The Church returns, and a few pre-race thoughts.

Clance' who is near and dear to our hearts has returned to The Church of The Great Oval after a much-too-long absence, and has jumped right in to her astro-predictions. Please stop by her site and help us extend our warm welcome back.
My readers may have noticed that I have, as late withdrawn from trying to make my own predictions this year. This is only because I am enjoying the parity NASCAR has found with the new car, and have decided to just sit back and watch what happens. Of course, this does not mean that I am a big fan of parity in NASCAR, just that it has made for a different type of event. I still feel that parity rewards mediocraty.
In fact, one of my pet peeves is the hue and cry to restrict the horsepower produced the engines being used by the Toyota teams. What would be wrong with the Chevy, Dodge, and Ford teams working on their own engines to produce the same horsepower that the Toyota teams do? It should also be noted that there is much more to racing than horsepower, and the most powerful car does not always win. It takes talent more than it does the ability to go fast to win a race.
Racing should be about innovation, and it takes away from the racing to limit innovation. Brake technology, tranmission innovations, and even the matierials used in engine components and rear end differentials all find their way to commercial automobile manufacturing, and this is a big reason why the manufacturers continue to support racing. It would not be a good thing for NASCAR to introduce spec engines. Parity should mean evening up rather than evening down.
We can tell you who we want to see do well at Dover, even if it doesn't have anything to do with who we think will win. This is the time of the season Tony Stewart usually begins his streak. Although the #20 team has had some bad luck at Dover, his last finish there was ninth, last Summer, and we know that he does still have the will to win. Bad luck does not stick to Stewart like it does to other drivers, and he can always seem to make something good out of the bad, with the help of his team and Greg Zippadelli.

We will also be watching for Greg Biffle, David Reutimann, Kurt Busch, and Kyle Busch to fill in the top five.

Enjoy the race, and help keep our hopes alive that NASCAR never introduces spec engines to Cup, Nationwide, or Craftsman Truck Series.