From Steve McCormick,
Your Guide to NASCAR Racing.
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This weekend the best racing in America happened in front of only a few thousand fans. While the Sprint Cup drivers race every week in front of a national television audience of millions, small tracks across the country hosted much better races.

Biased Towards The Big Names

Many NASCAR fans turn up their noses at the thought of attending their local race track. "Never heard of any of those guys" is a common complaint or "My local track is dirt, I like NASCAR." Give it a try for a few weeks, you'll soon learn who's who and no matter the track, it's still about equipment, preparation and driver skill.

Every single driver that you have heard of paid their dues at their local weekend races before they ever got their break. Whether it is the DIRT series in the northeast, the IMCA modifieds, NASCAR weekly racing series, karting or any of the dozens of others across the country the NASCAR stars of tomorrow are racing there this coming weekend.

A Lot To See

Attending your local race track is part Daytona 500, part county fair and part neighborhood block party. If you like to watch great racing there is no doubt that your local track has lots of it. Also plenty of opportunity to eat, drink and socialize with your friends or just random race fans. If you can't have a good time there, you're not trying.

On an average weekend most tracks run at least four different classes. That means you get four different race weekends all rolled into one. Qualifying heats, "last chance" races and features for every class. That usually means at least twenty complete races. You're almost guaranteed to see some exciting finishes.

Go support your local race track. You just might find that driver that seems to win a lot on your local track on Saturday night battling for the Sprint Cup Championship just a few years from now.