Minor-league expectations for a major-league sport?

As usual it was regarded as the best race of the big NASCAR weekend up at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a place that doesn't just remember its developmental-series roots, but twice a year shows them off to the world. The finish had fans standing, the public-address announcer screaming, and vehicles ricocheting off the inside wall. Exiting the final corner, a somewhat forceful and ultimately unsuccessful overtaking attempt by one of the circuit's top drivers left cars grinding against concrete and trailing white smoke as they passed under the checkered flag.

Seven cars failed to finish the New Hampshire 100 with accident status.

It was another New England afternoon with the Whelen Modified Tour, whose cars seem custom-made for just that kind of action with those nerf bars protruding from the front and sides. The finish left fans awestruck, and at least one competitor angry. But Ed Flemke Jr. expressed his dissatisfaction in the most eloquent of ways.

"What's wrong in racing today, and it's my opinion and my opinion only, is you're rewarded for doing the wrong thing," Flemke said, despite benefiting from the accident, which helped him to finish second. "You go in there and knock the guy out of the way to win, good job. You get the money, you get the girl, you get the trophy. If you lift for the guy, you don't even get a pat on the back. So we need to change the merit system somehow ... in all racing, from the top level right on down to quarter-midgets. You've got to be rewarded for doing the right thing, for speaking up when you should speak up. Like right now."

Commendable words. Still, it was a race and a finish that the folks in the grandstand clearly enjoyed. It was also one of those weekends when the differences between NASCAR's regional and national levels came into sharp focus, and made it a little easier to see why some race fans love racing, but have so many issues with the Sprint Cup tour. Regardless of what you think of leadership in Daytona Beach, there's no question that NASCAR has crafted a premier division that -- as the crowded garage area at New Hampshire will readily attest -- allows its fan base a degree of access that's almost unprecedented in other major sports. But sometimes, that access isn't enough. Sometimes, fans want a hair-raising finish like the one in the modified race, too.

• Whelen Modified Tour | More NASCAR regional racing (Continued)