First - to each their own. Yesterday, I watched F1, Indy, and NASCAR (on DVR) I don't get watching golf unless it is something big at the end. I don't watch figure skating. I watch more college softball than college baseball. In a nutshell, I enjoy NASCAR and watch when I can to see what happens.
To me:
1. There are personalities to you get to watch interact
2. I have been to the Indy race in Newton a few times - seeing the actual speed and how quickly drivers can maneuver their cars is really fascinating/incredible.
3. Seeing some of the strategies play out between teams: will not taking tires slow them down? Can they get to the end of the race without more fuel?
4. Watching the drivers work around other drivers: Blocking, what line to take, using other cars as picks, etc.
5. It is competition - I am interested to see who can get better and who will crack under pressure.
Yesterday's F1 race was actually kind of boring. All the interesting stuff was centered around pit strategy. I watched just to see if anything was going to happen at the end.
The Indy race was fairly interesting. A nice mix of strategy, lead changes, pit stops, and teams improving their cars. At the end, I was intrigued if Helio could get his 4th Indy win. He was set up to get it, but failed on his last passing attempt. The idea that he waited until the last moment to try and then didn't have enough time to get another chance was worth talking about with my son.
The 600 was interesting; I like what NASCAR has done with the stages. They break up what could be a monotonous race. I am not a big fan of crashes except that they reset the field and offer another restart. The race last night had a dominant car up front - just screaming around the track - with others behind positioning themselves and racing each other. At the end, 2 cars tried to sneak in a win by driving slightly slower and trying to skip a pit stop. Jimmie Johnson failed (whew) while Austin Dillon pulled it off. The last 20 laps, the second place car sent from 15 seconds behind to 2 seconds with 4 laps left - I watched to see what would happen. Thought it might be a last lap pass, but Martin Truex Jr. used up his tires/had a slightly more loose setup, and couldn't get to the winner (actually finished in 3rd when Busch passed him at the end).