I've only been a peripheral watcher of NASCAR over the years. But its back on ESPN again and with my addiction to ESPN raging, I suspect I'll be getting a heapin' helpin' of the shinola so I might as well get used to it. I like auto racing (especially the stock cars), there's more action in NASCAR then the novice gives it credit for and more strategy than Mr. Snooty-sport probably realizes.
The Daytona 500 is a pretty cool race. If you're only going to watch 1 race this year, make it the Dakar Rally. But if you're going to watch a second one, check this one out. Races are inherently different from other types of contests. The matter is only time, how fast can you get from A to B. In other games you have a ball and two contestants trying to put the ball somewhere while the other side attempts to stop them: soccer, basketball, football, rugby, lacrosse, hockey, even tennis. These are contests of strength and/or agility. In some races (but not all) strength and agility play a part when the racers are all in the same space together, where offense and defense come into play and physical positioning becomes a cornerstone of strategy. And everybody wants to win at Daytona, always making it a little better than all the other races.
I've got no real expertise here. Just watching the news this week it seems like there's been more cheating than usual (or is it just more reporting of cheating?). Michael Waltrip wears the Barry Bonds-tag this week: everyone's rooting for this guy to fail, no? I've been a little surprised at the relative lack of buzz about fresh face Montoya coming over Tom Cruise-style from Formula One. 'Little E' having trouble with step-mom is an interesting story that'll bubble throughout the season.
I'll take Tony Stewart. He kinda disappeared last year, as did Gordon and Earnhart. I just hope 10 strong drivers emerge by playoff time.
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