Revvin' and Rantin'

As you may have noticed, I have been unable to post anything lately, due to lack of internet access. T'herefore, we will try to take care of several different subjects, including some photos from the 2009 Good Times Auto Show in Old Colorado City, while we have the opportunity.

As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase qualifying season winds down to its final race, there is still plenty of drama. Of Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Juan Montoya, Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch, two will not make the cut at Richmond Saturday night, so we know these nine drivers will be giving it their all. Carl Edwards could also be included in this group, but, no matter what happens with the other drivers, he can clinch his berth with a mid-pack finish or better.

We know that Kyle Busch will truly make it an all or nothing run for his team at Richmond, so we will have to say the driver with the toughest task in trying to make the Chase is Brian Vickers. He hasn't had a top five finish at Richmond in a Cup car,. and he almost needs to have bad luck happen to one or more of the other drivers who are currently in the top twelve in points. We would like to see him in the Chase, because we think he could bring some additional excitement to the championship season. At the same time we would hate to see any ot the drivers who are currently in the top twelve not make the cut, so we are, as usual, emotionally conflicted.

Tony Stewart's team's performance seems to have fallen off some since his victory at Watkins Glen. They may already be feeling the pressure of the Chase. We should remember that most of the members of Stewart's pit crew have never experienced being on a winning team prior to this year. They are still working out some kinks and some glitches, and hopefully they will get all of their bad stuff out of their system before the final ten races. We should also remember that we expected this to be a team building year for Stewart-Haas racing, and they have gone beyond all expectations. Most of us doubted that Stewart would make the Chase in his first year as a team owner, but those doubts have been dashed, as not only is Stewart in first place for the qualifying season, but his team mate Ryan Newman has a very good chance of making the Chase as well.

Jeff Gordon is boring. There, I said it. Certainly, he and his team have done well to stay in the top three in points throughout the season, but that is expected of the 24 team. We predicted that his fire would be back this season, but it seems to be smoldering. We also predicted that he would win the championship this year, which he still could very well do, but not while he is content with finishing in the top ten every race. Not when he is competing against the likes of Stewart and Johnson. He could step it up during the final ten races, and we hope he does. I have to say, however, that if he was not already locked into the Chase, I would rather see a more exciting driver in the final twelve.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr won't make the Chase, but we have seen some improvement since Lance McGrew came on board as his crew chief. It was fun watching him race with everything going good for him at Atlanta. Nobody rides the rim so close to the outside fence as well and skillfully as Earnhardt does, and it was fun to watch him do so at Atlanta. If he and his team continue to improve, we could see him back as a contender next year.

Atlanta showed us that these new cars can race wheel to wheel on an intermediate track, and they can race for the lead on the track, under green flag conditions. That was probably the best race we have seen on an intermediate track this year, as the Sprint Cup car is coming into its own. I have a feeling the performance of the car will continue to improve, and soon we will forget all about the aero cars. The only problem is parity. As predicted, the parity built into the CoT, CORN, or Sprint Cup Car (whichever one choses to call it), has resulted in separating the good drivers from the mediocre. There are no tweaks a crew chief could make to give Reed Sorenson or Elliott Sadler a chance to compete with a Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, or Jimmie Johnson.

Speaking of Reed Sorenson or Elliott Sadler, Richard Petty Motorsports will be merging with Yates Racing next year. As the tentative drivers' roster implies, the drivers for Petty-Yates will be Sadler, Kahne, Allmendinger, and Menard in Yates powered Fords, and Sorenson will be looking for a ride. This means that Kahne, who was a Ford man before he was a Dodge man, will be back in Ford, Sadler has an excellent lawyer, Allmendinger will get another chance to rise in the ranks with yet another manufacturer, and Menard's daddy is a great sponsor. We will think positively about Sorenson, who would be an excellent replacement for Brad Keselowski at JRM in the Nationwide Series, and we think that this would be an excellent opportunity for him to get that Nationwide Series Championship that so narrowly eluded him a few years ago.

Kahne, we might remember, was the subject of a lawsuit by Ford regarding his contract as a Ford driver, when he first went to Evernham as a Dodge driver. The merger also means that he will have driven for four different Cup Series teams without making a move from one team to another.

Sadler, we may remember, drove for Yates before he drove for Evernham. The number 44, driven by AJ Allmendinger, was once a Yates car number, and will be again. Ironic how things turn full circle, isn't it?

We can't close without remarking on the excellent finish at Bristol a few weeks ago. We got to see two excellent drivers race each other for the win, in a clean but intense battle. Mark Martin is a class act, and races the way he gets raced. If you race him clean, he will race you clean. So shame on those fans who would have rather seen a wreck at the end of the race than the exciting wheel to wheel racing it was.

One more thing. I will be keeping the double file restart poll up until the end of the season, so we can see every instance of the restart at every type of track. I do believe I have the poll set up so you can vote as many times as you like. I will think of an additional poll to put up in the meantime, possibly about the NASCAR wives. The criteria for this poll will include more than being eye candy, as in how involved the wife is in the driver's career. However, there will be a slot marked "other" so you can write in your favorite eye candy wife. Eva and Nicole will be included because of their near cat fight in the pits a couple of seasons ago.

Until I get a chance to get on line again, enjoy the races!

On Type Delay: Infinion (Sears Point)

My good friend Debbie once told me that, back in 1996, while PPIR was under construction, she snuck her Kia into the facility and ran a few laps around the track. I believed her, because if there was an ultimate NASCAR fan, that was Debbie. When we went to races at Pike's Peak, she would sneak through the gate into the garage area and, once, into the pit area while the race was in progress. She always wanted to be as close to the action as possible. So yeah, if she said she drove her Kia around the track, she probably did.

If I could take a car of my own around any NASCAR track, my choice would be the 1972 Dodge Charger Special Edition R/T I used to have, and the track would be Sears Point (aka Infineon). I imagine the thrill of going up that hill to turn 2, whipping around turn 3a, and leaving my stomach behind as I race down the drop to turn 4 (there are turns 3, 5, and 6, but those bypass turns 4 and 7 and aren't used for NASCAR) . A touch on the brake, downshift, brake downshift and around the 90 degree right turn, then floor it to turn 7. Downshift again, around the sharp turn with the right wheels on the curb to get a straight exit to the esses of turns 8 and 9. Take some G's going around the short turn ten, but don't go in too hot, or you find yourself off the track, like Scott Speed did during qualifying. Another straightaway, then slow wa-a-y down for the 180 degree hairpin of turn 11. A short left turn and then across the start/finish line. What a thrill.

I get a thrill just watching the race. At the drop of the green flag, 43 colorful cars, sometimes going three wide into the first turn, and then trying to get in line before entering the narrow turn two--four stories higher than turn 1--is a sight of great beauty. One has to marvel at the skills of these drivers in avoiding wrecks before the first lap is finished.

The TNT broadcast crew sounded confused most of the time in trying to describe the racing action--probably more the fault of the producers who are constantly talking in their ear than the actual commentators--so I won't make the same mistake by trying to describe the racing action here. Suffice it to say that there is plenty of action on every lap, with cars spinning at one point or another, being pushed off the track by other cars, or just leaving the track on their own.There are cars going three wide where there should only be two, and somehow everybody gets around the track with little more than a few minor dents and dings. Formula 1 and Indy cars can't race like this, so this race is a grand tribute to bumpers and fenders.

The double file restarts, in place of what used to be all single file restarts on road courses, add greatly to the excitement, and we get to see re-creations of the initial green flag after every caution. The lack of the abilities of Webber, Petty, and Dallenbach to call a decent play by play is made up for by the excellent camera work and video technology for which TNT deserves glowing reviews. While watching the race leaders trying to gain advantage around turn four, we can see the trouble cars back in the pack are having back in turn two. It's about as close as one can get to being there while watching on television.

