Nothing gets the adrenaline flowing like the smell of jet fuel on a Sunday afternoon. I'm gonna miss it.

This weekend (10 p.m. ET, Sunday, ESPN2) marks the final episode of RPM2Night. With that comes the end of an era, one I like to refer to as Planes, Pains and Automobiles.

Anyone who has watched the show just once in the past three years can tell you it's been, well, a little bit different. After all, we have been prohibited from interviewing inside the garage during NASCAR events.

As a staff we were informed of the restrictions during a 2001 January meeting. The news was met with anger and disbelief. Lucky me, that was the first ESPN meeting I'd ever been part of.

Welcome aboard Mr. Massaro, I think you're going to like it here on the Titanic. That's what it felt like but unlike the ship, this show didn't sink.

Take the high road; that became our mantra. And so, fighting the compelling urge to lash out, we persevered. Our motives were still very clear, create the most entertaining and informative racing television possible. You, the audience, reserve the exclusive right to determine whether we succeeded.

Our unique circumstances led to unprecedented challenges and creative strategy. Photographs replaced video highlights and helicopters have become a more common background element than racecars. Still, RPM2Night strived to maintain the lofty standards it set for itself when it first came onto the air in 1995.

No doubt there was professional jealousy. While our peers were interviewing at the back gate of a team's transporter, we were simply interviewing at the back gate, literally outside the tunnel. While other reporters were chasing the top-five down pit road after the race, we waited at driver's helicopters and airplanes. And while other networks casually conducted interviews in Victory Lane, we worried that we might not get the winner at all.

In fact, we missed getting the winner 10 times -- and believe me, I remember every one of them. But that's not important. What's important is that we did get the winner 97 times. I'm biased, but I think that's pretty impressive considering the circumstances.

	Mike Massaro, right, interviews Jeff Gordon in front of a plane after Gordon's win at Atlanta.

The drivers have been tremendous. For example, Jeff Gordon never let us down after a victory, but can you imagine anyone asking Barry Bonds to come out to the parking lot for an interview after a big win? It just wouldn't happen. Heck, I don't think a third string MLB catcher would do what the Winston Cup drivers routinely did for us.

Sometimes it wasn't even a parking lot. In Chicagoland (2002) we were exiled to a cornfield where we did a pre-race interview with Bobby Labonte. A corn field, for crying out loud! At least we had some good company -- the Muppets were there too.

But loyal RPM2Nighters know that the hub of our existence the past three seasons has been helipads and airports. Among the countless forgettable moments, this setting gave us plenty to remember.

Perhaps Bob Ley had the best line. Following a SportsCenter live shot that was continuously interrupted by the unmistakable sound of helicopter blades, he ad-libbed, "from the set of M.A.S.H."

That's exactly how it seemed. We tried to maintain professional poise amid chaos. With incoming air traffic I recall interviewing Terry Labonte while literally clinging to a chain link fence so that I wouldn't blow over. Other times I had to completely turn my head away from drivers after asking a question so that jet wash debris wouldn't sandblast me.

In a strange way this situation did have its advantages. At times we had a fairly large interview pool and were able to get some pretty good quotes. Our crew is now on a first name basis with several pilots and knows what many drivers eat following the race. Mark Martin consistently eats tuna sandwiches and Bill Elliott loves chocolate ice cream, just in case you're wondering.

We haven't necessarily enjoyed it but we have been able to laugh at our predicament. At the conclusion of the 2001 season, RPM2Night's founding father Barry Sacks designed a T-shirt. On the front there were cartoon depictions of a TV reporter and cameraman chasing a helicopter. On the back, in traditional concert shirt style, it listed the locations of the 2001 RPM2Night "Outside Looking in Tour." Among my favorites were the Diamond Hill Plywood Company -- Darlington, S.C. and the Snakepit helipad -- Phoenix, Ariz.

I still laugh when I think about that T-shirt. However, I'd be lying if I said joy was the overriding sentiment following this experience. There has been frustration, at times even humiliation. But in the end there is pride. Pride knowing that we were part of one of the greatest television shows in racing history. Thanks for watching.

Mike Massaro covers NASCAR for ESPN and ESPN.com.