What is this "baseball" thing anyway?

In my most recent item, it was surmised that the reason there weren't more people in the stands was that there was a baseball game in town during the same time period.
Saturday, when Fox waited until the end of the first lap of the Subway Fresh 500 to cut from their coverage of a game that was, for all practical purposes, over, was when some points of wonder came to mind.
This is not to disparage baseball, which is still the "National Passtime" to millions of people, nor is it to suggest that the telecast of the game should have been cut short. For the people in the Northeastern part of the country--those to whom the game was important Fox should have continued coverage until the last out. For the rest of the country, they could have started the telecast of the race in time for the opening ceremonies. After all, they had already started the baseball coverage on their FX cable network.
So, we watched patiently for twenty minutes while men adjusted their hats and belts, and chewed gum. Which brings me to what I was wondering:
Why, when there is a race going on, especially one with the quality of Friday night's Nationwide series race, would anyone want to sit through three hours of watching guys adjust their hats, belts, and athletic cups, chew gum, and scratch their hineys?
Just wondering.
There is this, at least, in favor of baseball:



Now, that must have been an exciting moment!
(Photo from email circulation and unattributed)