NASCAR or not, something to learn as Games continue

• CNN.com: Complete coverage of the 2008 Summer Games

I think over the weekend I was one of those people who, right now, NASCAR probably fears the most.

I spent only a few minutes over two days watching any NASCAR-related content on television -- and holy crap! On Monday, I was still not only alive and breathing easy -- I was actually smiling and refreshed.

Before you get too snide, the computer didn't get too much exercise, either.

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As compelling as so many things in NASCAR have been lately, from Kyle Busch's weekly assault on a variety of high-water marks, to the weekly battle for the top 12 and top 35, to Jimmie Johnson tuning up for a possible Cup title No. 3, to Carl Edwards' late chase on Clint Bowyer in repeat of a second title in what's now the Nationwide Series -- nothing much moved me.

Maybe it was being on the road 26 of the 29 days leading up to last weekend, but for the most part, having asked for that, you can't expect much sympathy -- even if the weather did create a 36-hour trip home and being in the same set of clothes for 38 hours. Yuk.

Wish I could say it was only the Olympics, but that wasn't the case, either.

Although the games of the 29th Olympiad have certainly given pause to create possible bridges between NASCAR and what millions across this country and around the world are viewing, it's hard to complete them.

Given that NASCAR racing is among the ultimate in team sports, it's hard to find a place for Michael Phelps -- though it was nice that in the end Phelps, who despite his ferociously determined competitive spirit seems to be much too nice a guy to succeed in NASCAR, did give his relay teammates due credit for Phelps' winning eight gold medals in these games.

The lack of that would be like Busch claiming sole credit for everything he's done in the process of achieving this season -- and to his credit, he has never come close to that.

Despite the violence that regularly occurs in NASCAR, like the incredible wreck in the closing stages of the Centurion Boats at The Glen, the sport has nothing that comes close to the exquisite agony of athletes like the Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang, who at the moment a whole country was looking to him to prevail, had to leave the track a failure, let down by the body he'd finely tuned for the four years since his gold medal triumph in Athens at the last Olympics.

And on the opposite end of the spectrum, if only there was a place in NASCAR for a joyful fellow like Usain Bolt.

No matter how much or how little one knows about track and field, the sight of Bolt turning sideways in the last 15 meters and virtually posing in front of his vanquished competitors while still winning the 100 meters in world-record time has no parallel in NASCAR.

It would be like Busch doing a Samuel Hubinette-like drift through Turns 3 and 4 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on his way to the checkered flag in the Coca-Cola 600.

Now wait a minute. We're battling attendance short-falls. The sport needs more diversity. Humpy Wheeler has formed his own management and consulting firm and this just in: Mr. Wheeler has signed a deal to represent an up-and-coming driver.

There's still time for Bolt to win the Olympic 200-meter gold and be in the cockpit at Bristol this weekend.

After all, the fans have claimed the place is "just too tame," which makes it the perfect place for a debut. Some fresh enthusiasm from a guy like Bolt, who seems to let everyone else worry about just how fast he can run, is just what the sport needs.

Aaah, we should be so lucky. I might even watch it again, then.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

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• Caraviello: Dreaming of one asphalt oval, and five Olympic rings