After a day of waiting out rain, now we're just waiting out waiting

Remember the days of the 12:30 p.m. Cup starts at New Hampshire International Speedway? Those days seem to float farther and farther away in the rearview mirror with each passing race...

* I've taken a lot of good-natured ribbing this weekend from the guys associated with the Modified racing I used to cover when I was a wee cub reporter in Woonsocket, R.I. Seems those Modified media types and team members haven't quite figured out that being "NASCAR's oldest division" isn't necessarily a good thing.

They call it technological advancement, know what I mean?

Kidding aside, the myth that the Whelen Modified Tour is the best race of the race weekends here in Loudon is patently untrue. Ditto for "all the Cup guys on top of their haulers" watching the Modified races.

During Saturday's event for the WMT -- was it the New Hampshire 100 or New Hampshire 75 or Chevrolet American Revolution New Hampshire Modified Sprint brought to you by Nextel? I'm still not sure -- I counted exactly 1 Cup Series hauler or motorcoach with someone on top of it watching the race. Not dozens, not several, one. O-N-E.

When the Modified Tour raced on those 1st few Cup weekends at NHIS, they were something of a novelty act -- something most Cup drivers and teams from down south hadn't seen. So, they watched the bump drafting and the slingshot passing and thought it was pretty cool.

But, hey, a decade ago, young kids could still sweep floors in Cup shops with the hopes of landing a ride, too.

Here's a novel thought in an age when NASCAR racing takes a hundred whacks on the chin a week: The Nextel Cup Series races have been the best race of the 4- and 5-division weekends here for the last 5 years.

* There was a time when I thought the Sylvania 300 was important to the Chase for the Nextel Cup; it is, after all, the 1st of the 10 races in the Chase.

In 2004, Kurt Busch won the race to complete a season sweep here and went on to win the title. In 2005, Tony Stewart finished 2nd to Ryan Newman and went on to win the Chase. Last year, Kevin Harvick won and faded into Chase oblivion after.

Also last year, Jimmie Johnson crashed and finished 39th. You may recall, he went on to win his 1st Nextel Cup.

Think of this race like the Game 1 of a best-of-7 opening-round playoff series in the National Hockey League. Fans are amped up, media members are salivating that the prospects of analyzing every little giveaway in the neutral zone and players and coaches all talk up the importance of getting off to a good start.

But that opening game can mean very little, too. It's not until a series turns into a series with a few games under its belt does it truly become "the playoffs." Same with the Chase.

* And with all apologies to that staple of Saturday late-night television -- "Rudy Giuliani is here. The Londonderry High School marching band is here. We've got a great show for you tonight, so stick around!"