“(De)constructing NASCAR Space”: A Black Placemaking Analysis of Fan Agency, Mobility, and Resistance

Abstract

This article examines how blackness is not only situated within sporting spaces, but also, and more narrowly, experienced within a historically and predominantly White sporting space—that of NASCAR. To explore and define Black individuals’ racialized experiences and movements as NASCAR fans from their perspective, this article uses a qualitative approach as grounded in narrative inquiry. Findings suggest that Black fans shift the otherwise oppressive geographies of NASCAR into sites of belongingness, celebration, and enjoyment, which advances the theoretical understanding of how “White spaces” can be contested through processes of racialized resistance. Thus, through the process of Black placemaking, Black fans construct and employ practices to transform their geographic “immobility” (both discursive and physical) into a reality that subverts racism and White supremacy more broadly.