[jrichard]

I have to agree with the IRL reply. Too many empty seats, but the racing is really very good. I think the difference between 1st and 2nd at TMS was .04 seconds- inches, really. With the looming demise of CART (both Honda and Toyota are going to the IRL) I hope to see fewer empties at the IRL races. No doubt IRL isn't the draw of NASCAR, but it is good racing. I think the IRL draw at TMS was 80,000, slightly less than half of the NASCAR crowd. No wonder Tony chose to drive NASCAR. I guess the lack of brand-identification really hurts non-stock car racing here in the USA. If more people knew that chevy provides most of the engines for IRL racing maybe we could get a few rednecks to show up. Interestingly, the Chevy ads for their (ugh) Monte Carlo try to draw similarity between the car in the showroom and the car on the track. What a joke. At least Ford doesn't try to sell a FWD Taurus by insulting the intelligence of the consumer by advertising their NASCAR wins...oops, there was the soapbox again.

And yes, I do like to see the Stockers sliding around the road courses, but they only do it twice a year, so they're not so good at it. I know a lot of the drivers HATE the road courses (Sterling being the most vocal, as usual). Still, I'll watch the race. I can't help it if I'm a NASCAR fan...