Last night's race had 15 yellow flags!

That is a lot of race stoppage, a lot of ads, and its why I fell asleep before the race ended. Still, what I saw was entertaining and I've come to learn that NASCAR is not all about the race. The race is but one dimension of the boogity-boogity experience. Another dimension is the cast of down-home characters. Last night was about one character in particular, Humpy Wheeler.

Yes his name is Humpy, Humpy Wheeler, and you will come to appreciate the irony of that name in a minute. Back in spring of this year they resurfaced the Charlotte track and the race in May was a distaster; the tires couldn't handle it. So Humpy decides to regrind the track for a second time. Whatever the strategy, it didn't work. It made the track exceptionally fast and also exceptionally "grippy." That combo caused the cars' tires to blow out unexpectedly. Ok, so its not perfect. It'd be better were his name, say, Tirer, but Wheeler is pretty good. And with a name like Humpy, does it really matter? Anyway, the drivers were pissed.

"I need a renewal of my life insurance policy, to tell you the truth," Stewart told his crew when asked late in the race what he needed. "I just can't wait for this thing to be over so I can get out of here and hopefully not be hurt."

Biffle realized just how perilous the situation was for the drivers: "Guys, we're not racing to win here. We're racing for a finish, whatever we can do to survive," he radioed to his crew.

As more and more tires popped -- leading Kevin Harvick to call the problems "the biggest joke in racing I've ever seen" after losing his right front -- NASCAR again called a competition caution and [mandated all racers to maintain a specified minimum tire pressure].

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