I guess I never assumed that NASCAR was racing, just entertainment kind of like wrestling as they change the rules to control the possible outcomes. Dont they also own the ALMS LeMans series?

No, they own the other one, the Grand Am series, Daytona 24, etc.

No. ALMS is run by "IMSA". GrandAm is controlled by Nascar. Hence all the NASCAR stars that turn out for the 24hr race at Daytona.

or....all the GrandAm drivers who make ocassional appearances in NASCAR races when they venture onto road circuits...keeping it in the family.

I'm not a NASCAR fan at all, but my wife is totally into it (she drags me to the race at Sears Point every year). She's not a fan of their 'car of tomorrow', but I think it's just because it's ugly to her.

She admits it's not the most exciting racing in the world, but she's in it for the entertainment value. It's just a big soap opera, and she does watch all the commercials.

Frankly, I don't know if there IS an exciting racing series anymore.
F1 hasn't been exciting since the FISA/FOCA political struggle 25 years ago. We don't even have Schumi to kick around, so it's a dreary parade regardless of which colorless robot wins.
The only thing I can figure out about NASCARs Car of Tomorrow is that Mike Helton got tired of listening to Ford, Chevrolet, and Dodge ******************** about the rules favoring whichever one of them had a little run of luck, so he made ONE car that everybody had to use, so no more arguing, and no more playing with spoiler height a 32nd of an inch at a time.
The next thing on the horizon is a spec engine that everybody has to use, put whatever sticker you want on the valve cover, so everybody's equal, and no whining about cylinder heads.
Fine with me as that will kill the whole redneck bull**************** series.
Is it football season yet?

What bugs me most about NASCAR is the number of and reasons for the the Yellow flags... NASCAR officials throw "yellows" for crashes, bumped walls, spins-even if there is no contact, debris on the track or not, drizzle, rain, to get someone a lap down back on the lead lap, to get the pack back closer together, or any reason that they deem necessary. And the length of the "yellow" is long enough to make you switch channels and forget to go back to watch the finish! It is one of the only racing series NOT to race in the rain. Even motorcycles race in the rain!!! I'll watch only if there is nothing else on and nothing else to do...