That left turn joke is probably the most over-used retarded sports joke out there. As far as NASCAR goes though, my thought is that it is actually harder to win on an oval than a road course. Think about it, if you are at Taladega, you are going full speed for nearly the whole race, just like everyone else. So how do you get an advantage? In a road course you can take turns more aggressivly to try to catch people.