You might ask yourself why this NASCAR Winston Cup 2002 DVD set is being reviewed by someone who isn't a NASCAR fan and who actually doesn't care much for the organization. It's a valid question. If you were looking forward to a review that provides a loving tribute to the drivers who compete in this celebrated series of races, perhaps you ought to click the Back button in your browser window and search for another review. Just to give you an idea where I'm coming from, I'm the guy in the movie theater who wants to run screaming from the auditorium the moment he sees that pre-movie Coca-Cola commercial starring all those NASCAR dudes plastered with company slogans and swilling soda for a buck. Am I the only guy who's astonished by the absolutely shameless commercialism of this "sport"?

Even if I were a fan of guys plastering themselves with company slogans and racing similarly slogan-plastered cars, I'm not entirely sure this DVD would do much for me. The NASCAR Winston Cup 2002 DVD set is made up of two discs but, in the end, its content is surprisingly lightweight. The main attraction is a 36-chapter collection of mere glimpses of the actual races that make up the Winston Cup series. We go race-by-race, one at a time, and highlights are enthusiastically narrated by Ken Squier. Race footage is intertwined with very short interview segments and MTV-style profiles of the participants.

I have the feeling that these glimpses, which last just a few minutes each, are going to leave NASCAR fans wanting more. After each one, you wonder how much you're missing. (Admittedly, providing comprehensive coverage of each race would require many, many discs.) But perhaps most troubling is that you never really feel like you're there with the racers. The music and the narration and the quickly edited footage give the presentation a distancing effect, so that you never feel really involved.

I suppose this DVD set would provide a welcome "greatest hits" view of the Winston Cup season for the fanatical NASCAR fan—and I know there are many of you. But for most viewers, the necessarily frenetic pace of racing through 36 events makes this a tough presentation to endure.

The 1.33:1 image is pretty impressive, with eye-popping colors and fine detail. The presentation exceeded my expectations. The only flaw I noticed is that much of the close-up detail is plagued by a barely noticeable vibration or jitter.

I had no problems with the disc's Dolby Digital 2.o audio presentation. It's actually quite involving, although combined with the quick editing of the video presentation, it can get overwhelming. The sound presentation reinforces the notion that the DVD was made for those with short attention spans.

I was surprised by how few supplements this set contains, given that it's a 2-disc "Limited Collector's Edition."

On Disc 1, you get just a few minor things, including a 4-minute champion interview with Winston Cup winner Richard Petty, a 3-minute look at the winston race, and text information about the top 10 point winners.

On Disc 2, you get The Road to Daytona 2003, a feature that's similar to the presentation of the main disc, except somewhat more successful. (One quibble is that the opening comes across as one long commercial. At this point while watching, I was so put off auto racing—only because of the rampant commercialism—that I wanted to sell my car and ride a bike for the rest of my life.) The plus of this disc, however, is that this race isn't made up of 36 races. It's just one. So this disc has a lot more breathing room to cover the race. Interestingly, this disc provides better sound options—including a Dolby Digital 5.1 track—as well as a Fast Facts feature that lets you learn trivia about the race.

Disc 2 contains extras that are better than those on Disc 1, including a Saliva music video called Saliva: Superstar II, a Daytona 500 Champion Conversation with winner Michael Waltrip, profiles of the 2003 Title Contenders, an extended version of "Hangin' with the King," and a commercial for NASCAR Winston Cup 2002, and some other minor stuff.

I don't think much of NASCAR, and this disc did little to change my mind. I did find it interesting that the bonus disc of this set is better than the main attraction, not only in its content but also in its audio presentation and array of supplements.