Turning right OR Why Watkins Glen is the best race on TV

Don't get me wrong, I consider myself a race fan, but I often find myself flipping channels while watching a couple hundred laps at a mile and a half oval. That's why Watkins Glen is the best race to watch on TV.

First of all, a road course is always cool to see. Any time a stock car is forced to turn right, hop over curbs and manuever through a course that takes a tangible amount of effort, or at least 30 minutes on a Playstation, to memorize it's gonna be interesting. One promient obstacle is a chicane. Not only are they difficult to traverse, they're fun to watch AND you get to hear Darrell Waltrip say an oddly pronounced word several times throughout the day.

Also, the cameras are constantly darting around and you don't feel like you're watching the same race all day. The battles for 11th and 12th are just as exciting as those in the front of the pack and the segmented feeling the track gives makes it feel that way.

Also, despite the fact there were several cautions yesterday, there are several times where a car can spin out and come to a stop in the grass without bringing out the yellow flag. This happened to Boris Said yesterday before getting tagged from behind, (a clean phrase only in NASCAR,) about 20 laps later and causing a long caution which, in turn, caused a long nap for me.

Also, the quick turns and darting techniques allow there to be more true driving. The fact that the brakes are actually used, as opposed to a superspeedway like Daytona, causes problems like the front tires locking up and making the rear tires hop. You know, stuff you don't normally encounter when buzzing down Southgate Parkway.

Also, since you're only able to see about a tenth of the track when watching it live, it just makes sense to catch it on the boob tube.

This weekend we're back to going in circles and I don't know if you've heard yet, but I'm going to Michigan. Gonna be a big day.

*(Also, I don't know why, but for some reason I can't get any pictures to upload. So just pretend there are a bunch of sweet pictures of me behind the wheel of a car weaving through traffic and stuff. Because that's what I do...all the time.)