> the world record in 10 pin is a quantity of perfect strings bowled in a row

While I see what you are going for, judging an entire game off of an extreme is an intrinsically narrow set of criteria. I'd argue that the consecutive strike aspect is not what gets folks excited in 10 pin, its the ability to clean up one's spares and string together solid scores consistently. Regular Joe league bowlers get far more excited about someone picking up a greek church or some other wacky spare than hitting 7-8 strikes in a row.

> I don't really get NASCAR either, fwiw.

Understandable. NASCAR is an example of min maxing sort of in the same way D&D can be run different ways. Some groups like role play and story driven elements, some like to squeeze every bit of efficiency out of a character. NASCAR's draw is not in the fact that they go around an oval 200 times, its the small details and tweaks that differentiate HOW those cars go around those 200 times. It definitely does not appeal to everyone.