This year's 500 certainly had the look of another "Snore at the Shore" for the first 3/4 of the race, but things fortunately got exciting towards the end. This was a welcome contrast to last year's race, which was a real snoozer - Junior's sentimental victory aside. What made the race really great this year was that - much to Fox's chagrin - there wasn't any bad drama. Nobody made any really stupid mistakes this year - at least, not in the 500. Everyone pretty much deserved what they got this year... with possibly two exceptions; Michael Waltrip was just unlucky to blow up towards the end, and Tony Stewart was clearly the best driver of the day, and would have finished better - had it not been for the herky-jerky end of the race.

I don't suppose there's anything NASCAR can do about all the damn cautions at the end of the race. It's unfortunate because it really slows the race to a crawl and penalizes cars that are good on the long run. And, contrary to some people's claims that it makes the race more exciting, it just increases the chances that someone who doesn't deserve it will win. Call that "drama" if you must; I prefer a just finish, thank you.

Thank the Good Lord that nobody had any real bad mishaps. Fox, in typical fashion, tried to make a mountain out of a molehill with the bumping going on at the end between Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart. But all of the best baiting skills of Fox's reporters couldn't rile the two drivers, who insisted it was no big deal... because it wasn't.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again... I'm sick of Fox and NASCAR trying to create a bunch of bullshit "drama." It's like they don't know what to do with themselves if a race is run cleanly. There was a recent article featuring Jimmy Spencer going around the papers, where the perenniel also-ran goes on about how it's all about "drama" and "conflict" and "controversy" and that "it's the best thing for the sport." It certainly helped Spencer's career - Lord knows his racing never got him anywhere!

And speaking of has-beens, the only real Fox-y drama that occurred during the week was future has-been Kevin Harvick's idiot move coming out of turn 2 in the second Gatorade race on Thursday - when he spun out Jimmie Johnson when the two of them were pulling away from the pack on a restart! Little episodes like that are the reason why Harvick will never amount to anything in this series. I will be shocked - SHOCKED - if he makes the chase this year!

Some of the pre-race buzz on the news was that the commercials would be of Super Bowl caliber, being such a huge event. Didn't happen. Most of the commercials were the same ones they ran last year! And what was up with that lame-ass Coke commercial with the comic book hero drawings??? The drawings looked NOTHING like the drivers they were supposed to look like!

The downside of Jeffie-poo's win will be having to endure another round of Regis & Kelly appearances. There IS such a thing as being TOO accepted by mainstream America!