For the true race fan there is no better day than the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, and this year was no exception. It offers the chance to watch world-class drivers compete at the top of their sports on a variety of famous venues.

My day began at 7 a.m. with the live coverage of the Monaco Formula One race at Monte Carlo. The famous old street course was wet in the early going, but things cleared off nicely and the sun was shining by the time young Brit' Lewis Hamilton took the checkered flag for McLaren-Mercedes.

The old course at Monte Carlo has so much history and character, it's so much better than the new supertracks like Bahrain in my book.

Following the F1 race there was a break for brunch prior to the pre-race festivities for the Indianapolis 500 from the famed Brickyard in Speedway, Indiana.

I had the good fortune of attending the 1990 Indy 500, along with nearly a half-million of some of my closest friends, and most other races pale in comparison. I haven't had the chance to visit Daytona (yet) but I've attended a NASCAR cup race at Talladega and have taken the track tour a couple of times. Despite the sizes being nearly the same it can't stack up to the Brickyard. Take that from someone who has carried one end of a cooler all over the facility.

Actually, back in the late 80's to mid 90's I visited the Brickyard every spring for Pole Day and qualifying. I also had the pleasure of watching qualifying and practice for the first two NASCAR races at Indy but drove home to watch the race because I didn't have a ticket.

Back to this year's event, the first since the re-alignment of the IRL and Champ car series.

Although the media spent way too much time focusing on Danica Patrick the race was both interesting and entertaining. First-time winner Scott Dixon was also a popular pick, and was very appreciative of the win. It was also great to see Jim Nabors back this year to perform "Back Home Again in Indiana" prior to the race. He was too sick last year and it was good to see him back. I still get goosebumps when I hear him do that song, and even have a copy of it for my listening enjoyment for other than the month of May.

If you are a race fan and have never visited the track at Indy try to find the time. The Midwest is a hotbed of racing action that too many fans discount. An ideal race trip would be to visit Indy, O'Reily Raceway Park at Clermont (just several miles west) then on to the paved high banks of Winchester Speedway and finally the dirt mecca of Eldora Speedway. I've had the chance to visit them all several times and have never seen a bad show.

The final installment of my racing Sunday was the Cup race from Charlotte, the Coca-Cola 600.

First let me explain that I am known as a Dale Earnhard Jr. fan, but I appreciate MOST of the drivers in the Cup series. I started-out as a Dale Earnhardt fan in the mid 1980's and remained one until Dale Sr.'s death in 2001. It was one of the saddest days I can remember.

It's funny though, that when I was wearing a #3 cap back in those days I took a lot of crap off other fans..after the old man was killed it seemed like those same people jumped on the bandwagon. All I know is I was an Earnhardt fan before being an Earnhardt fan was cool.

Another note I should add is that I don't like any of the Toyota teams. Nothing against the owners or the drivers but I just don't support the Japanese and their efforts to intercede in our economy and life. Sorry, but I studied Pearl Harbor and the war in the Pacific too much as a young man to support the Japanese. But I digress.

The race itself was the usual Charlotte affair, though the new "Car of Whenever" or COW did bring a few suprises to the table..not to mention the tire situation.

Of course Dale Junior hit the wall while leading late in the race, but was able to hang on for a top-five finish and a good points day. It's been a hard year for Hendrick's cars, though they continue to do well in the points, but I'm sure they'd rather be winning.

Kasey Kahne had a good car all weekend after winning the All-Star race the Saturday before..and was in the right place at the right time with just enough luck to get the victory. He's another product of the open-wheel tracks of the Midwest and is a great talent.

It was a pretty good end to a good day of racing.

It's fairly obvious that NASCAR has afford the Toyota teams more horsepower this year in an effort to help them re-coup their investment...sadly its making a star out of Kyle Busch. The Shrub does have talent, I won't deny that, but he takes too many chances and abuses the equipment. He'll be a completely different driver once he has a bad crash and remembers that he's only human. It happened to DW, Rusty Wallace and many others..mark my words.

In closing, and in case I haven't inflammed enough fans, I'd like to add that the most talented driver in all of NASCAR is still Jeff Gordon. I have watched him grow and mature as a driver over the years..and like him or not you have to respect the talent.

It reminds me of the great open wheel driver Rich Vogler, who was booed at every venue he ever visited...and who won most of the time.

Vogler was killed in a USAC sprint car event at Salem (Ind.) Speedway in the early 1990's. "Rapid" Rich was actually leading the feature race at the time of the crash and is officially listed as the winner due to the red flag. The young driver running second at the time really looked up to Vogler, and would later take over his midget ride..his name was Jeff Gordon.

Comments, complaints and observations about racing are welcome on the local, regional, national and international scene. For the record I am a fan of all kinds of motorsports and would love to hear responses about drag racing, motorcross, rally or any other form of racing. It's all good in my book.