Racing to the Exits
Posted May 25, 2009, 9:05 PM ET

The Coca Cola 600 is billed as the longest race on the NASCAR circuit.

You'll get no argument from me, after watching 228 laps of action over the course of two wet, soggy days at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Mother Nature mocked Bruton Smith's track and the 50th running of the "600"....or, in this case, the "340". It's a shame that the fans were not treated to the scheduled Sunday start, but there's nothing you can do about the weather.

The crowd that remained for Monday's Memorial Day start was sparse, and by the second or third rain delay, it looked like a football crowd at Duke's Wallace Wade Outdoor Stadium.

David Reutimann didn't mind the raindrops, small crowd or Tony Stewart one bit. The shortened race turned out to be the first Cup win of his career. Team owner Michael Waltrip loved it, too....and why not? It appeared that Stewart was ripping Reutimann and his crew chief for their driving skills, or lack thereof, during one of the delays.

It's pretty obvious that Reutimann and his crew got the last laugh. The win by Reutimann means he has as many Cup wins in the past three years as Dale, Jr.

The only thing tougher than watching Junior get consistently lapped on the track was watching the FOX Sports crew fill time with endless shots of empty seats and tow trucks racing around the track during rain delays. In fact, I think the tow trucks put more miles on LMS than any of the Cup cars.

I'd even go as far as to state that a few of the tow trucks actually were quicker than the #88 car. It was that kind of performance by Dale, Jr. There is no truth to the rumor that one of the drivers of the tow trucks has been inked to join Hendrick Motorsports to replace Dale, Jr. in the #88 car. Plus, we all know it's the crew chief's fault, right?

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While the Coca Cola 340 left us all wet, the Indy 500 was a ray of sunshine.

Helio Castroneves' dramatic win sealed an amazing couple of months....not to mention his third Indy 500 victory.

Back in April, he was acquitted of tax evasion. If he was found guilty, he was looking at the loss of millions and up to 6 years in prison. Luckily for Helio, he was free to walk and cleared of all the charges.

He was also freed up to win the pole, the pit crew competition and his third Indy win. He became the ninth man to win 3 Indy races, and it also enabled Roger Penske to capture his 15th Indianapolis 500 title. Remarkable stuff, for all parties involved.

Danica Patrick did her best Dale, Jr. impersonation by missing her pit stall and finishing third. She needs to stay in Indy Racing and stay away from NASCAR. I'd hate to see her passing Junior in a stock car.

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It appears that the NBA and the NHL have decided to switch post-season personalities.

The first two rounds of the NHL playoffs were tremendous, while the NBA games were underwhelming. With the exception of the Celtics, the games were mostly blowouts, with more games being decided by 20+ points than games decided by 3 points or less.

That has all changed in the Eastern and Western Conference Finals.

The NBA games have been awesome, while the NHL has a pair of blowouts.

The Carolina Hurricanes are trying to win a single game against the explosive Pittsburgh Penguins. Malkin and Crosby have been too much for the Canes, as they have raced off to a 3-0 lead and are looking for a sweep on Tuesday night at the RBC.

Only twice in NHL history has a team blown a 3-0 lead. The last time it happened was back in 1975....by Pittsburgh. I can't see history repeating itself, but I'd love to see it.

Detroit is up comfortably 3-1 over Chicago....so, it looks like a repeat performance of last year's Stanley Cup Finals....Pittsburgh and Detroit.

In the NBA, both series have started 2-1 in favor of Orlando and LA. I truly expected Cleveland and Denver to win and advance to the NBA Finals.

Right now, Cleveland doesn't look to match up well with Orlando, and LeBron can only do so much. How did the Cavs win 60+ games?

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The NCAA Baseball field of 64 teams has been announced, and once again the Carolinas are well represented.

6 teams, 3 from both North and South Carolina, start play beginning this week. East Carolina, North Carolina and Clemson all host this week as #1 seeds in their respective brackets....other Carolinas teams in the tournament include Elon, Coastal Carolina and South Carolina.

Overall, the Heels are the #5 seed nationally, and look to make their fourth consecutive trip to Omaha. One of the most amazing stats is the fact that an ACC team hasn't won it all since Wake Forest back in the 1950's.

Ouch.