Weekend That Was: WGI

Here we go again.

Despite many self-acclaimed NASCAR "purists" who continue to insist that road courses have little or no value on a circuit defined by oval racing, Sunday's Nextel Cup race at Watkins Glen International offered proof yet again that adding a couple more road-course events to the schedule would make more sense than eliminating them.

In fact, the correct solution, as it so often appears to be in this sport even when the powers-that-be choose to ignore the obvious, would be to add one more such event during the 26-race regular season and another during the 10-race Chase to the Nextel Cup championship.

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However unlikely that is to happen in reality, the bottom line is this: Having only two road-course races during the overall 36-race schedule -- and none during the Chase -- makes no sense whatsoever. Either increase it to four with one during the Chase, making road-course driving one of the true factors in determining a season's champion, or eliminate the road courses altogether.

From this perspective, pursuing the latter course would be a huge mistake. The Centurion Boats at the Glen that was won by Tony Stewart in his No. 20 Chevrolet when Jeff Gordon inexplicably spun out to hand over the race lead with two laps to go (watch video). It was highly entertaining and dripping with all kinds of drama that snaked through numerous interesting sub-plots.

Seriously, after the yawn-fest that was the previous weekend's Cup event at Pocono, the 90-lap event at The Glen was a welcome blast of fuel- and oil-soaked air. The main course even included a side order of angry, agitated drivers who engaged in a shouting and shoving match after a crash that wrecked both of their days.

But we'll get to Kevin Harvick and Juan Montoya in a moment.

More than anything, the grand appeal of Sunday's race in the Car of Tomorrow was that it was old school and more like a Race of Yesterday. At the end, no one wanted to settle for second place and "a good day in the points." These guys desperately wanted to win, and drove like it.

That's not to say that guys don't want to win each and every week they hit the track. But sometimes toward the end of an event, points might play a role in how aggressively a driver and his team risk blowing a strong finish to pursue that coveted ride to Victory Lane.

Gordon spun out in what he called "a stupid move" because he was being pushed to the hilt from behind by Stewart, who was at the time running right behind Gordon's No. 24 Chevrolet in second. And after Stewart seized the lead, here came Carl Edwards barreling forward at full throttle in his No. 99 Ford.

Having no intention of settling for second himself, Edwards drove so hard into one of the final turns that he literally seemed to fly off the track and into the "gravel trap" that so many others had been in and (sometimes) out of earlier in the day (watch video). Then, in a final act of bravado that, well, seemed utterly cool, he kept his foot squarely planted on the gas and kept on coming right through the stuff, spewing gravel and smoke all along the way to allow a respectable and hard-earned eighth-place finish nonetheless.

Of course, Edwards wasn't satisfied with that. He wanted to win.

"I didn't want to finish second," Edwards later said.

Neither did Gordon, who was positively fuming despite regrouping quickly himself to finish ninth.

"I wanted that win really bad. Points don't mean anything," Gordon told reporters (watch video). "I pushed and I pushed too far. ... I don't like giving up wins. I don't like making mistakes."

He pushed it to the limit all the way to the end. So did almost everyone else who lined up in the finishing order behind Stewart.

That was what made the weekend that was more entertaining than several other recent Cup affairs, and once again made one wonder why NASCAR doesn't at least consider adding a couple more of these road-course challenges to future schedules.

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.

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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.