Weekend That Was: WGI (cont'd)

Go international?
Taking the aforementioned point one step further: If NASCAR truly intends to take the top level of the sport internationally at some point, and if the crowds have grown somewhat stagnant for the Busch Series road-course race in Mexico City, why not start by adding a Cup race there and then either giving another Cup date to Sonoma or Watkins Glen? Or they could add more international flavor by also including a future Cup date on the road course recently run by the Busch guys in Montreal.

One for the road

Tom McCarthy says the simply way to success for NASCAR is to add more road races.

• Complete story, click here

That would solve the road-course issue while also truly gauging what NASCAR's appeal is in Mexico and Canada. The Busch Series races are a great primer for fans in Mexico City and Montreal, but let's face it, the real draws are the Cup drivers and their respective teams. And the longer the Busch Series runs stand-alone events at those venues, the less Cup drivers are willing to make the trips -- making the appeal of the events less as well.

Having the entire Cup Series drop in for a race should change all that. And if the crowds don't respond in kind after a couple of years, then NASCAR will know that those areas aren't ready or willing to support them and they can pull out altogether with no shame, knowing they tried and did so by bringing in the best shows they could offer.

Again, it isn't likely to happen anytime soon and probably never at all. There are too many other admittedly deserving venues screaming for a second race date (anybody else up for another trip to Las Vegas?), and the schedule already is too long with 36 points races plus the season-opening Bud Shootout and the Nextel All-Star Challenge in May.

But it would make sense. Wouldn't it?

Speaking of ...
Montoya certainly has added some international flavor to Cup racing this season. Like him or not, and like most stars of NASCAR past and present there seem to be few in between, his crash into Harvick (with considerable assistance from Martin Truex Jr.) and their subsequent shouting-and-shoving encounter just inches from the track at Watkins Glen was as old school as the race itself (watch video).

Of course, as Stewart so accurately pointed out afterward, it would have been better if they would have at least taken off their HANS devices and helmets to have their, um, discussion.

Local heroes
Excuse the personal aside here, but I couldn't write a column without mentioning the boys from Hamilton, Ohio, who are representing that fine city in the upcoming Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

See, that's where I grew up before moving on to (hopefully) better things in other parts of Ohio and eventually settling in Charlotte, N.C. Many of the most loyal NASCAR fans I've met are from Ohio. They have to be loyal; they have to go a long way to attend a Cup race.

Now Hamilton's own West Side Little Leaguers are headed a long way from home to participate in the World Series and grab at least a portion of their supposedly allotted 15 minutes of fame. Memo to the guys: Play to win, but don't forget to embrace and enjoy the moment while you're at it -- and don't get caught pouting if you don't win it all.

Come to think of it, maybe that same lesson needs to be absorbed by more than a few folks making their livings in and around Nextel Cup garages.

Pit Stops
• Kudos to Bill Elliott for volunteering to give up his Wood Brothers ride in Sunday's Cup race to Boris Said, who was extremely frustrated and disappointed when he couldn't attempt to make the race on his own because qualifying Friday was rained out and the starting grid was set according to owner points (watch video). Said was forced to start 39th because of the driver change, but finished 14th. That was good enough to lock the Wood Brothers' No. 21 Ford into the top 35 in car owner points, guaranteeing it a spot in this weekend's race at Michigan.

• One of the other subplots swirling at Watkins Glen that took a turn for the worse for Dale Earnhardt Jr. was his continuing battle to remain among the top 12 in points. He appeared to be having a good day, running as high as third, when the engine in his No. 8 Chevrolet gave out with 27 laps left (watch video). That relegated him to a 42nd-place finish that dropped him from 13th to 14th in the standings, 100 behind Kurt Busch, who remained 12th on the strength of his 11th-place finish and Earnhardt's bad luck. Ryan Newman, Busch's Penske Racing teammate, finished 13th in Sunday's race and is in 13th as well in the point standings between Busch and Earnhardt, just four points ahead of Junior.

• Matt Kenseth, driver for Roush Fenway Racing, had the line of the day when a fan rushed to the passenger's side door of his No. 17 Ford during a red-flag stoppage of Sunday's race. The fan thrust a hat through the open window and asked Kenseth to autograph it, to which the usually stoic Kenseth promptly replied: "I'm a little busy here, buddy."

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.