Boogity, boogity, bah

Darrell Waltrip is the main reason I generally can't stand to watch NASCAR. But after two years of not following any racing at all, I thought I could handle sitting through the Daytona 500. If I turned the sound off...

They are in the middle of the track repair at the moment, and I'll miss the end of the race as I plan to go out for a while. Still, a few observations -

1. My hope was that by avoiding all things IndyCar, I wouldn't have to hear about Danica Patrick. Guess I was wrong.
2. NASCAR changes the rules on a whim, to satisfy the "entertainment" aspect of the show - to the detriment of the actual racing.
3. I heart Mark Martin.
4. Holy cow, are they close. Good thing hitting one another can actually help. (Still can't get my head around that one)
5. Lots and lots of former open wheel guys - Montoya, Gordon (years and years ago), Andretti, Allmendinger, Stewart, Hornish and poor Max Papis.
6. Stupid commentators ignore driver's experience outside of NASCAR. Max Papis may be a rookie in the five hunnert, but is in no way a rookie driver.
7. Speaking of which, what's with the stupid woman reporter asking Montoya how he feels about being in the Daytona 500? Do your homework, chickie (and see the above point): Juan won the Indy 500 as a rookie, as well as winning the ChampCar championship his rookie season, and the 24 Hours of Daytona, also in his first attempt. And all those things just scratch the surface of his career. The man doesn't get nervous.
8. Red flags suck. I sat through an afternoon-long red flag at the Mile one year, due to rain...they eventually called the race and ran it the next day (Montoya won that race, by the way).

They are about to restart, and I'm about to leave. I need to turn it off before Darrell starts again...