[chrisf]

watching this race clip sums up a few things for me concerning NASCAR. To me, it shows what this organization and its races are all about: Show and Money. It's not about the cars, the techonology, or the skills of the drivers (I am not saying that they are not talented drivers, or I could do any better), etc...If one might not take first, then you should at least get your car's sponsor noticed by flipping into the air or smashing it into a wall. Give the average fan something to see and really appreciate.

In the clip, it was quite obvious to me that Edwards was steering his car into and out of the last corner by looking in his rear view mirror. Brad goes high, Edwards went for the block. Brad goes to the inside, Edwards tries to block again, but it's too late and the rest is history. It seems obvious that it was the only thing Edwards could do to take the win, Brad's car had the draft and did look like he was coming around, regardless. It was probably likely that Edwards would have finished second, taking points, and not destroying his car in that process. But then again, the fans are much more likely to remember Claritin having seen their car flying backwards, 10ft in the air, right in front of their faces.

Super Dave, I did catch how he said something like "NASCAR puts us in this box and we'll race like this until we kill someone, and then they'll change it" in reference to the yellow line. I could see Edwards being more upset about Brad diving into the yellow to avoid the collision (and winning the race), then with what did happen (Edwards totalling his car).

I did 5 hours of interstate driving yesterday. I can't help but notice that most of the cars plastered with NASCAR stickers have drivers that pay more attention to whats in their rear view mirrors (and just how long they can "hold'em off") than whats on the road infront of them.