As we get to the meat of the matter, after the final pit stops have been completed and all the fuel strategy is over with, the cream rises to the top, and we get the thrill of seeing the best road course racers NASCAR has to offer compete against each other with no holds barred. Kasey Kahne, who has yet to finish in the top ten on a road course, takes the lead out of the final pit stop. Tony Stewart, who has proven himself a road course ace time after time restarts beside him, on the outside lane. Juan Pablo Montoya, who has proven himself to be of championship caliber on all sorts of tracks this year, is there, as is Jimmie Johnson, who has beaten and banged his way back to the front after a pit road speeding penalty. Denny Hamlin has proven himself a contender on this day by staying in or near the top five during the entire race. And Marcos Ambrose, who started the race in the very last position, has joined the fray.

Kahne gets a great restart, and Stewart has to fight hard to keep his position going around turn two, but he maintains. Montoya is wonderfully aggressive as he pokes the nose of his car under Johnson's and takes third. But Ambrose is just as aggressive, and looks very much like he is out to win. While we are watching this excellent road course racing, we get comic relief from the booth bunnies with a dialogue that could have come from a Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers comic book.

"Jimmie Johnson is the cleanest driver in NASCAR"
"Yeah, he's clean."
"Real clean."
"Clean"
"He almost wrecked Ambrose, but that was clean"
"Yeah, it was clean."
"Yeah, the cleanest driver in NASCAR."

I don't think they even believed what they were saying, but apparently the TNT producers don't want the defending champ to be portrayed as someone who would do anything he can to win a race.

Another caution and another restart. Kahne prevails against Stewart again. Further back in the pack, Boris Said is acting like a spoiled brat throwing a temper tantrum, and wrecking any car that comes near him. It's Captain Saidhead, the Avenger of the Smashed Guitar, as he takes out Kyle Busch.

Caution again and yet another opportunity for one of those great double file restarts. Kahne once again beats Stewart through turn two, and Stewart once again has to hold off the determined Juan Pablo Montoya, and Montoya has the hard driving Aussie to contend with as Ambrose eventually takes third place from him. Kahne, who isn't known as a road course racer is having no trouble keeping the lead. The Freak Brothers note that both Kahne and Stewart were USAC dirt track aces, and therefore have no problem sliding around on old tires. They are, indeed, having the time of their lives, and Ambrose can match their speed, but can't catch them. Near the back of the field, Said takes out some more cars and we will have a green/white/checker finish, with yet another double file restart. Kahne gets the jump, Stewart maintains second. With less than two laps to go, three cars spin near the back of the pack, but if they can get moving again a caution can be avoided. They get moving, and Kahne takes the white flag. Stewart has nothing for Kahne, and Ambrose can do nothing but hold third place, so Kasey Kahne wins, and gains the first victory for a team bearing Richard Petty's name in ten years.

It is a great day for Kasey Kahne, a great day for Dodge--who can't and doesn't have to pay the support fees that allow the use of their name--and a great day for Richard Petty Motorsports, who recently had to lay off over a hundred employees due to lack of support fees from Dodge. I guess it was a good day for the comedy writers who run the production booth, as well, because we have never before heard such inane commentary.

NASCAR Cup only has two road course races on its schedule, but we have to say that the Cup Series provides us with the finest road course racing in motorsports. We got to see some of that at Infineon, Sunday, and we hope to see more in a few weeks at Watkins Glen. The double file restarts added even more to the excitement, and we have to say that we believe that is absolutely the best rule change NASCAR has made in recent years.

On to New Hampshire.

Live on Type Delay: The Aaron's 499

Love it or not, restrictor-plate racing is here to stay. Certainly, we don't see the racing at Talladega as being the same thing as we see at the 1.5 mile intermediate tracks, which isn't the same as what we see at the short tracks, which isn't the same as we see on road courses, which isn't the same as we see at Talladega and Daytona (thank-you "Scooters" Scooters, by the way, is no relation to Digger).

Indeed, to many of us mashing the pedal and waiting for something to happen isn't even what many of us consider racing. It really is racing, however, of the sort that requires a different set of skills from both the drivers and their teams, and in that sense, it is a facet in the myriad of accomplishments the drivers and their teams have to master in order to be the best at what they do.

What we can usually expect is anything. The restrictor-plates cause the cars to run at nearly 200 mph while only inches apart. The slightest driver error, the most minute mechanical fail, or any other element that could cause the car to get out of line could result in a very big wreck.

Note, to save time for those who may not want to read the entire post, there is some text in bold script to mark the highlights.

The green flag waves, and Juan Pablo Montoya leads the field to the start. Before the first lap is complete the cars are going three wide as they form lines. Montoya leads the first lap with his team mate Martin Truex, Jr. in his draft. Dale Earnhardt, Jr takes the lead on lap 5, with drafting help from Denny Hamlin. Then, on lap 8, shortly after Montoya has retaken the lead, only to be passed by David Ragan, that wreck we mentioned before the race started happens.

Jeff Gordon tries to move down to avoid David Gilliland, who is making a fourth lane on the outside. At the same time Matt Kenseth is moving up to avoid a car that is moving up on his inside. The two make contact, and many, many cars are unable to avoid the accident.

Gordon, Gilliland, Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, AJ Allmendinger, Scott Riggs, Brian Vickers, Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray, and Casey Mears are all involved in the wreck. We think that Digger may possibly have been a casualty, as we haven't seen him yet. No matter, there have to be a lot of fans out there who are as disappointed and frusterated as the drivers with the "Big One" happening so early in the race.

The race restarts on lap 14. Some of the cars that were involved in the wreck were able to make some repairs during the caution and join the restart. Because of the nature of the type of racing, where the lead and the top five positions are usually in a constant state of flux, it is almost pointless to list the top five at the green, but Joey Logano is on the point. He is soon overtaken by Martin Truex, Jr., who is overtaken by Juan Montoya on lap 18, who is overtaken by Kurt Busch--who was, remember, involved in that wreck. Denny Hamlin takes the lead on lap 20.

It's futile to try to keep up with the lead changes and try to watch the race, so while Live on Type Delay tries to catch up with the action, we will try to stick with the most significant events.

Jeff Burton leads on lap 24, and then reports alternator problems, and Kurt Busch retakes the lead on lap 27, and we get a caution for debris on lap 28. Kyle Busch takes the lead out of the pits and the restart is on lap 34, with Elliott Sadler in second, Michael Waltrip third, Matt Kenseth--another crash survivor--in fourth, and Martin Truex, Jr in fifth.

Lap 42 features a heroic and terrific save by Michael Waltrip, as he cuts in front of Marcos Ambrose, who taps Waltrip's behind in a show of man love for his team mate and boss. Waltrip misses the outside wall, then shoots into the infield and misses the inside wall as well. With a show of some uncharacteristically great driving, Waltrip hits nothing, and his car comes out unscathed.

On lap 46 Kyle Busch leads the field at the restart, followed by Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, Casey Mears--who recovered nicely from the Big One--and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Jeff Burton's crew changed his alternator, and he is scored two laps down. Joonyer takes the lead on lap 48, and Matt Kenseth takes the lead on lap 50. Kevin Harvick returned to the race on lap 49, but returns to the pits on lap 54, being unable to maintain a reasonable speed. Dale Jr retakes the lead on lap 53, and by lap 57 everyone has settled into single file behind him. That relatively safe condition lasts only a short while, however, as Kurt Busch loses control and takes an excursion through the infield that is very similar to the one taken by Waltrip earlier. The caution flies on lap 60.

