Crossing the Border
By Cathy Elliott
celliott@newsandpress.com

B orders separate many of the major phases of our lives and experiences.
Some are intimidating, and dramatic—the Berlin Wall comes to mind—while others take a more subtle form.
Simply crossing an invisible property line, for example, can literally transport us into an entirely new and different world, complete with a foreign language, unfamiliar currency and less forgiving public officials, hence the term, "border town."
Some of the earliest lessons we learn about borders are taught when we enter the educational system and work our way through school. Each new grade level is a goal we strive to achieve, the current one an educational minefield we must pick our way through with great care.
Some will not succeed at first, and will be ushered back to the starting point for another chance to try, try again.
Some will manage to work their way to the border through the use of their wits, intuition and more than a little luck.
Some will get by with a little help from their friends.
Others will pore over maps, charts and study guides for weeks and months in advance, planning their strategy with cleverness and care, eventually blazing a trail for others to see, follow, and perhaps one day, even surpass.
To be professionally associated with NASCAR in any form means that you are never really separated from it. You may be more or less interested at various times depending on what’s going on and whom it’s going on with, but you always pay attention.
I like to catch up on my NASCAR news while I’m in my car, traveling to and from my day job. Naturally, the vast majority of conversation on NASCAR Radio (Sirius 128) call-in shows for the past couple of weeks has centered around Sprint Cup Series testing at Daytona International Speedway, which just concluded its second and final session.
As I listened to various crew chiefs and owners and sponsors and drivers discuss their testing experiences, an observational trend emerged.
"This isn’t like anything else we do," said Todd Berrier, crew chief for defending Daytona 500 champion Kevin Harvick. "We work an entire month for two days of qualifying."
"Every one of us wants to do well in everything we do around the Daytona 500," said one driver. "Points don’t matter. Only winning matters. We don’t even start thinking about points until we get to California." (California Speedway hosts the second race on the Sprint Cup Series schedule.)
Finally, my favorite comment, from another well-known driver: "There have been times at Daytona when I was so nervous and excited I thought I was going to be sick. It’s like taking the SAT."
Bingo.
The Scholastic Achievement Test, commonly known as the SAT, is a standardized test designed to measure critical thinking skills that are deemed necessary for success in college.
For students aspiring to higher education, years of pencils, books and (in some cases) teachers’ dirty looks all lead up to one big event—the day you take the SAT.
Work long hours and study hard on a variety of subjects, for you will need to know it all, or at least remember as much of it as you can, to do well on this test.
Don’t even think about trying to cheat.
Most colleges and universities require a minimum SAT score for admission. This is their version of a border.
Do well and score highly, and you will be welcomed with open arms into the upper echelons of academia. The crystal ball may be still be a little cloudy on where you might end up, but when you start out as a Harvard Crimson or a Stanford Cardinal or a UNC Tarheel, it can serve to clear that vision up somewhat.
If you fail to achieve that baseline number, however, you will be turned away to go back and study some more and try to gain admission elsewhere.
Is this starting to sound familiar? Think about it the next time you’re watching "NASCAR Now" or one of the other racing-themed TV shows, and someone rolls his eyes when the term "off-season" is mentioned.
While we as fans may have grand visions of our NASCAR heroes, whomever they may be or whatever their jobs may entail, riding high atop the slopes of Vail or the waves of Maui during the month of December, they are actually just hard at work making the transition from one grade to the next.
They are reviewing everything they have ever learned about this particular subject—qualifying for the Daytona 500--in preparation for NASCAR’s version of the SAT, the Speed Attainment Test.
Their score may not necessarily determine how far they will ultimately go or when they will get there, but it will most definitely provide a leg (and four Goodyear tires) up on the competition.
By the way, those who try to cheat on this test will find that a smart rap on the knuckles from NASCAR can continue to sting for quite some time.
Aristotle once said that while it is possible to fail in many ways, it is possible to succeed in only one. Apparently philosophers also found time to be race fans, and to make their opinions known; the Chariot Cup Series was the hottest thing going back in those days.
The lights of the next border town beam brightly in the distance; qualifying for the Daytona 500 begins on February 10.
When all the studying is done and all that acquired knowledge is finally applied in a practical manner, it will be interesting to see who gets the highest score, posts the fastest time, then starts (and finishes) the race on top.
While those who fail to cross that border will no doubt be bitterly disappointed, at least they will have the satisfaction of knowing it will be short-lived, as Sprint Cup Series study hall has officially begun its long 2008 semester.
Those who don’t score highly enough on the first test will, like the continual students that they are, move forward, study harder, and attempt to gain admission somewhere else.
They will, after all, have 35 more opportunities.