I was at the baseball game because I had volunteered to help out my colleague, Dave Utnik. Over the course of my 33 years, I’ve seen all but two National League teams play: the Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

(Quick aside: That’s one of my little joys in life, tallying the number of teams I’ve seen live at some point. Now it’s down to the Dodgers in the N.L.; in the American League, it’s a few more: Tampa Bay, the Angels (yes, I refuse to acknowledge their preference to identify with L.A.) and Texas. In the NFL, I’ve seen every NFC team but San Francisco and every AFC team but Cleveland, Cincinnati, Denver, Kansas City and Oakland.)

But early on, it became obvious that I would be disappointed I wouldn’t see the race as it happened.

At 2:22: “Jerry Bonkowski: Barney Hall, esteemed play-by-play announcer on Motor Racing Network, said today could be the greatest race ever at Talladega. Didn’t give a reason, but an interesting perspective from a veteran of over 50 races here.”

At 2:55: “Bob Margolis: There’s some unbelievable racing going on at the front of the field, even this early on. This could be one of the most competitive Talladega races in decades.”

At 3:04: “Bob Margolis: This race is turning out to be a lot more racier than last fall’s event.”

[Expletive].

And it didn’t disappoint, apparently. I’ve seen a few highlights and it looked like it was one great race to watch — a sharp contrast from some of the races we’ve seen in the past few years.

What strikes me as interesting is that how quick it took to get decent racing back on the superspeedways, considering this is the third race in the COT on one of the megatracks.

I really thought it would be more of a progression, where the events got incrementally better. I figured this level of competition would be somewhere on the horizon in 2009, perhaps in the fall Talladega race.
But look at the folks who were running near the front of the pack for some part of the race. All of these drivers led multiple laps: Michael Waltrip (4), Paul Menard (3), Elliott Sadler (3), David Gilliland (2) and David Stremme (2 while filling in for Dario Franchitti). In all, 20 drivers led at least one lap, exchanging the lead 52 times. That’s one lead change every 3.5 laps.

That’s what racing should be.

• HEY, IT’S RACE WEEK: The Cup tour comes to Richmond this weekend. We’ll be taking a day off — likely Tuesday — to accommodate the change in schedule to cover the Saturday night Cup race.

Plus, Tuesday gives us a wonderful chance to sit around and do nothing but play Grand Theft Auto IV, the latest installment in the thrilling, but controversial, series from Rockstar North.

The appropriate disclaimer: It’s not for the young or the faint of heart. I know you may be 13 and dreaming of playing the game, but trust me on this: It’s probably too mature for you.

I was a wiseass at 13 too, and wanted to be grown up. But the reality of it is this: Growing up sucks. Enjoy your youth and innocence while it lasts. This whole adult thing is way more mundane than you think.

(Photo by Greg McWilliams/Associated Press)