After 19 agonizing months of waiting and pondering what might happen in Westeros, fans finally get to see Sunday night what is in store for the final season of HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”
“What’s that?” reigning Cup champion Joey Logano said. “Do they race cars in it?”
Uh, no.
“Then I guess I’m not a fan.”
No cars. But there are dragons, humanoid creatures called White Walkers and plenty of violence.
That’s OK if Logano isn’t a fan. There are bound to be fans in the NASCAR garage of a show that attracted 12.1 million viewers in its season seven series finale in August 2017 (the number grew to 16.5 million when including night-of streams of the show).
“Do you have to be a millennial (to like it)?” asked Richmond winner Martin Truex Jr., who is 38 years old. “Definitely too old to be a millennial if you’re asking.”
No. The show’s fan base has grown since its debut in 2011. The season seven ratings saw a 20% increase in both total viewers and in the adult 18-49 demographic.
But let’s check with someone younger that Truex, such as 22-year old Erik Jones. Is he fan of the show?
“Maybe I am and I just don’t know,” Jones said, “but I’ve never watched it.”
OK, let’s try another young driver, such as 24-year-old Chase Briscoe.
“Never seen it,” he said. “Couldn’t even tell you what it’s about.”
So nothing on Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen? OK, but Briscoe can talk about a few other shows.
“This is going to be embarrassing, but I watch ‘The Bachelor’ and ‘The Bachelorette,’ ‘American Idol.’ I used to never watch those kind of shows and now that my fiance watches them, I watch them with her.”
OK, well, there’s got to be somebody in the Cup garage who is looking forward to the final season of “Game of Thrones.”
Paul Menard.
“I’m up to date on it,” he said.
But he won’t be watching with millions of others when the show first airs.
“I’ll wait for the whole season to go and I’ll watch in the offseason,” he said.
For those who aren’t into it, Menard admits that “it is a really weird show.” But it’s one where “there’s people you can root for and people you can hate.”
He’s not alone in his interest in the show. Chris Buescher likes it but also won’t be watching Sunday night.
“I wait until it’s on DVD because I don’t have cable,” he said. “I’m not home enough (to have cable).”
Reigning Xfinity champion Tyler Reddick has cable and will have a “Game of Thrones” watch party with his girlfriend and friends.
“We’re pretty excited about it,” Reddick said.
He wasn’t a fan when the show first aired but then started watching and the show “sucked me right in.”
His interest grew at a Barnes and Noble. He went to get a book but his friends had been talking about “Game of Thrones.” So he bought the first season of the show.
“Then I bought season two, three and four,” Reddick said. “Then I’ve been caught up ever since.
“It constantly takes the turns you least expect. So it always keeps you on your toes. You never know who is going to die. You never know what is going to happen. Take the most ridiculous outcome possible and that’s what happens 90 percent of the time. It’s entertaining.”
When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. #GameofThronesSeason8
— Austin Dillon (@austindillon3) April 14, 2019