Pepsi 400

Whilst Daytona International Motor Speedway may not have the heritage of Circuit Permanant de la Sarthe, or the Brickyard, the hair still stands up on the back of my neck when I enter the place. It is a quite spectacular facility.
This is the one race in my calendar that I take the missus to. Why? Because (and I know this is going to sound weird for NASCAR) it is ultra-civilised - and I need someone to drive me home afterwards. Civilised because I attended as the guest of a corporate sponsor, who's facilities and entertainment at the track are beyond compare, in terms of luxurious accommodations and an unending supply of quality food and liquid refreshment.
The race was rain-delayed by more than 2 hours, giving me ample opportunity to get a good beer-buzz going. When we finally got rid of 'Grand Marshall' Donald Rumsfield and the pre-race screechings of Lisa-Marie Presley, the show started in ernest.
Tony Stewart won on the road-course at Sonoma last week and sat on the pole in this, one of the difficult 'plate races' on a superspeedway, proving his vesatility. Good 'ol boy, he ain't. He's a largely ignored but massively accomplished (and very brave) driver.
In what turned-out to be a very closely contended (engineered so by NASCAR, but it stall had the entire crowd of 200,000 + on it's feet for most of the race) battle, Stewart lead from the front and looked invincible. During the few laps that he was not leading, due to green pit stops, he simply drove around the outside of anyone who lay between him and the front of the train - using the high groove, which was still damp half way through the race.
As you'd expect, there were several metal-crunching incidents and some highly entertaining dialogue betwixt drivers and their pits/spotters. Michael Waltrip, on ending his charge in the turn two wall, "Awwww, f**k! Dammit!" Pit: "calm down, is the .... ah.. are the wheels straight?"
"Nah, it's f**ked, man.... it's over, I'm done. Get my plane ready".
Jimmy Johnson broadcast the chucklesome, "That motherfucker don't need to be givin' me the finger, I'll kick his scrawny ass!" I bet Ron Fellows doesn't talk like that. Having a track scanner adds a new dimension - particularly as many Cup drivers are so vocal. Stewart is an exception. All I heard from him was clipped acknowledgement from his spotters and stuff like "Pitting next lap, needs more wedge" - stuff like that.
He deserved the win and love it or hate it, the entire crowd was on it's feet as the race shook-out at past two o'clock in the morning.
A stunning motorsport spectacle even though it was roundy-roundy.