The restart is on lap 64, with Martin Truex, Jr leading, Sadler second, Dale Jr third, and Kyle Busch fourth. Those four cars break away from the field, and the field is mostly single file. Hamlin and Kenthis--DW has taken elocution lessons from Rusty Wallace, and has learned not to call Matt Kenseth "Kensis"--form a line of four cars on the inside.

Hamlin takes the lead on lap 75, then loses it as Montoya moves out of his draft, and gets bumped to the lead by Dale Earnhardt, Jr on lap 77. Earnhardt, Hamlin, and Montoya all trade the lead,.with Hamlin prevailing on lap 80. On lap 82, while the field is going four wide, Dale Jr and Brad Keselowski avoid disaster, as both fall below the yellow line, trying to avoid each other. Jr makes it back in the same general position he held, but Keselowski falls to the rear of the pack. On lap 83 Sam "How 'Bout That?" Hornish takes the lead. How 'bout that?

On lap 86, there is a caution for debris on the backstretch. Paul Menard takes the lead by staying out while everyone else pits, and leads the restart on lap 88. He is followed by Denny Hamlin, Elliott Sadler, Joey Logano, and David Reutimann. Hamlin takes the lead on the next lap.

At the halfway point, things have settled down a bit. Jeff Burton got the free pass on the last caution and is now only one lap down. Since he is the only car one lap down, the next caution will put him back on the lead lap. On lap 103 the top five are Hamlin, Reutimann, Stremme, Vickers, and Sorenson. There are 33 cars on the lead lap, with Carl Edwards and John Andretti bringing up the rear of the field. 49 laps back, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon are racing for the 37th position.

On lap 111, the inside line is formed by Dale Jr, Jeff Burton, and Matt Kensis, Kenthis, or Kenseth. Jr takes the lead with Burton in his draft. They gain a gap on the rest of the field. On lap 114, disaster is narrowly avoided by Reed Sorenson as he cuts a tire and makes it safely to the pits, with no accidents and no caution. Martin Truex, Jr takes the lead. Joey Logano momentarily takes the lead on lap 117, but Truex gets it back. Vickers gets the lead on lap 121, and it looks like we may have a green flag pit cycle for the first time in the race. Caution on lap 124, and Burton is back on the lead lap. He raced his way back to that lap, so Paul Menard gets a lap back.

Kyle Busch gets out of the pits ahead of Jimmie Johnson, while Carl Edwards leads a lap by staying out. Jeremy Mayfield also stays out and is in second. Hey, we almost forgot the #41 car was in the race, but there he is and he has stayed on the lead lap the entire time, so far. Those guys pit, and on lap 127, Kyle Busch leads the field at the restart, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex, Jr, Dale Earnhardt, Jr, and Brian Vickers.

Man it is fun to watch The Most Hated Driver in the lead at a restrictor plate race. He is constantly moving up and down the track to keep the others behind him. Then they settle into three wide. Michael Waltrip has made it into fifth. Kyle Busch is on the inside line, and Denny Hamlin is on the outside, with David Ragan in the middle. Busch thrills us with some more three-wide driving, and Keselowski pushes Elliott Sadler into the lead on lap 134. That three wide racing that Kyle Busch does by himself never seems to work out well in the long run. At some point, he has to let someone by, as he is elsewhere.

Kurt Busch takes the lead on lap 137, Denny Hamlin on lap 140, Casey Mears on lap 141. Jeff Burton--who, remember, was three laps down after electrical problems--takes the lead on lap 143, with help from Dale Jr, then Jr passes him in the middle and takes the lead. Kurt Busch momentarily takes the lead, but Jr gets it back as a caution for debris flies on lap 146.

During what could be "The Money Stop," there were several different strategies in play. The restart is on lap 150, with Kurt Busch in the lead, Sam Hornish, Jr. second, Casey Mears third, Montoya fourth, and--check this out--Da Biff is fifth.

On lap 151, Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr move the inside line from mid-pack to the front, and on lap 154, Dale Earnhardt, Jr pushes Kyle Busch to the lead. Did you see that, Junior Nation? Don't panic, Jr knows what he is doing.

On lap 157, as if to let the tension and expectations grow slowly, the entire field is in single file. The top five is Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt, Jr, Jimmie Johnson, and Brian Vickers.

Kenseth is making a move on lap 168, on the inside, with Dale Earnhardt, Jr in his draft. He takes the lead on lap 169, then Kyle gets it back, much to his detriment. You know how Jeff Burton would never spin someone on purpose? Kyle must have really made him mad, as he spins from a bump by Burton. It took a long time for him to spin--he almost saved it, while Truex spun while the cars in front of him checked up, but, Busch finally spun out in turn three, bringing out the caution on lap 172.

Kenseth leads the restart on lap 175, with Earnhardt, Jr second, Burton third, Kurt Busch fourth, and Joey Logano. On lap 177, Denny Hamlin pushes Ryan Newman to the front of the field. They speed into the lead, and build a gap. As we know, gaps close quickly in restrictor plate racing.

Just when you think things might be over, it isn't. In the fashion of a classic horror film, action in the midfield of the pack results in Denny Hamlin making contact with Juan Montoya, Montoya making contact with Robby Gordon, and the Big One--Part Deaux happens. Jimmie Johnson's car is one of the ones that gets taken out of the race because of the wreck. "It sucks racing here," the disappointed reigning champion declares. For him, certainly, he had a chance to take the points lead, and that chance got brutally taken away.

The most important restart in the race comes with four laps to go. We have to stop typing to watch. We will stop to groan as Tony Stewart's #14 car, trying to restart in eighth, fails to restart.

With two laps to go, it is almost exactly like the finish of yesterday's race, with Newman leading and Jr pushing him around the track. But on turn one of the white flag lap, Carl Edwards, with Brad Keselowski's help takes the lead on the outside. Newman and Jr can't catch them. Going into the tri-oval, Keselowski fakes to the outside, and Edwards moves up to block. Keselowski takes the inside, and is moving forward as Edwards tries to come back to the inside. Keselowski is already there, and Edwards makes contact with the '09 car with his left rear quarter panel. This sends Edwards spinning and airborne. The flying #99 car flies across the hood of Newman's car, taking all the body work off the front of the #39. Edwards car hits the catchfence, spewing debris in all directions, and falls back to the track.

Thankfully, Edwards isn't hurt, and he gets out of his car and runs across the finish line to finish the race. But Keselowski is the winner, the eighth driver in NASCAR history to get his first career victory at Talladega.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr finished second, after an incredibly good race, and Newman managed to get his wrecked car across the finish line in third. Marcos Ambrose finished fourth, and Scott Speed got his first Sprint Cup top five finish in fifth. Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers, Joey Logano, and Jeff Burton round out the top ten.

Kyle Busch negates any good will he may have gained recently by bumping Keselowski while he is performing his victory celebration. He couldn't find Jeff Burton, so he went for the first black painted car he could find. Actually, according to the Fox Sports Booth Bunnies, Keselowski drove up to Kyle's car in celebration and got bumped. I was busy typing, and didn't see what happened, so I will leave it up to the reader to decide what happened, if it is really that important.

This was truley a unique race with an amazing finish. There was no way we could have guessed the outcome of the race until the final 100 feet. Wow.

Update: Reports are that 8 fans in the grandstands were injured by flying debris, but none were seriously injured.

Kyle Busch was minding his own business on the cool down lap, when the victorious Keselowski spun into him while doing donuts.

And Digger seems to be okay.

Live on Type Delay: The O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 KM(Phoenix)

Pre-race thoughts: Dale Jr is sporting a nice beard. Although it is neatly trimmed, it doesn't seem to fit the Hendrick dress code. I wonder if Rick is going to make Junior hit the floor and give him fifty for appearing on television like that.

Not to belittle Jimmie Johnson's racing skills--he is a very good driver--but why haven't we heard Carl Edwards say, "A monkey could win in that (#48) car?"

