To know list: 5 more reasons books are useless. (Know It All).(Column)

(1) DRIVERS ED Here's the deal

Another NASCAR season is upon us, and for all you stick-and-ball snobs, it's time to pay attention. As the fastest-growing sport (and one of TSN's Big 7), NASCAR isn't going to go away.

All we are saying ... is give speed a chance. NASCAR isn't all oil and sponsors and dirty fingernails and tobacco spit and driving fast and turning left. It's mostly that stuff, but there's so much more. NASCAR has everything a sport needs, from exciting competition to star athletes to a perfectly good reason to drop everything and head to Daytona in the middle of February.

In recent weeks, NASCAR has made noise about shuffling its schedule to broaden its appeal. That's a good idea because NASCAR's biggest problem is that it is too provincial, too self-contained, too an island-unto-itself. NASCAR has its own part of the country (Southeast), its own rules (made up weekly), even its own language. Perhaps being NASCAR-illiterate is keeping you from loving the sport. It might help to have a glossary for what's coming out of your TV this season:

Aero: Short for aerodynamic.

Block: To prevent another car from passing.

Dirty air: The turbulence created in a car's wake. Also, the infield after the chili-eating contest.