Sunday racing was a full day. A wake up with Formula 1 followed by the showcase Indy 500 and close it down with NASCAR at the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte.

F1 gave us a spin or two and a Kobayashi bunny hop at Monaco. A good start to the day. From Monaco to Indianapolis the racing went up a notch and was matched up in Charlotte with the Coca-Cola 600.

There might have been a phone call. “I’ll do it if you do it!”

We’re referring to Dario Franchitti and Tony Stewart. It is odd that on the same day two defending champions encounter the same incident, and relatively speaking, at the same location. Coming into the pits at Indy, Franchitti is clipped by E.J. Viso and is spun sideways in the pit stall. The extra time and damage check put him to the back of the field. Skip ahead to the Coca-Cola 600 and here comes Tony Stewart to the pit stall only to have Brad Keselowski make the bump sending “Smoke” around facing traffic.

Perhaps it is just one of those coincidences that pop out to make racing so interesting to watch. Perhaps we should be checking phone records between Viso and Keselowski?

Is it odd that “coincidence” and “conspiracy” both begin with “co” and have four syllables…? Is it odd to see practically the same incident played out in two series on the same day with two defending champions? Is Danica Patrick involved? After all, there was a lot of “GoDaddy” home page rivalry static on the commercial side that could be seen as a viable distraction…

Does James Hinchcliffe look good in lime green swimwear?

Whatever series of events that lead to the similar pit road spins, be it collusion or coincidence, the racing was on with a big dose of “drama” that fans have been claiming has been missing.

The Indy 500 gave us “turn 1” drama as drivers went to the inside, touched the white line and were sent to the outside wall for the attempt. Mike Conway came close to the line, spun and gave Will Power a good view of the underside of his car.

With less than 20 to go, Marco Andretti went well over the line and lost it, locked up and went to the wall.

Would he have still hit the wall if he hadn’t locked the brakes? Isn’t that covered in “driver’s ed…”?

The Marco crash set up a retart that had Franchitti and team mate Scott Dixon racing with Takuma Sato in the mix. Franchitti got around Dixon and Sato came along. On the final lap, Sato made a move on the inside of Franchitti, in turn 1, tight and close to the white line and lost it to slide up to the wall leaving Franchitti out front for the finish.

Franchitti survived the pit spin to come back and win. Stewart, in the Coca-Cola 600, not so much. “Smoke” was not having a good race to begin with and the Keselowski spin only sealed the deal. Stewart’s spin might have been eclipsed by Jimmie Johnson and his team blowing a stop with a gas can. At least Stewart can point to someone outside of his own organization. Johnson and his team have nobody. However, we now know how strong the nozzle is on a NASCAR sanctioned gas can…

The win in Charlotte went to Kasey Kahne. It was a good race for Kahne. Starting in the top 10 and for the most part running close to where he started for most of the race, he went to the front with Denny Hamlin going for the chase. At the checkers, Hamlin couldn’t make a move and Kasey Kahne pulled his first win as a Hendrick driver.

Thirty-one lead changes, pit road spins and gas can rides should put this race right up there on the “excitement” and “fun-meter” for the fans. It should give NASCAR fans some things to talk about.

Time well tell if the Indy 500 fanfare and racing action will carry through for more fan interest through the season. IndyCar needs a boost and perhaps this could do it.

As for Franchitti and “Smoke”… They have a good story to share. That is, at least, if Viso and Keselowski can keep their mouths shut.