I have a lot of respect for Jimmie Johnson, but what if he didn't have Chad Knaus as his crew chief? He makes a lot of mistakes, and often gets himself into accidents, penalties, and other situations that would keep other drivers out of a good finish. Knaus and the team 48 pit crew invariably make up for those mistakes. My guess is that Hideo Fukyama would be a household name if he had had Knaus as a crew chief.

Eddie Haskell Mr. Phony Carl Edwards is an exceptional driver, whether he's driving a Sprint Cup car, a Nationwide Series car, or a CTS truck. He's old school in the way he man-handles a car throughout the entire race, and he apparently is very good at saving fuel. Obviously, he is not one of my favorite drivers, but I hope the points race between between him and Jimmie Johnson tightens up after this race. I would rather see Johnson as the champion than Edwards, but what I'm really hoping for is that both of them have bad finishes this race, and Greg Biffle gets into the mix at Homestead, making it a three-way race for the Championship.

Just my thoughts, as deranged as they might be.

Jimmie Johnson drops to the bottom at the wave of the green flag, but Jamie McMurray gets around in turns three and four and leads the first lap. There is already a lot of action this early in the race, as Carl Edwards tries to advance his position from his fifteenth place start. But the cars are bunched up three-wide back there, and Edwards has to let up some.

Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex, Jr make contact with each other and the wall on lap sixteen, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of damage, and there is no caution, then, on lap twenty, Sam Hornish Jr and Elliott Sadler get into each other, causing minimal damage to the cars, but their spinning causes enough of a potential hazard that the first caution flag flies. Everyone pits.

Restart on lap 26, with Kurt Busch first, and the top five positions immediately get mixed up as everybody tries to gain the lead. Martin Truex, Jr's engine is seriously overheating and he has to go back into the pits, with a stalled engine. Truex seems to be out of the race as they take the car to the garage.

On lap thirty, Brian Vickers has the right front tire go down, and slams into the wall, bringing out the second caution. Kurt Busch was in the lead, Jimmie Johnson second, Ryan Newman third, Jamie McMurray fourth, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr is fifth. Nobody in the front of the field pits.

Restart on lap 36 and an immediate caution for debris. Then it starts raining, but just a sprinkling of drops. The race remains under caution, but the cars stay on the track and count off laps. Jet driers are also making laps. Now, on lap 43 we get a red flag.

If you have ever lived in the Southwest United States, especially the dryer areas, you would know that "20% chance of rain" means that it's going to rain.

Only Matt Kenseth has the kind of luck that would get him a flat tire under a red flag. He was in twentieth, but will have to restart in the back, after he pits under caution to change the tires.

The race restarts on lap 46. Johnson quickly tries to take the lead, but Dirty Kurty holds the top position. Again, lots of hard racing all around the track. Kyle Busch uses the top line to move into the top seven. Hamlin is racing Earnhardt hard to get into the top five, but Earnhardt is also moving up. Edwards is still trying to make progress, but the traffic is terrible. Kevin Harvick, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Tony Stewart are all up there around the 99 car.

Meanwhile, the relative positions in the top five are changing constantly. Earnhardt, Jr moves up into fourth, Newman falls back, as Hamlin also gains position. But Jeff Gordon is in the mix, and he ends up in fifth, as Newman drops to sixth. On lap 75, the running order is Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray, Dale Earnhardt, Jr, and Jeff Gordon in that order in the top five. Newman falls way back as he has a tire going down, or suspension problems, or both.

On lap 79, Johnson is able to catch Dirty Kurty Busch and is challenging for the lead. As we know, Dirty Kurty is very hard to pass, especially while he is in the lead. Johnson tries the inside, but can't get by. He tries the outside, and can't make it stick. Finally, on lap 82, he gets around the outside and takes the lead. McMurray has caught up to the front two and is looking to take second place. Dirty Kurty won't give up second very easily, either. There should be green flag pit stops coming up soon. That is always fun at Phoenix.

McMurray moved into second during the commercial. I had to turn off the radio, because the interference was really bad. I wish we had an FM station here to pick up the MRN and PRN broadcasts. One of our local Classic Rock stations has a big sponsorship from a NASCAR sports bar, and does a lot of NASCAR promotion, so I would hope they get the MRN/PRN contracts soon. I know a music station wouldn't normally carry sports, but this one is already carrying the Colorado College Hockey radio broadcasts, so a NASCAR race every week wouldn't hurt.

Green flag pit stops begin on lap 98. The top five are pitting on laps 100 through 103. Everyone is taking four tires. Travis Kvapil leads a lap while the leaders pit. Mark Martin has to come back into the pits for a missing lug nut. Remember, this is under green, so that has to hurt. Greg Biffle, who started in the back for a transmission change, leads a lap while pit stops continue. Biffle is out of sequence from the other leaders, as he pitted on lap 44. He pits on lap 109. Johnson retains the lead. Newman ground down the front sway bar, while he was making laps on a left front tire that was very low in air pressure, so he is back in the pits while his team tries to repair the damage.

After the green flag pit stops cycle through, it's Johnson, McMurray, Earnhardt, Jr, Jeff Gordon, and Kurt Busch in the top five. Carl Edwards has made it into tenth place. All the Hendrick cars are in the top six, as Casey Mears is running in sixth. Hamlin is still in seventh. There are 21 cars on the lead lap.

On lap 126, Kevin Harvick is running in eighth, and Carl Edwards has moved up to ninth, while Kasey Kahne fills out the top ten. Now Kyle Busch moves into tenth.

Caution on lap 141 for debris. The leaders all pit on lap 143, and Johnson leads, Dale Jr is second, Jeff Gordon is third, Jamie McMurray is fourth, and Dirty Kurty is fifth. The rest of the top ten is as last reported. Kyle Busch passes Edwards for ninth, shortly after the restart on lap 153. Greg Biffle is running twelfth, Tony Stewart is thirteenth, and Jeff Burton is fourteenth.

On lap 160, they are showing the view through the windshield of Jeff Burton's #31 car, and it looks just like Martinsville. That is how rough the racing is between tenth and fourteenth positions. We have a good race going between Carl and Kyle, and should we expect less? That would be a fun one to watch.

I'm getting a kick out of that new NAPA commercial with Michael Waltrip and Ron Capps. Capps isn't used to having to work for fifteen seconds. That, according to the commercial, is three times as long as his normal "five second work day." Funny! Ron Capps is one of the superstars of the NHRA drag racing series, for those who don't know.

Jeff Gordon reported something wrong with his engine earlier in the race, and on lap 173, he starts dropping back, as he has lost a cylinder. Tim Brewer gets to talk about broken valve springs for the first time since last year. I bet he is having a flashback. Last year, he got to talk about broken valve springs and bent valves every ten minutes.

Things have finally settled down back beyond ninth place, by lap 190. Tony Stewart is in tenth, Kyle Busch in eleventh, and Jeff Burton is in twelfth. Jeff Gordon has fallen back to seventeenth. Casey Mears is now in fifth place, Denny Hamlin is sixth, Kevin Harvick is seventh, Edwards is eighth, and Biffle is ninth.

Edwards finally gets around Kevin Harvick on lap 220, for seventh, just before a caution comes out for debris. All the lead lap cars pit. In Jimmie Johnson's pit, a tire carrier fumbles with tape he was going to add to the grill of Johnson's car, and the 48 team loses first place to Jamie McMurray, who beats Johnson out of the pits. Restart with 94 laps to go, and McMurray does not hold on to first place long at all. Johnson takes that position almost immediately. That was a pretty move. This time the driver saved the pit crew, rather than the usual other way around.

Uh-oh, Steve Letarte said "valve train." I guess that means we have to hear from Tim Brewer again? Maybe not. ESPN/ABC has shown some improvement over last year.

