I DREAM OF THIS, but I'm the guy in the car. (And look, a whole page of 'Ring videos!)

How to Spell NBC's NASCAR Coverage? A-W-F-U-L

/ rant on /

I just wanted to throw this on the Web knowing Google indexes this site frequently and has high search placements as a result: NBC's NASCAR coverage is terrible, primarily due to their frequent and long-running commercial breaks.

Trying to watch the Brickyard this afternoon has been interminable. A typical example: Around 5:05 PM, with fewer than 50 laps to go in the race and Jimmie Johnson running down race leader Matt Kenseth, NBC broke for commercial. The commercial break lasted three minutes. NBC then returned to race coverage, at which point we learned that Johnson had passed Kenseth for the lead -- a lead change we did not see because we were watching a commercial for NBC Sunday Night Football. NBC then broke for commercial again after -- wait for it -- an astounding  ONE MINUTE of race coverage. This next commercial break lasted three minutes, with NBC this time bringing us back from break in the middle of a rare and strategically critical set of green flag pit stops. And the absurdity continued. Here's a summary from (roughly) the 5:05 PM / 50 lap mark:

• Three minutes of commercials
• One minute of coverage
• Three minutes of commercials
• Five minutes of coverage
• Three minutes of commercials
• Five minutes of coverage
• Two minutes of commercials
• At this point NBC promises that unless there's a caution, they'll go without commercials the rest of the race. In this case, this is for the final 21 laps. Two minutes and thirty seconds later there's a caution but NBC stays with the race through the pit stops and then goes to commercial. Total coverage time: six minutes.
• Two minutes of commercials
• Twenty three minutes of coverage, the vast majority of which involve the camera following leader Jimmie Johnson even though he has an enormous lead. The very good racing for critical spots further back in the race: We see none of this for the final 10 laps of the race, but we do see Johnson make every turn. On the final lap the very good racing further back in the pack results in a crash that has a significant effect on the overall NASCAR standings; we miss it. NBC continues its coverage through the end of the race and Johnson's victory lap around Indy.

Forty minutes of race time, 13 minutes of commercials, and a stretch where we saw nine minutes of commercials over 15 minutes. Honestly: A network presumes to be a leader in sports coverage and offers coverage like this? Boooooo NBC.

(PS: Hey -- I am not alone!)

(PPS: Hey -- I've been here before!)

/ rant off /

This Weekend in Motorsports

Over the past few years Kate and I have become fans of motorsports. We're NASCAR fans in particular, but we enjoy watching a good Indy Car or F1 race as well.

When people find out we like NASCAR, they're usually a little incredulous. We don't fit their expectation for the typical NASCAR fan, it seems. After the initial wave of incredulity passes, we'll typically field a host of questions along the lines of "How in the world could you watch that and not get bored?" And what we've found is that as we answer, they typically find that the races aren't at all what they thought -- and they usually end up watching, too.

So I thought I might add a little "This Weekend in Motorsports" feature to Seat 1A, where I might do a little "here's what to look for" for each week's races. Here's the first installment, and I'll forecast that it's an especially good week to take an interest in motorsports.

F1

This week F1 is in Monoco for the famous Monoco Grand Prix. Why watch? It's the Super Bowl of Formula 1, the one race every F1 driver hopes to win. This year the amazing Michael Schumacher has the pole in the world's fastest Ferrari, and that alone makes it worth watching. Schumacher is the modern Michael Jordan of F1, but has been off his usual form for the past few years. A win at Monoco would be significant.

For those unfamiliar with F1, it's the premier racing circuit in the world. These cars literally are the most advanced automobiles ever built, the absolute pinnacle of human automotive engineering. The V8 engines push 1,000 horsepower, and rev to 19,000 RPM (yes, you read that correctly). An F1 race car costs $12 million (compared to the $300,000 of the average NASCAR stock car); the team budgets push $1 billion annually; Mr. Schumacher pulls down a cool $50 million a year, making him the highest-paid athlete in the world by salary. Almost every advancement in the car you drive came from F1 -- turbos, fuel injection, disc brakes being three.

The race is this Sunday at 8 AM EST, and you can watch it on CBS at 12:30 PM via tape delay. If you do, don't expect a lot of passing or side-by-side racing -- F1 tends to reward great engineering rather than racing. Besides, who would be eager to trade paint on a couple of $12 million cars? That said, these are truly amazing machines, and watching the view from the in-car cameras is astonishing.

Indy Racing League (IRL)

Indy cars are the race cars you probably remember as a kid, as this series traces its heritage to the circuit of Al Unser, AJ Foyt, Rick Mears, and the other greats who competed at the Indy 500 during the 70s. Recently the series split in two, IRL and CHAMP Car, but IRL is the one that still runs the Indy 500. It's also the one with Danica Patrick, who's brought much attention to the sport over the past year.

This Sunday the Indy Cars are at Indianapolis for the 500. It's a spectacular event, one which Kate and I attended last year. (If you ever have the chance to go, do.) What to watch for: First, the pageantry. Folks have been racing at the Brickyard since 1909, and it's the most legendary race in American motorsports. Second, Dan Wheldon. He's an amazing driver, won there last year, and can't seem to lose over the past two years. He pushes his car to the limits. Third, Danica. She nearly won the 500 last year, and folks will be watching to see if it was a flash in the pan.

Final reason: The track itself. Indy is big -- 2.5 miles -- flat -- the banking in the turns is only  9 to 10 degrees -- and more square than oval, with four distinct turns. This means that the Indy drivers come out of the straightaway at some 235 miles an hour and face a nearly 90-degree left-hand turn and brick wall with little to no banking. That takes guts and skill of incredible measure. ABC Sunday, also at 12:30 PM EST.

NASCAR

NASCAR races the Coke 600 in Charlotte this Saturday night. Why watch: First, it's the longest race on the circuit -- 600 miles -- and a brutal test of endurance for the drivers who experience constant temps of 110-120 degrees, severe muscle strain, and the mental fatigue that comes with spending 3 or more hours driving 180 miles an hour three inches from eight other 3,000 pound stock cars. Second, it's under the lights. You can't tell during the daytime, but NASCAR is racing with plenty of sparks and fire, and at night you see it all. Third, the track. The Lowes Motor Speedway is a 1.5 mile, mostly oval track with good banking and several "lines," meaning drivers can race side-by-side rather than single file. This means lots of bumping and grinding between the cars -- be sure to look for "donuts," black circles on the side of the cars where the tires from a competitor have worn off another driver's paint. That's how close NASCAR drivers race, and it's something you'll never see in F1 or IRL. It's also why I like to say that NASCAR rewards the best drivers, not the best engineers -- the cars are all virtually identical, so it really does come down to who's best able to get around the track.

Finally, look for Matt Kenseth (the 17 car) and Tony Stewart (the 20 car). Seems Tony rode Matt up the track last week and intentionally crashed him (in fact, both of them) into the wall -- something else you won't see in F1 or IRL -- and a small dispute resulted in the pits after the race. Should be interesting to see those guys, who already have a spotted history, race side-by-side under the lights. Sundy, 5 PM EST, FOX.