The 2007 season has been so long in coming I've taken to watching NASCAR. Now I appreciate that may be a dirty word to some Formula 1 fans, but please bear with me a moment.

Firstly, if it's good enough for Montoya, it's good enough for me. And if he feels there's merit in driving round in circles (sometimes literally) all day, then I'm prepared to take a look. Secondly, there are many things that NASCAR does better than Formula 1, and it never hurts to take a look over the fence once in a while.

My primary reason for watching this year is the Montoya factor. I know he left F1 under a bit of a cloud and it's fair to say his stock had fallen during his time at McLaren. But I still believe the man has a lot to offer, and it would appear I'm not the only one. Here's what Mark Martin (a true NASCAR veteran) had to say after Monty's drive in Mexico last week:

I knew that Juan Montoya was one of the greatest drivers in the world but boy, did he show everybody on Sunday.

- Mark Martin

High praise indeed.

My other reason for following NASCAR this year, is that it's finally available on UK terrestrial TV. The coverage isn't great - large parts of the race seem to go missing for example - but it's better than nothing.

This brings me nicely to the point of this post, and that is: If you want to get real, in depth, stock car information in the UK, you need to check out the Stockcarzone podcast [link removed]. Host Corey Costelloe does a fine job of covering all the weeks events, rumors and race news without losing me in a sea of jargon. Plus he's been doing a sterling job of promoting our show and it seems only fair to shout him back.

If you're maybe just a bit curious about the whole NASCAR thing, or are wondering what the hell Monty's up to now, check out the Stockcarzone on iTunes [link removed], why don't ya?