NASCAR.....Why?

Someone needs to explain the allure of NASCAR and why it has so many fans. I can understand why you go to a NASCAR event. Lots of people, pretty girls, partying, the chance of seeing someone get in a good wreck. I get all that, but for the sport itself, why are people so interested in it? I get road courses a little bit more, at least there are different turns there. But traditional racing, going around and around, stopping for gas and tires and then going around and around again, I just don't get it. Maybe I need to research the topic a bit more. So here I go with the history of NASCAR.

NASCAR was started by Bill France, Sr. in 1947. However, racing actually began back in 1903 when there was racing on some beach you might have heard of, Daytona. France was a mechanic who moved to Daytona in 1935 and noticed that people enjoyed watching racing. So on December 14, 1947 NASCAR was created. The initial point system was actually written on a bar napkin when France and other original organizers of NASCAR were discussing how to run it. Originally there were three divisions, Modified, Roadster and Strictly Stock. Modified and Roadster were not widely accepted and NASCAR shrank down to "Strictly Stock" and held its first "Stock" event at Charlotte Speedway on February 19, 1948 (This is not the same track as the modern Charlotte Motor Speedway). The event though is the same and is still part of the NASCAR racing schedule.

Over the years the sponsors names have changed. From 1970, when R.J. Reynolds sponsored the "Winston Cup", to more recently in 2004 when Sprint Nextel took over sponsoring and changed the name to the "Sprint Cup". ABC started to air partial and full racing in 1970 and the first "Flag to Flag" Daytona 500 was broadcast in 1979. There have been many famous names to drive for NASCAR such as Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt and in recent years the money to be earned has grown significantly.

I am still not sold on why NASCAR is so appealing to so many people, but there is no arguing that many many people follow it as intensely, if not more intensely, as other sports fans. I know it has been one of the fastest growing sports and has even become trendy to watch, but I need to be convinced. Please, someone give me a reason to watch. Anyone?