The nerves, the thrills the white-knuckles, the chewed fingernails.  The moments of hope that the holy grail of the sport would finally be held, only to be dashed in the blink of an eye.

“Did you see how bad that crowd was?”  In no other sport that I watch and have covered are fans more obsessed with attendance than some NASCAR fans.  In fact, I’m not sure they’re even looking at the racing action; I think they’re spending more time looking at the stands trying to count empty seats.

On the cusp of the new season, NASCAR has announced some rule tweaks, and there are two, in particular, that I really like.