Who watches Nascar and car racing in general?

I realize that I randomly flip and see car racing stuff on tv. I've traveled round the world, lived in different states (California, and Georgia) and still barely know anyone that is passionate about this stuff. However, when they show commercials there seems to be crazy thousands of people watching it, and there are all sorts of random races everywhere.

Literally, who watches it? Is it more of an outing, like going to a beach, than going to a sporting event?

White dudes in the south are passionate about it. I can't watch racing in an oval which is why I follow Formula 1.