Friday afternoon, I took a stroll down Hunter St, Newcastle to where it intersects with Scott St.
This might seem like a strange way to start a story, but I wanted to have a look at what has been making my daily commute a bit slow over the last couple of weeks.
The Newcastle 500. I was surprised at how quiet it was and how close I got to the racetrack.
I stood there for a few minutes. I had a perfect view down Watt St where the cars would speed up the hill after leaving pit lane.
But, alas, there were no cars on the track at that time, and I had to get back to work.
I got halfway back to the office when the throaty roar of the V8s drifted down Hunter St.
That was as close as I got to the races.
After spending the last two weeks in very heavy traffic due to the road closures because of the race, added to parts of Hunter St being closed for the construction of the light rail, the last thing I wanted to do on my days off was battle even more traffic.
Instead, I settled into my lounge chair and channel surfed between the Newcastle 500, the First Cricket Test and two Rugby League World cup games.
What a finish to the race.
Whincup came into the last round with a slim lead over McLaughlin, but finished last in race one.
That meant that McLaughlin needed only to finish 11th in the last race to win the championship.
He started from pole, but two penalties saw him drop down the order.
Within a handful of laps, Whincup was leading and McLaughlin was sitting in 13th.
By the last lap, however, he had made his way into 11th.
All he had to do was hold his place to win the championship.
Craig Lowndes had been shadowing McLaughlin for several laps and made a move, but McLaughlin cut him off to hold 11th.
Unfortunately for the Kiwi, race control had been investigating the incident with Lowndes, and as Whincup crossed the finish line, another penalty was imposed – pushing McLaughlin down to 18th and handing Whincup his 7th Championship win.
Oh well, that’s racing.
I can now go back to my normal routine until the same time next year.
And remember, there’s no such thing as too much sport.