Jamie Little reports that Tony Stewart said he would vote for David Ragan as Driver of the Year, if he had a vote. Last year, Stewart accurately called Ragan "a dart without feathers." Driver of the Year would be a good call as well, because David Ragan has made that much improvement in one year.

I missed it somewhere, but McMurray lost second to Dirty Kurty somewhere, and now Dale Earnhardt, Jr is taking third from McMurray. Caution for debris with 51 laps to go and this will be the money stop. I actually wrote that before the guys on TV said it.

Johnson maintains the lead, coming off of pit road, and Carl Edwards moves up three positions into fourth place. I think Dirty Kurty is back in second place. Jamie McMurray is third, and Harvick will restart in fifth. Earnhardt, Jr lost several positions in the pits and will restart in sixth. Great save by Casey Mears in ninth position, as he nearly hits the wall. Hamlin makes a great move and gets into sixth, and Earnhardt gets to fifth. Harvick falls back to seventh. Jeff Gordon's engine lets go with 42 laps to go, and though there is a lot of smoke, the race stays green.

Big wreck. Casey Mears goes around, and all these other cars get involved, in the dog-leg on the back stretch. Johnny Sauter, Scott Speed. Scott Riggs, and David Gilliland are some of the other cars involved. The rear wheels of Gilliland's car ended up on the hood of Scott Speed's car. I want a picture of that. Marcos Ambrose was also involved while the traffic was trying to slow down. Red flag to clear up the wreckage. 39 laps to go in the race.

Maybe the Awesome Wreckage blog will have some good video of that wreck.

As the cars restart, Tony Stewart's #20 car had trouble starting. His fellow Hoosier and next year's team mate, Ryan Newman, gives him a push start, but he will restart in 17th. Caution with 28 laps to go, and Johnson stays out, but several cars pit for tires. The restart will see Johnson in first Kurt Busch in second, Jamie McMurray in third, Edwards in fourth, and Earnhardt Jr in fifth. Restart with 24 laps to go.

Kurt Busch gets right on the bumper of the 48 car at the restart, and Mark Martin looks like he is racing to get back on the lead lap. Another caution for debris with 21 laps to go.

It looks like everyone will stay out this time. They are showing videos of some of the action just before the caution, and I have to say, if anyone could get Jeff Burton mad, other than Kyle Busch, it would have to be Paul Menard. Yup.

Restart with fifteen laps to go, and Jimmie Johnson just takes off, and makes a big cushion between himself and second place Dirty Kurty Busch. McMurray is still in third, with Carl Edwards on his bumper, Dale Earnhardt, Jr is hanging in there in fifth. Now Harvick is racing The Bearded One for fifth, and he is going into the turns hot. So has Tony Stewart, and Allmendinger tries to get under Matt Kenseth, as Stewart is trying to get around the #17 on the outside. There is no room inside of Kenseth, so Allmendinger hits Kenseth, who hits Stewart, who spins and stalls. Stewart can't get his car restarted and goes a lap down. Allmendinger takes responsibility and feels terrible, according to his radio chatter. He ought to feel bad.

After all that mess It will be a green/white/checkered restart. Johnson is first, Kurt Busch second, McMurray third. After all that hard racing for fifth, Carl Edwards comes out of the mess in fourth, and Dale Jr is still fifth. Kevin Harvick is sixth. Kurt Busch makes a move to the inside of Johnson at the restart, but doesn't quite make it. Still racing hard on the white flag lap. He tries the outside and misses, but this race is going right down to the finish line. Johnson wins, Busch is second, McMurray third, Edwards fourth, Hamlin fifth, Earnhardt, Jr six, and it seems that everybody behind them wrecks. Matt Kenseth got some payback against the #10 car to remind AJ Allmendinger that he should feel terrible, and everyone gets caught up in the wreck.

This was another fun race, even though Johnson dominated. Dirty Kurty always throws some excitement into the mix when he is racing for first, or any position for that matter. There was no lack of action, except during the red flag. Although I feel bad for Matt Kenseth and my favorite driver, who has now fallen back to twelfth in points, I feel bad for AJ Allmendinger as well, because he knew it was a boneheaded move, but every driver out there has made that same mistake at one time or another.

Still one race to go, and I already know my NASCAR withdrawal this off-season is going to make for a difficult winter.

Jack's House

I will take back what I wrote about bad luck not sticking to my favorite driver. It seems like it has. Hopefully, that won't happen this weekend, as Tony Stewart has pledged his winnings from Michigan International Speedway to the Red Cross for flood relief efforts in the Midwest.

But let's not make this post about Smoke. Instead let's talk about The Guy who, from all reports, should win the Life Lock 400, Sunday. That would be Carl Edwards.

If Lowe's Motor Speedway is, or has been, The House of Hendrick, then MIS would be the House of Roush. The Roush-Yates engines seem to be custom designed for the 2 mile intermediate class track, and, as he did at the most recent MIS race, and at California earlier this year, Edwards should be able to put that engine to good use and dominate the race.

Though MIS is similar to the Auto Club Speedway, in Fontana, CA, there are some major differences in the characteristics. ACS isn't a multiple groove track like MIS, and passing is much harder at California than it is at Michigan. This should actually work to Edward's advantage, as he is a driver who will find the best line for his techniques, and there are many more choices for him at MIS than at California.

If it isn't a backflip we see in victory celebration Sunday, it could be the competition winning burn out by Greg Biffle. He has been very strong this season, often just a breath or a lugnut away from victory. Matt Kenseth has been strong as well, with four top ten finishes in the last four races. He could easily enter the top twelve this weekend, while only a month ago, many writers and bloggers were willing to give up hope of Matt The Bratt making it into the Chase. Nor can we rule out David Ragan who seems to be on the verge of racking up his first win. These are all Roush-Fenway teams, and they all have excellent records at MIS.

If, by some weird act of Fate it isn't a Roush-Fenway car that wins Sunday, we should look at the Dodges, particularly those of Gillett-Evernham Motorsports and Penske Racing. You may remember way back to Speedweeks last February, when Jack Roush waved around numbers from dyno testing of the different manufacturers' cars and claimed that the Toyotas had more horsepower than Ford or Chevy. Ryan Newman looked at the numbers and said, "we've got that kind of horsepower," then figuratively clapped his hand over his mouth, thinking, "Was I supposed to say that?"

While Roush complained about unfair advantage, and the Chevy teams said "we have more work to do," Newman and his Dodge won the Daytona 500. NASCAR, incidentally, denied that any team had a significant horsepower advantage over another.

Horsepower advantage or not, Kasey Kahne and the GEM #9 team have been on a roll since winning the All Star race, and he is liking Victory Lane. There is no reason to believe that he won't run well again Sunday. The Dodge teams hold their cards close to their chests and we don't hear much from them during practice and qualifying, but, somehow, that seems to mean they have something to show the other teams.

Before we close, and just for fun, let's have an imaginary shoot-out between Carl Edwards and the driver who I think is the most similar in terms of talent and technique, Denny Hamlin. Twenty laps at O'Reilly Motorsports Park, Edwards and Hamlin in identically prepared cars, and racing one on one.

Both drivers like to find a line where they feel most comfortable and stick to it. Edwards is slightly better at car control than Hamlin, but Hamlin is just a wee bit gutsier going into the turns. Both drivers like to slide around the corners to give themselves the straightest route for exiting the turns. Carl Edwards is barely more popular than Kyle Busch, by one or two fans, while Hamlin is slightly less popular, which is hard to do since Busch has only eleven or twelve fans (counting me).

Both Edwards and Hamlin have a reputation of acting out their tempers, and both have been known to use their cars as retaliatory weapons. With that in mind we begin our fantasy shootout.

