The road course to success is to simply add another (cont'd)

Even the best have their moments, though, as we saw Sunday. In a testament to how hard each was pushing at the time (about nine-and-a-half-tenths by my reckoning), we saw both Gordon and Stewart misjudge their braking going into Turn 1, induce wheel hop and hand the race lead to the other. Burn those moments into your memory bank. That will never happen again. The only difference between the two incidents is that Stewart had time to get back the spots he lost.

NASCAR's road races improve the breed of all its drivers. A driver's ability to sense, process and act on all information that comes his way during a road race can only add to his skill set and comfort level back on an oval. All ships rise with the tide.

As it is right now, road races account for about 5.5 percent of the Nextel Cup schedule. Adding a third race will bump that to a little more than 8 percent. If you put on your NASCAR marketing cap for just a moment and consider its plans to increase international exposure for the sport, adding a third road race only makes sense.

First off, a third road-course race will generally increase NASCAR's appeal to international audiences and is a great way to get your foot in the door. Where to race, you ask? With no regard for International Speedway Corp.'s profits, I'd take one race away from California Speedway (until they prove they can sell the place out) and move that race to Laguna Seca. Another option is to take one of the Pocono races and move it to Road America. Or most outlandish of all, give one of California's or Pocono's races to Indy, run it on the road course and call it the Brick Road 400 (kilometers, trademark property of Tom McCarthy).

That third road race will only make NASCAR more desirable a career option for drivers from outside the United States. With international interest piqued, someone could build a three-quarter-mile oval, a la Richmond International Speedway, in Canada or Mexico or both, and you've got yourself a good start at establishing this uniquely American form of motorsports on the world stage.

Can you say international television rights?

But it all starts with great racing, which we certainly had plenty of this weekend. Heck, last weekend in Canada, too. And at Sonoma. And in Mexico City. When the racing is that good, you don't have to be from America to appreciate it.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.