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What: “NASCAR at 50: Good to Go”

Where: TBS

When: Sunday, 6 p.m.

Not only are NASCAR fans going to want to see this one-hour special, so are sports fans who don’t understand why stock car racing has become so popular.

Turner Broadcasting and Turner Original Productions, an arm of Turner Broadcasting, put the show together, building it around last October’s UAW-GM Quality 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the “Taj Mahal of Racing.” But this is hardly a story about one race.

Dozens of drivers and owners are interviewed. There is no narrator, which is risky, but the producers pull it off nicely.

After a general overview, the show is divided into five segments.

* Qualifying: Dave Marcis and Jeff Gordon represent the old and the new in this segment. Marcis, the “Iron Man of Racing,” has been involved in NASCAR racing for 30 years. Gordon is the sport’s new superstar. Just how important is qualifying? Maybe driver Rusty Wallace explains it best. “Just imagine, your sponsor has invited 5,000 guests to watch you race and you have to tell your sponsor you’re not in the race,” Wallace says.

* The icon: This segment offers a profile of Dale Earnhardt. Part of it was taped among his horses, cows and chickens at his farm in Florida.

* The owner: Jack Roush, his car No. 6 and driver Mark Martin are featured.

* The crew chief: Ray Evernham Jr., Gordon’s crew chief, talks in depth about his competitive nature and having a son found to have leukemia (which happened in 1992). His son is doing OK, but the ordeal took its toll. “It gives you a different outlook on life,” Evernham says. “I was telling you how competitive I am. I used to bust up things and throw tantrums. Now when something happens . . . having a car not finish is not a bad day; having someone tell you your son has leukemia is a bad day.”

* The promoter: H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler, president and general manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway, offers another perspective of the popularity of the sport.

As if this special isn’t enough, TBS’ two-hour “National Geographic Explorer” show at 4 p.m. Sunday offers a segment on “Stock Car Fever.” It really is a day TBS puts the pedal to the medal.