Edwards takes an early lead, but Hamlin follows Edwards closely and matches the exact line Edwards is taking. Around lap ten Hamlin tries to go around Edwards on the outside of turn 2, but Edwards moves up to block him, giving Hamlin the inside at turn 3. Edwards moves down, but Hamlin gets him lose and completes the pass. Edwards retaliates and bumps Hamlin hard in turn 1. Hamlin moves up the track, and as Edwards gets along side him, Hamlin smashes his car into Edwards' right-side door panel. Edwards gets even angrier and smashes back. This goes on for another lap or two, with the anger of both drivers escalating. By lap fourteen, each is more intent on wrecking the other than in winning the race, and, finally, they hit each other so hard they both wreck. Nobody wins. The moral? Don't let your anger get the best of you.

"Live" on type delay: The Coca-Cola 600

The opening ceremonies were fitting for Memorial day salute, including "The Lord's Prayer," "Amazing Grace," The Pledge of Allegiance, and Taps, as well as the National Anthem and the flyover. It was inspiring, humbling, and very respectful of those who have sacrificed much for our country. God Bless the troops, and Hold those who have given their lives for our country. Amen.

Kyle Busch holds the pole position, and immediately gains five car lengths on the field. That has come to be expected.

Lap three is early for racing in a 600 mile race, but already Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers, and Dale Jr are racing for position. We have to wonder if these cars going all out this early in the race will make it 400 laps.

By lap nine, Tony Stewart, who started thirty first has moved up to twentieth. That too, can be expected, as Smoke ran second fastest at final practice, and we know his car has something for this race.

Lap 25, and everybody has settled down, so it looks like the opening laps of a 600 mile race. By lap 34, Brian Vickers has caught Kyle Busch, but Busch is reporting ignition or engine problems. Still, Vickers has to make a very daring move to get in front of Kyle, and, though Kyle soon drops back to third place, he has changed the ignition box and seems to be holding that position. Then it seems he hasn't after all, and has dropped back to sixth, being passed by Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Dale Jr, and Jeff Burton

We have some racing going on on lap 48 as Number 48 driven by Jimmie Johnson, takes the lead, closely followed by Kurt Busch. Green flag pit stop cycle begins on lap 49. The pit stops cycle through to lap 54, and Johnson prevails as the leader. Now, it is still early to predict the outcome, but the 48 team seems like it is once again at home at Lowe's.

There may be some fans who have already given this up as too boring. There have been no cautions, no-one has wrecked, and the leaders have already passed several cars. But this is a long race, and this is a point in the race where this is expected. Besides, Dale Jr is in second, and Brian Vickers is in third, so the potential for a race is there. Robby Gordon hits the wall on lap 62 or 63, and the caution comes out for the first time in the race.

This commercial makes me feel proud. It is Budweiser's "Thank You" commercial we have seen on the internet, making its debut on television for Memorial Day. Military men and women are given a standing ovation as they come home through the airport. I love it.

After another round of pit stops during cautions, Johnson leads, and Kurt Busch is in second. Kurt takes the lead on lap 67, shortly after the restart. On lap 68, Dale Jr and Kyle Busch both pass Johnson, and now Jr is in second and Kyle Busch in third.

Lap 75 and there is a battle for second between Kyle Busch and Dale Jr, This is what the fans want to see. "Come on Jr, the fans yell, give him what he deserves!" But Jr is not a dummy, and he gives Kyle the outside and lets him take second. Maybe Kurt and Kyle will tangle again, because on lap 80. Kyle is catching his brother, and they will soon battle for the lead. What a great time for a commercial. During the commercial, Dale Jr regains third place from Kyle, because Brian Vickers has taken second. We really miss our PRN radio play by play here. It would have been fun to see that race, or, at least, hear about it. Now, during the next commercial, Jr has retaken second. Jr does have a good car, as he is about to catch the leader. There was a caution on lap 83, by the way, from Robby Gordon hitting the wall by himself.

Green flag pit stops begin on lap 108, and it looks like Carl Edwards is moving toward the front. It seems that in the past ten minutes we have had six minutes of commercials. Here comes another one. Oh well, Fox Sports does expect a return on their investment. I have to get coffee. The commercials are about to put me to sleep.

Green flag pit stops continue as we return to the action, and on lap 119 Jr pits and has problems. His team can't get the lug nuts off of the right front, and the 88 team loses ten seconds.There is some excitement on pit road as Kurt Busch starts a fire as he leaves his pit. No biggie, the fire is quickly extinguished. Everybody seems to take four tires again, and Greg Biffle leads a lap to get his five bonus points. After the pit stops cycle through, Brian Vickers is in first, and Kurt Busch is in second, I think, but I can't tell you because it is time for another commercial.

During the commercial, on lap 129, Kurt Busch has retaken the lead. Jimmie Johnson is in third, Kyle Busch is in fourth. By lap 136, Jr has regained fifth place, and Kyle Busch is in third place. Brian Vickers is racing Kurt Busch for the lead. It is a fairly hard fought battle, and Vickers prevails. What a comeback for Jr though!

Lap 150 and Kyle Busch has to pit out of third place, saying he feels he has a tire down. The news has come out on lap 156 tells us that Kyle's problem is more than a soft tire. The handling on the #18 car has gone away.

The good news is that my local AM radio station that carries PRN is coming in good, the bad news is that they have commercials the same time as the television broadcast.

During the commercials, Kurt Busch has cut a tire and has to pit. That also brings out a caution. He gets into the pits without too much damage to his car. Brian Vickers restarts the race on lap 166. Almost immediately, Juan Pablo Montoya who has been giving Tony Stewart a lot of grief, and visa versa, spins out after contact with Patrick Carpentier, bringing out another caution. Montoya said it felt like he had a tire going down. so he was already out of control at the time of contact. Mark Martin gets the free pass.

Okay, so I missed "radio remix" and Jeff Hammond on the television broadcast. I much prefer the PRN radio broadcast. The restart will see Brian Vickers in first and Jimmie Johnson in second. Tony Stewart has moved up to thirteenth, in spite of earlier handling problems, and Mark Martin is the last car on the lead lap in twentieth. Dale Jr is in third, Kasey Kahne in fourth, and Carl Edwards is in fifth. David Gilliland and Sam Hornish Jr are battling for the lead spot one lap down, and give the lead cars a little interference.

Jimmie Johnson passes Vickers on lap 184, while Kasey Kahne and Dale Jr battle for third, and both pass Vickers. Jr is about to engage Johnson for the lead while Robby Gordon's car blows up. Still no caution as Vickers loses his right rear tire, while at the same time, David Gilliland loses a wheel as well. Both cars wreck, not with each other, and the fourth caution comes out.

Dale Jr takes gas only on the pit stops, and leaves pit lane in first. Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne also take fuel only. Matt Kenseth's terrible bad luck continues as he is penalized for too fast entering pit road, and has to come back in.

Jr is first, Kasey Kahne is second, Jeff Burton is in third, and Kyle Busch is in fourth. Dave Blaney is in fifth. There are eighteen cars on the lead lap. Tony Stewart has made it up to tenth place. Again, almost immediately after the restart, Michael Mcdowell, at the rear of the field, spins and brings out the fifth caution. Wow. Bobby Labonte gets the free pass.

I suppose the rash of accidents can be due to the fact that the sun has set in Charlotte, and the track conditions are changing. The restart is on lap 196, and Earnhardt, Jr is able to gain an impressive lead right away, as Jeff Gordon fights to maintain his position as the first car one lap down. Dale Earnhardt leads the field by .8 seconds as the race passes the half-way mark. On lap 204, David Reutimann comes out of nowhere and takes fifth from Dave Blaney. Lap 206, Kahne has entered a very exciting battle for the lead. Isn't this ironic: Kahne drives the car that is sponsored by the same sponsor who sponsored Jr's car for seven years. Kahne takes the lead after a fight that looked like it belongs at the end of the race.

