KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There are still several weeks to go until the checkered flag drops on the Presidential race, but it appears that President Barack Obama has roared ahead to take the lead over GOP challenger Mitt Romney among an unexpected constituency – NASCAR fans.
According to a new Zogby poll, Obama has a seven point lead over Romney amongst racing fans – 48.7 to 41.7 percent, with 9.6 percent of those asked still undecided.
The poll among 860 likely voters, released on Friday, has a 3.4 percent margin of error.
Stock car racing is widely associated with the U.S. South – a generally conservative “red state” region. But Romney has had some difficulty in reaching the NASCAR vote during the campaign.
According to the New York Times, Romney was booed by some race fans after appearing to mock their plastic rain ponchos during an appearance prior to this year’s Daytona 500, saying, “Really sprung for the big bucks.”
In addition, after being asked if he was a fan of stock car racing, Romney replied, “I have some great friends who are NASCAR team owners.”
