‘redneck,’ ‘beer’ and ‘chicken,'” Kennedy said.

She also said she disagrees with the critics who think NASCAR does not involve any skill or athletic ability.

“The extreme amount of engineering that goes into making the cars better, faster and safer is simply amazing. Also, as I mentioned before, the strategies, teams, rules and even the racetracks themselves — since the layout, distances and inclines all vary from track to track — all play a significant role in the sport,” Kennedy said.

And as for the drivers not being considered athletic, Kennedy argues that anyone who can stay seated for more than four hours in 120-degree weather without a time-out should be considered one.

“I can understand that people perceive NASCAR to be boring because at one point in time, I did too, but if you get involved in the sport and learn about it, it is very interesting,” Brady said.

More than anything, Brady said she loves to learn about the history of NASCAR and how family-oriented it is. She said she was surprised to learn most drivers come from a long line of drivers in their families, and she believes it gives a personal touch to the entire enterprise.

But Brady’s most powerful memory of NASCAR came in 2001 during the Daytona 500 race when Dale Earnhardt died in a crash during the last stretch of the race.

“It was a tragic moment,” Brady said. “This race was bittersweet because Michael Waltrip won the race and Dale Earnhardt Jr. came in second. This was special because Waltrip won his first race with the DEI team.”

But the outcome of the race did not affect her as much as what happened after it.

“I was most affected by the aftermath of the race. I saw how people were touched by a man they never have met in their lifetime. I experienced the bond between race fans,” Brady said.

Both Kennedy and Brady said they understand and feel the sense of family and camaraderie evident in NASCAR. And aside from the loyalty, they enjoy the visceral impact the races provide.