News-Record.com

Two things happened Sunday in Indianapolis to suggest that maybe I should start watching NASCAR with the sound turned down:

1. At the end of the race, the NBC crew was blathering on about Tony Stewart's alleged lack of fuel. If you're running out of gas, most drivers are going to whoa back a bit so the car doesn't start sputtering as you're coming around turn 3 on the last laps. But to hold off Kasey Kahne, Stewart drove like he had a couple of spare gallons in the back seat. (I haven't seen so much weaving since the last time I saw the Greg Biffle commercial driving those back roads with a hot sandwich in his lap.) Then Stewart took what seemed to be five more laps after the checkers waved. Seems he had a lot of people to see before he went to Victory Lane.

So was Stewart really out of gas, or did NBC took Stewart's crew chief at his not-so-honest word?

2. After Jimmie Johnson put his car into the wall near the end of the race, everyone, Johnson included, quickly pronounced him fine. Johnson was fine in the sense that he was walking, talking and not unconscious. But when the cameras caught up with him as he sat on a wall in the pit area, Johnson didn't quite look all there. He's lucky he didn't suffer a concussion.

Any other thoughts or observations on one of the weaker races on the Cup circuit?

P.S. Congrats to Stewart. He drove a great race and deserved the victory, mostly so Dustin doesn't have to write (and I don't have to read) more stories about how desperately Stewart wants a Brickyard win. It wasn't quite as bad as the why-can't-Dale Sr.-win-the-Daytona 500, but it was heading that way.