Now Tony Stewart has been picking off drivers on his way to the top five. We knew that car would come into its own as the track cooled, and Smoke worked hard to keep the car on the lead lap earlier, to let the handling come to him. Just before the commercials begin, he passes Carl Edwards for seventh.

Lap 220, and Jr is about to catch Kahne again. Jr is almost a second behind Kahne, and two seconds ahead of Kyle Busch. Then, on lap 224, the much anticipated caution for debris comes out, and Jeff Gordon gets the free pass.

How about that stop for the #19 team? Elliott Sadler gains twelve positions by taking fuel only, and takes the lead after pit stops. Dale Earnhardt, Jr is second. Stewart dropped back to tenth, but I think they have done the necessary work on his car, and we will see more of him. Kasey Kahne is third, Jeff Burton in fourth, and David Regan is fifth as the green waves on lap 228. Jr passes Sadler in turn four. David Regan and Kyle Busch are stuck behind lapped traffic, and Jr has a huge lead. Twenty-five car lengths to be exact. but there is still plenty of action going on in the field, and Jeff Burton takes third from Kahne.

Meanwhile, further back, Kyle Busch and David Regan are being held up by Kevin Harvick and JJ Yeley, as those two are still trying to fight for a lucky dog position. Earnhardt now has a three second lead over Burton, who has passed Sadler, and there are commercials on both TV and radio. Yeley brushes the wall on turn 2 of lap 244 and brings out another caution. This puts Kevin Harvick on the lead lap. All the leaders pit. Ryan Newman comes out of the pits first, Kyle Busch is second, Jeff Burton third, and Tony Stewart fourth. Newman did a gas and go to gain twelve positions. Jr comes out in sixth, and, I think, Jimmie Johnson, who also did a gas and go, came out fifth. 154 laps left, and I think things are going to get exciting.

Oops, it turns out that Newman missed his pit and had to give up the lead to pit on the next lap.

Did you see Jr almost wreck Tony? The man has some fire. Kyle Busch is in first and Tony Stewart is in second on lap 252. Jr is now trying to retake second place from Stewart. This is really exciting, much better than we would have thought after the All Star race.

145 to go and Earnhardt, Jr is back in second place, and gaining on Kyle Busch. Here we go! Lap 259 and Jr takes the lead. That was some great racing there; Jr seemed to be less than an inch from the wall as he passed the leader. See, radio is great, we missed this on television.

With 137 laps to go, Stewart is catching up to Kyle Busch who is two seconds behind Jr. As we go into commercials, Kahne is in fourth, and Jeff Burton is in fifth. The commercials give me a chance to give Jr a rave.

Say what you will about him, this Jr guy knows his car, knows the track, and knows how the two will interact. He can make that car do anything he wants it to at this point. I would hate to be the guy who beats Jr tonight, if, in fact, he does get beat. As it stands now, Jr is the class of the field.

Speaking of which, Tony Stewart has taken second place with 119 to go. 118 to go and Jr has a three second lead. This is a nerve wracking time for both Jr and Stewart fans, hoping that nothing goes wrong now. Please, Smoke, when you get there, please race clean. Jr, when Tony gets there, please race clean. Remember, you guys are buddies, right now.

111 laps to go, and Stewart is 2.7 seconds behind Jr, as Jr is lapping more lapped traffic, Kasey Kahne takes third from Kyle Busch. This is the calm before the storm, we feel. 108 laps to go and now Jr is 3.5 seconds ahead of Smoke.

Kyle Busch is going to have to change a battery. He has been going this entire race with electrical troubles, and now his engine is misfiring, due to those problems. He hasn't gone to the pits yet, but changing the batteries takes time that the 18 team can't afford at this time. Now, Jr is about to lap Gordon again. Ohhhh Noooooo!!! Jr hits the wall, Yeley, who is moving up to the outside does not have time to react, and runs into Jr, then spins out. Honestly, I really feel bad for the Dale Earnhardt, Jr fans. I really thought Jr would win tonight. I was really hoping that he would win, just to end that drought. Jr said on the radio, just before the accident that he cut a tire. Wow, again.

At the same time I really feel very, very bad for the Jr fans, I am somewhat nervous because Stewart is now in the lead. Why am I nervous? Stewart has been my favorite driver since the last part of 2001, and I have seen this before. Anything can happen. Especially since all the work that has been going on for the 88 team has been done while keeping Jr on the lead lap, so Jr is still a contender. But then Jr still has to pit again, and does lose a lap. Still bad news for the Jr fans. Then, good news, as the speeding penalty is waived, and Jr gets his lap back. Good luck for Jr fans. This is crazy. I love it!

Kasey Kahne is in second, Jeff Burton third, as Smoke takes the green flag with 95 laps to go. And there is a wreck back in the field as Sorenson and Hamlin have trouble as the cars try to restart. It seems that a slow restart on Stewart's part caused a huge accordion effect. There was no reason for Stewart to brake check the field, as they are saying on the radio, and I really don't think it happened on purpose. Stewart does not restart that way, he is more likely to jump the start than balk the start. Something happened we don't know about.

When they showed the replay of the restart, it looked like Tony just didn't go, and Kasey Kahne forgot that it is the lead car that restarts the race, not the second place car.

Shortly after the restart, Kahne takes the lead, but Stewart doesn't give up the fight, and Jeff Burton enters the battle. Kahne solidly gains the lead as Stewart and Burton race side by side, and Stewart retains second place. With 80 laps to go David Regan has taken third place, and Kasey Kahne has moved over two seconds ahead of Stewart.

With 76 laps to go, Kyle Busch has re-entered the top ten, after changing the battery on his car earlier. Now it seems we have hit another calm before the storm period. Carpentier spins out and brings another caution during the commercial. This happened while the crew on MRN was doing a recap of the season so far--that is how calm things really were, when the accident happened. We will see pit stops. It looks like this will once again be a fuel mileage race, as there are sixty nine laps to go as the teams pit. Johnson and Stewart get fuel only, and Johnson exits the pit line first, with Stewart, who insists his car is coming to him, is second. Kasey Kahne is third, and Elliott Sadler is fourth. Kyle Busch takes two tires and comes off fifth.

Oh noooo again-- the 88 team gets a penalty for stopping outside the pit box.

Good restart. Then caution for metal debris on the front stretch. Johnson was taking off, because AJ Allmendinger cut off Tony Stewart as he was trying to go with Johnson. Allmendinger's aggression pays off so he gets the lucky dog pass.

I will have to go back to television soon, as the radio station cuts power in twenty minutes. The restart should happen with 63 laps to go, so fuel mileage is still an issue. I am on my feet, and that makes it hard to type. An-n-n-n-d there went the radio station. That was fifteen minutes early. I could probably try to get KOMA, but that doesn't come in much better, and the whistling drives me nuts.

56 laps to go and Kyle Busch has taken second, and is about to catch Johnson. Here they go, Bush fakes low, then goes high and takes the lead. Kahne is third, and Stewart is fourth. I'm thinking Stewart is conserving fuel, but I don't see where that will help at this point.

What has kept this race exciting is that nobody has been able to keep the lead long, but now the 48 team has bad luck and it seems that Johnson's engine has expired. There will be no caution here, though, and Sadler moves into the top five, while Smoke moves into third. I'm already missing the radio. 41 laps to go and it looks like Kahne is catching Kyle Busch, and They are talking to Jimmie Johnson while Busch and Kahne are battling hard. Kahne takes the lead with 39 laps to go.

With thirty five laps to go we are discussing strategy. When will these cars begin to pit for fuel? We are assuming that all the cars will need to stop one more time in order to finish the race.

