What Chris said.

I know for the newer followers of the sport, it might be hard to imagine that a 36-race chase to the title can be more exciting and more frantic than a 10-race playoff. But... how? Instead of being worried something might go wrong in ten races, you have 36 races where anything can happen, and in the past, always seemed to happen without trying. Instead of natural excitement, we get something that's manufactured... kinda like the fake breasts post some time earlier on in this thread.

Sure, some stank up the show some years, but when it was close (and it was close quite often), it felt more authentic. No asterisks needed, either.

My two cents, even though I'm sure I'm just stating the obvious.

Haven't heard anyone else mention this, but two fans were injured when part of a brake pad went into the Speedway Club section:

http://sports.sportsillustrated.cnn.com ... ies=NASCAR

That's a long distance for that debris to cover.

UPDATE: Witnesses at the Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday said a brake pad from Race Car #77 flew from the track into an eighth-floor window in the Speedway Club, injuring two men. Speedway officials called it a "freak accident," and added that it isn't something that happens often. Eyewitness Linda Gregoire said it happened seconds after the NASCAR Sprint Car race ended. According to officials, the pad became dislodged from the vehicle and flew more than 100 feet upward. Gregoire said one of the men "was holding his chest" and another man had glass lodged in his throat. "Everyone thought it was a gunshot," Gregoire said. "It scared the thunder out of us." Still hot from the vehicle, the pad burned a hole in the Speedway Club carpet. "Some of the waitresses had glass on their trays," Gregoire said excitedly. "It was very scary." One man was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The others were treated at the scene with minor cuts and bruises. Speedway officials said they would meet with NASCAR Monday morning to see how the incident happened and figure out ways to prevent similar incidents in the future (CBS)(11-9-2010)

Bit of an update on this. Apparently it happened just as the race ended and the brake pad came off of Sam Hornish Jr's car.

On the Kyle issue, hasn't there been a few instances in the past where rough talking on the radio got penalties. When this happened MRN was saying Kyle was going nuts over the radio which I would assume would be the reason he would get penalized not for flipping the bird.

I was thinking the same, Paul. I get the feeling NASCAR was upset because it was caught live from his onboard.