Road isn't all the rage; all-oval should be shape of things to come

There are only two off weekends during the Sprint Cup season.

But in my world there are four, when you count the two road course races.

I make no bones about it: I do not like watching NASCAR stock cars race on road courses.

With success at The Glen, Tony Stewart may want to keep the road events. (Getty Images)

It's unnatural, boring, tedious, dull, uninteresting, humdrum and monotonous. Thank you for helping me to convey my thoughts, Mr. Roget.

About the only thing worse than putting lumbering NASCAR machines on a road circuit is to do it in the rain.

Did you see last week's Nationwide Series race disaster in Montreal? Neither did most of the fans in the stands or watching at home on television. Or many of the drivers for that matter.

The "historic" race was touted as the first major NASCAR touring division event run in the rain with grooved tires and windshield wipers.

And if you think the fans who attended the Brickyard 400 fiasco deserved a refund, talk to the unlucky drenched souls in Montreal.

That wasn't a race. It was a survival test, with the skies pouring water down harder than your neighborhood car wash.

Cars slid and slipped and skidded dangerously like they were on ice. Before the sensible call to end the madness finally came, the lack of visibility caused a serious accident involving Joey Logano and Jacques Villeneuve. Miraculously, neither driver was injured in the melee.

But despite the water-logged spectacle in Canada, NASCAR is determined to try it again. In fact, if rain becomes part of this weekend's Nationwide and Sprint Cup doubleheader at Watkins Glen, both circuits will be forced to bolt on the raingear again and go at it.

In the name of Noah, let's pray that doesn't happen.

Not only should NASCAR scrap plans to hold any of its events in the rain, the sanctioning body should abandon road course racing completely.

There are enough racing series that compete on road and street courses and do it quite well. The IRL, Grand Am, Formula One and American LeMans Series all hold the majority of their races turning both left and right.

It's successful because each of those circuits uses cars that are specifically designed for road racing.

A 3,400-pound stock car was not.

While crew chiefs can do their best to set the cars up with spring and shock adjustments, neither Nationwide Series nor Sprint Cup cars were created for road racing.

It's like trying to ride a bull in a thoroughbred horse race.

So why does NASCAR keep these two circuits on the schedule?

When they were originally added, it was done more out of necessity than design. In an effort to expand its Southern-based roots and bring Cup racing to new geographic locations, the sanctioning body jumped at the chance to go to Infineon and Watkins Glen.

The tremendously populated areas of the Northeast and Northern California were perfect fits to expand the marketing capabilities of the sport back in the late 1980s.

So what if the only two tracks available were road courses? The opportunity to bring Cup racing beyond its traditional borders was too appealing. And over the years, road courses had dotted the Cup schedule, with regular visits to California's Riverside International Raceway a staple, so it wasn't a completely out-of-left-field idea.

But things have changed dramatically in a relatively short period of time. The racing boom has given birth to new tracks all across the country in major markets such as Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami and Kansas City. NASCAR's explosion has brought its product into the consciousness of mainstream America.

In fact, because of the growth, there are now too many races on the schedule, stretching teams, crews, drivers and budgets beyond their limits.

Simply said, there isn't a need for the Sprint Cup Series to compete on road courses any longer. So let's eliminate these two races and replace them with events on oval tracks such as Kentucky Speedway, The Milwaukee Mile, Nashville Superspeedway or a return to Rockingham, where the circuit can demonstrate its strengths, not amplify its weakness.

Or in the near future, give the road racing dates to the new tracks being built in Denver, the Pacific Northwest and New York.

Some fans contend that NASCAR road racing harkens back to the sport's roots, somehow connecting the moonshine running days through the Smokey Mountains with the evolution of today's stock car racing world.

Then why not take it a step further and let the drivers wear T-shirts without helmets while carrying a trunk load of hooch?

If NASCAR wants to add track diversity to the series and create a link to its past, road course racing should be dumped in favor of two dirt track events.

Dirt racing is also a throwback to the early days of NASCAR and would provide a perfect connection from the modern era to its beginnings.

When you look back on NASCAR history, the great dirt-track events stand head and shoulders above any road course events someone might remember.

A few years ago, Bristol Motor Speedway covered its concrete high banks with dirt for a World of Outlaws Sprint Car event. A similar idea for a NASCAR weekend would truly be one of the most visionary and successful ventures in the sport's history.

Sadly, I'm probably only dreaming, and the sight of NASCAR stock cars droning around a road course will be with us for some time.

My job demands my attention be in Watkins Glen this weekend. But my heart will be with my beloved Cubs as they take on the Cardinals at Wrigley Field and my eyes on the following NASCAR weekend, when real racing returns at Michigan.