Wow, Tony Stewart has just taken second from his team mate, Kyle Busch.

With 17 laps to go Kahne gives up the lead to pit for fuel. Smoke is going to lead a few laps before his team decides to pit. Several cars have followed Kahne for a splash and go. Stewart is waiting. Then he pits with thirteen to go, and Kyle Busch takes the lead. Busch pits on the next lap. It looks like everybody will take fuel. Denny Hamlin has the lead with ten laps to go, and he pits with nine to go. It now looks like Jeff Gordon and Dave Blaney may gamble on fuel. Dave Blaney is now in first, then he decides not to gamble, and Smoke takes the lead. Stewart is now 5.5 seconds ahead of Kahne. All Smoke has to do now is bring it home.

Damn! Stewart cuts a tire with three to go, and has to give the lead to Kahne. See, Jr Nation? We fans of other drivers feel pain too. What a disappointment. Man that hurts! Kasey Kahne wins, Greg Biffle is second, and Kyle Busch is third. Jeff Gordon's gamble paid off as he finishes fourth, and Dale Jr brought his wrecked car home in fifth. What a race, what a finish!

I am emotionally drained. All I can say is that Kasey must feel good not having to keep his helmet on when he gets out of the car in front of the fans.

Some final thoughts: It seems like the teams may be getting a handle on the cars for the intermediate tracks. There were a lot of lead changes, and most of them were hard fought, rather than the "my turn. your turn" lead changes we have seen in the past. There was real racing, and even though we weren't treated to a real race for the win, due to mechanical trouble, it could have happened. I won't declare the new Sprint Cup Car complete and ready to compete at this time, but it does seem like we are getting there. It was a much better race than Texas or Atlanta were, so we continue to hold hope for the new car and the teams. Time will tell.

Warming up in Vegas

Once again I find myself having to correct an inaccuracy from one of my previous posts. I hate it when that happens. I mentioned that there were three venues in the Cup Series at which Tony "Smoke" Stewart has yet to win. I believe I correctly mentioned California and Las Vegas, but failed to mention correctly that the other two are Darlington and Talladega. In spite of some of my self-depricating disclaimers, I do hope to be more accurate in reporting statistics, and maintain at least some semblence of credibility.
Last year, at Las Vegas, the track surface was new, the tire compound was hard, and the cars were the familiar "conventional" cars. Many of the teams and drivers had difficulty getting the handle on the car and the track, and the going was relatively slow as NASCAR racing goes. At the end of the caution filled Cup race, Jimmie Johnson easily out ran the rest of the field and beat team mate Jeff Gordon by nearly three seconds. However, in the Busch Series (now Nationwide Series) race there was one heck of a finish while Jeff Burton and Rowdy Kyle "The Schrub" Busch raced hard for the checkers, and Busch got loose after the two made contact and spun out--crossing the finish line in second place while still in a spin.
Fans watched as the young Busch, who had a reputation for being somewhat volitile and immature, approached Burton's car in Victory Lane, expecting a fight, or at least some kind of outburst. Instead, Rowdy reached out his hand and congratulated the winner.
Thus began the warming period.
The Schrub returns to his home track this weekend a superstar in the making. With the help of his new team at Joe Gibbs Racing, and with some accolades from the likes of Darryll Waltrip and Dick Bergeron, the new "Mr. Excitement" is seen as an extraordinary driver, and has thrilled the flock of NASCAR fans across the nation.
Jimmie Johnson is expected to win an unprecedented fourth UAW-Dodge 400 in a row, but he is facing competition that is very different from last year. In spite of his second place finish last week, he seems to have trouble getting a handle on the car in traffic, and couldn't get it to work when he most needed it to work. Success in the Formula N car is mostly up to the driver, as Tony Stewart has pointed out, and Chad Knaus, as good as he is, cannot help the self-proclaimed "Driver of the Year" as much as he has in the past. Johnson is starting 33rd, and has had trouble with his car in traffic, although whatever has been bothering may have been fixed by now.
It is true that nobody has ever won the UAW-Dodge 400 from the pole, so--although there is always a first time for everything--it can't be taken for granted that Busch will win.
Aside from Kyle Busch, I would be looking for Tony Stewart, who has led the most laps at Vegas for a driver without a win, to be crossing another venue off his "Things To Do" list.
Matt Kenseth seems to be able to get a handle on the car that is being used now, and his abilities are very impressive on this type of track. If the previous record at Vegas applies to anyone, it would be to Matt, because he seems to be very adaptable to different styles of cars.
And then you have Greg Biffle, who, in spite of his lack of wins over the last two years, is very capable of winning a race. Between the last few races of '07, and some very good runs this year, he has shown that he can still be a contender.
GEM is also making a comeback, and they had some fast cars in qualifying and practice, includingt Patrick Carpentier's Kasey Kahne wants to prove that he is just as capable of making a comeback as anybody else, and he will want to put on a good enough show to earn acceptance for being given the Budman title.

A sidenote: Kahne's sponsorship
partnership involving Allstate Driver's Insurance and Budweiser made me wonder
about how they could have joint commercials. How about ending a regular Budweiser commercial, featuring Kahne with the words "Allstate Insurance reminds you that drnking Budweiser and driving could result in an increase in your insurance rates?"

So far this year, the racing has been pretty good, even after the mess at Fontana. Once that race started, on Monday, it was interesting and very well worth watching. I think we will see more of this as the season goes on and the drivers get used to the new car. NASCAR seems to be regaining some interest from the, as there was a good sized crowd at the track for practice and qualifying, This may be partly because the three day ticket package for Vegas is a very good deal, as ticket packages go, but the performance of the new car, Dale Jr, Kyle Busch and a possible record-breaking run by the current Champion, have done a lot to bring people back to the track or their television sets. I feel that the obituaries written by many for NASCAR are a bit pre-mature.

My new BUDdy Kahne

Well, we already knew it, but it's now officially official. Kasey Kahne will be sponsored by Budweiser next year. Some may think that the "Cute Little Guy" doesn't fit the Budweiser image, but Kahne thinks so, Anheiser Busch thinks so, and I think so. In fact, I think so enough that I have written what could be the first Budweiser commercial featuring Kasey Kahne:


Scene: (Interior) A bar from an old western movie. Kasey Kahne is standing at the bar with a Bud in his hand. Three tough looking saddle tramps walk into the scene and order "beer" which is served in clear bottles (the lable isn't showing, of course) They drink their beer while looking at Kasey, snickering. Finally:
Tough Guy 1: Well, look at the cute little guy drinking a Bud!
Tough Guy 2: Whats a matter, cute little guy, did your mama leave you here all alone?
Laughter from TG's 1,2,3
Tough Guy 3: What happened, did they run out of milk for the cute little guy?
More cruel laughter
Not wanting trouble, Kasey Kahne turns his back on the three tough guys and starts to drink his Bud, but Tough Guy 1 grabs Kahne by the shoulder and spins him around.
Tough Guy 1: Hey! We're talking to you!
Without setting down his Bud, Kasey Kahne grabs TG 1's wrist, removing the hand from his shoulder, and, in a spectacular ju-jitsu move, throws him into the other two Tough Guys, sending all three sprawling through the bat-wing doors
Cut to bar exterior.
Kasey Kahne exits the bar, stepping around the three groaning and incapacitated Tough Guys and into the dusty dirt main street. There are four horses tied to the hitching post, but Kasey Kahne puts his fingers in his mouth and whistles.
SFX: Galloping horse's hooves.
A beautiful cowgirl rides up on a white horse and reaches down to help Kasey Kahne onto the horse so he is sitting behind her.
As the two ride off into the sunset:
Caption: Kasey Kahne and Budweiser remind you: Drink Responsibly. If you drink, don't drive.