As the final laps of Sunday evening's Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 came to a close, two red flag delays had pushed race over its ABC time slot. So, at 7:30 pm E.T., ABC opted to end its coverage of the second-to-last race in the Chase in order to show "America's Funniest Videos." The remainder of the race was moved to ESPN2, but for all of those Hardcore Race Fans that don't have cable - even though they could probably guess Jimmie Johnson was going to win - the end of the race was nowhere to be found.

While their coverage this year has been top-notch, Sunday's move was an insult to NASCAR fans all over the country. If the network had something of importance to show at that allotted time, things would be different. Instead, "America's Funniest Videos" took priority over one of the biggest sports in the country.

In a time when attendance at NASCAR races are down, merchandise sales have fallen and other things seem more important than racing, think of all the potential fans that could have been won Sunday night. Imagine your average Joe sitting down on his couch after a long Sunday and turning on looking for "America's Funniest Videos," but instead he sees 43 of the world's best racing hard in a dash for the checkered flag. There is no home video out there that can capture a viewer's attention like a NASCAR race.

Also, switching to ESPN2 made it difficult for any Hard Core Race Fan out there without cable. With thirty-seven laps to go, anything can happen in a race, but unfortunately for those fans there was nothing they could do except turn on the radio dial.

"It seems a little odd to me as big as NASCAR is and as many people as watch the sport," third-place finisher Jamie McMurray explained.  "I can't imagine being a race fan and being on the East Coast and trying to watch this and then going to that. I mean, maybe if the President was going to talk, maybe if something big had happened, but I can't believe that America's Funniest Home Videos would take priority over us. I mean, I like that show, but I'd rather watch the race. Consider when playoffs in other sports are on television, rarely do you see the network switch away from a game in the fourth quarter or bottom of the eighth for something as trivial as "America's Funniest Videos."

In 1968, NBC decided to switch and AFL game between the Oakland Raiders and the New York Jets to the movie "Heidi" with just over a minute left to play with the Jets ahead 32-29. Leaving fans in the dark, the Raiders were able to come back and score 14 points to win the game in the final 65 seconds. While nothing like this happened Sunday night, for those fans left in the dark by ABC how could they know.

Racing is the type of sport in which the race isn't over until it's over. Thirty-seven laps is a long time and anything could happen during that time. ABC made a poor decision by moving the conclusion of the race to ESPN2 and hopefully they will see the error of their ways. While watching people make fools of themselves and the fact their family members would send the tape to national television is often amusing, NASCAR should have had top priority in this situation.