Jim A. Kupyers apply Burke’s dramatistic theory to analyze the rhetoric of NASCAR drivers in comparison to athletes in other popular professional sports in the United States. This analysis shows how “rhetorical norms in NASCAR differ from those norms of other major American sports, and that this distinction could possibly play a role in the marketing success of NASCAR” (Williams). They contend that in virtually all traditional sports, athletes represent themselves as agents in post-game interviews. However, in NASCAR post-race interviews, the driver acts as the agency through which the agent (the corporate sponsor) acts and achieves its purpose
Jim A. Kupyers apply Burke’s dramatistic theory to analyze the rhetoric of NASCAR drivers in comparison to athletes in other popular professional sports in the United States. This analysis shows how “rhetorical norms in NASCAR differ from those norms of other major American sports, and that this distinction could possibly play a role in the marketing success of NASCAR” (Williams). They contend that in virtually all traditional sports, athletes represent themselves as agents in post-game interviews. However, in NASCAR post-race interviews, the driver acts as the agency through which the agent (the corporate sponsor) acts and achieves its purpose