By Mike Allen and Liz Clarke
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, February 16, 2004; Page A01

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Feb. 15 -- President Bush cued the engines of the Daytona 500 on Sunday afternoon and then settled in for a dizzying view of NASCAR's biggest race as he courted a rugged crowd Republicans consider their own.

The White House described Bush's overnight trip to Florida as non-political, meaning that taxpayers -- not Bush's reelection campaign -- will pick up the tab. But the election-year agenda was clear from the magnificent presidential photo shots and the red, white and blue touring bus that the Republican National Committee deployed at the track for its "Race to Victory" voter registration drive.

Although NASCAR officials insist their fans have steadily diversified, stock-car races remain a refuge from political correctness, with cigarettes and buckets of fried chicken welcome in the stands. Beer is sold in towering 16-ounce cans known as "tall boys." Bush's motorcade was greeted by several men waving Confederate flags from atop the roofs of their pickups.

Even in this conservative and largely adoring crowd, there were signs of trouble for Bush, whose job-approval ratings have dropped to the lowest of his presidency amid questions about the basis for war in Iraq.

Harry Meeks, 55, an owner of health clubs in Orlando, said he voted for Bush in 2000 but is considering the Democrats for the first time in his life. "Let's face it -- the economy isn't that great, and there was deceit about the war," Meeks said. "He needs to come clean on Iraq and come up with a real program for the economy that benefits people who don't make more than $200,000 a year."

But other fans gave the president a warm reception. "He's like me," said Thomas Hanner, 58, a self-employed contractor from Sarasota, Fla. "His swagger, his confidence -- I can relate to his thinking."

Bush's appearance before a throng of 180,000 race fans in the grandstands and infield, plus a television audience approaching 35 million, was the most visible sign so far of the parties' competition for socially conservative but economically struggling white men in the South and Midwest who political consultants have taken to calling "NASCAR dads."

Years ago, these voters were known as "Reagan Democrats," and the Republican Party has mostly held on to them over the past two decades. But some Democratic strategists believe that job losses during Bush's term, which have been concentrated among the blue-collar communities that historically provided the bulk of the fans for stock-car racing, provide an opening to prevent the president from sweeping the South in November.

"Bush needs to protect his flank," said David "Mudcat" Saunders, a consultant in Roanoke, who advised Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner (D). "These are people who say grace at the dinner table, but then they talk about all the jobs that we've lost, and how they're going to pay for their health care."

Analysts disagree over how definable is the voting bloc attracted to NASCAR, which claims 75 million fans and the second-largest sports audience after the National Football League. NASCAR distributes statistics showing that 40 percent of its fans are women, that 39 percent make at least $50,000 a year and that they are 19 percent from the West and 20 percent from the Northeast. Matthew E. Adams, a golf consultant who spent two years studying racing culture before writing parts of "Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul," said the political parties "are wasting their time." He said his experience showed him that NASCAR fans are more centrist and less homogeneous than is generally assumed.

Still, the White House has aggressively reached out to NASCAR followers , with Bush's enthusiastic participation. In 2001, champion Jeff Gordon received no attention from the White House. But the 2002 champion, Tony Stewart, got a visit to the Oval Office. Last year, champion Matt Kenseth was heralded on the White House South Lawn, where presidential aides lined up seven stock cars to help attract cameras.

Just last week, White House press secretary Scott McClellan took time in his televised briefing to laud the charitable and disaster-relief efforts of NASCAR drivers.

The outreach has been reciprocated, in ways both small and large. Brian Z. France, NASCAR's new chairman and chief executive, has contributed the maximum of $2,000 to Bush's campaign.

And on Sunday, Bush was greeted by huge cheers when he appeared on the enormous Nextel-vision screen in a black Daytona 500 windbreaker.

"Laura and I are honored to be here for this fantastic spectacle," Bush told the crowd, which had fallen silent for the national anthem. "We ask God's blessings on the drivers, NASCAR fans and on our great nation. Now it is my honor to start this race. Gentlemen, start your engines."

It was a far cry from the icy reception that presidential candidate Bill Clinton received in 1992 at the raceway in Darlington, S.C., while campaigning against President George H.W. Bush. Not only did stock-car racing fans roundly boo when Clinton waved to the grandstands, NASCAR officials also had trouble persuading drivers to pose for pictures with the Arkansas governor or show him around. President Bush, by contrast, was greeted on Sunday by a largely adoring crowd that sees in him the values it holds dear: religion, family and country -- occasionally referred to as God, guns and guts.

The brand of racing developed by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) started in Daytona Beach shortly after World War II and was nurtured on the short tracks that dotted the Southeast. In the last decade, its popularity has exploded, with gleaming super-speedways sprouting up in Southern California, Las Vegas, Dallas-Fort Worth and Miami; telegenic drivers such as Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won today; and TV exposure that has transformed a regional audience into a national following.

Fans are drawn by the sport's drivers, self-made men who kiss their wives in victory lane. They root for the American-made cars. They cheer the military flybys. They doff their caps for the pre-race prayer.

They are also uncommonly brand-loyal -- three times more likely to buy the brands of motor oil, laundry detergent, beer and cereal that sponsor race cars than other brands. Fans are sufficiently devoted to specific drivers that they will buy Earnhardt 12-can coolers, Mark Martin splashguards for their cars and Gordon dog leashes.

That loyalty is what Bush is courting this election year.

The 2002 champion, Stewart, of Rushville, Ind., admits he doesn't really follow politics but said he has made up his mind about this campaign. "Bush is my guy, and that's the end of it," said Stewart, 33. "Even in politics, the politicians are smart enough to realize how big of a marketing tool that NASCAR is, and the cars and drivers are."

Ferrel Guillory, director of the Program in Southern Politics, Media and Public Life at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, described Bush's visit to Daytona as an effort to solidify his base of support. "He's in a rough patch right now," Guillory said. "So he's going to his base, and he's doing it in a symbolic way by going to a NASCAR race."

Sunday's pre-race festivities were cloaked in patriotism. Air Force One made its grand approach, banking over the speedway and buzzing one of the grandstands, as the 43 drivers were introduced on a giant stage. Soon after, the presidential motorcade pulled majestically down pit road, and the crowd cheered when Bush emerged from a black Suburban 2500 and waved. The president visited with drivers on pit road and peered inside several of the cars, including one sponsored by the National Guard.

"I flew fighters when I was in the Guard, and I like speed," Bush said in an interview during NBC's race coverage. "It would've been fun to drive up on these banks." Asked whether he would like to ride in one of the race cars, Bush said, "I'd like to, but I'm afraid the agents wouldn't let me."

First lady Laura Bush greeted several drivers and at one point remarked, "This is fun." Actor Ben Affleck, who has criticized Bush's agenda for its conservatism, was the grand marshal, and Laura Bush shook his hand and posed for a photo with him.

Then the president's 20-vehicle motorcade rolled down pit road and across the track before the pace car ushered the drivers onto the oval.

Bush stayed for about half of the 200-lap race. Then he got a last shot of publicity that no opponent could buy: NBC interrupted the race coverage for a shot of Air Force One flying over the track and into the clouds.