Phoenix Int'l Raceway - Checker Auto Parts 500

RACE WINNER: JIMMIE JOHNSON

Our Boys Running Order:
7. Martin (started 2nd)
12. Kurt (started 9th)
13. Casey (started 11th)
21. Brian (started 22nd)
43. Dale Jr. (started 35th)
DNQ Michael
DNQ DJ
DNQ David

That Jimmie Johnson is on a tear, isn’t he?

Martin had a good car all day and led 72 laps, but unfortunately a bad pit call cost the team the race. They stayed out under caution and very few others did, and they just couldn’t compete with the fresher cars. He had better luck than Dale Jr., though. The Bud Chevy seemed to be pretty decent but June just lost it and crashed into the inside wall. I don’t think he’s a big fan of the New Car and I’m sure the wreck didn’t help his opinion…and will he ever get some luck?!

Both Kurt and Casey had good days and with Junior’s troubles I was confident that Casey would take over 13th in points. But then I realized that Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle had really good days, so Casey actually lost points and fell back to 16th. Hmph!

Like Dale Jr., Brian is not having a good time in the New Car. 21st is definitely not a bad finish, especially since they had brake problems, but it makes me a little worried about next season.

I’m not a big fan of Kasey Kahne, but I felt pretty bad for him after he wrecked out. He looked fairly distressed during his interview and ESPN pretty much rubbed it in his face. My jaw just hung open! Kahne was very clearly angry and beating himself up about “driving like an idiot” and getting into several rough situations on the track, and Jamie Little had the nerve to ask him how many contacts he had, and that she knew he had “two for sure”? Gee, thanks for noticing! These ESPN reporters (with the exception of Allen and Dave) are so insensitive! It drives me crazy! If you see that a driver is upset don’t pour more salt into the wound!

Our Boys Point Standings
- Driver Points -
10. Kurt -516 behind 1st
11. Martin -563 behind 1st
14. Dale Jr. -58 behind 13th
16. Casey -103 behind 13th
- Owner Points -
38. Brian -410 behind 35th
39. David -525 behind 35th
40. Michael -909 behind 35th
41. DJ -958 behind 35th

Phoenix International Raceway - Arizona.Travel 200

RACE WINNER: KYLE BUSCH

Our Boys Running Order:
4. Scott (started 2nd)
12. David (started 15th)
27. Brian (started 21st)

This was a good race and Scott did a wonderful job, as he has all year, at padding the point lead for Richard Childress’ second owner championship in a row. Teammate Clint Bowyer was kind enough to let Scott lead a lap despite the hard-charging Kyle Busch behind them, and Kevin Harvick, ESPN’s in-race reporter, mentioned wanting to help his teammate near the end of the race. Scott is truly the under-the-radar driver at RCR but Richard’s got a jewel in him. I’m excited for next season but I wish that Scott would be full-time in one ride instead of hopping around (I know he’ll be in the 29 for some races next season, but I don’t know if he as a driver will be able to go for the championship; and the 21 is sponsorless as this point so will there even be another ride for Scott to go to?). I’d like to see Scott be able to live up to the potential I know he has to be a regular winner.

David had a great car but staying out at the end of the race while several other pitted for fresh tires hurt him and he fell back to 12th. ESPN did something I appreciated before the green flew, and that was playing a feature on David’s Memphis win and Wiley King, the young man who designed David’s paint scheme through St. Jude’s. By the time it was finished I was just about crying! It really made me proud of these NASCAR drivers who give back so much to those who need it the most. There’s so much more to life than racing, like making Wiley’s dream come true at Memphis, and it puts things into perspective.

Whenever Brian gets into the 10 car he runs well and this weekend was no different. Unfortunately bad luck likes to follow this team whether it’s on the track or on pit road and it bit them in both ways this time. Brian lost a ton of spots during pit stops and was back in the field. Then disaster struck, the type of thing you never want to see. AJ Allmendinger was diving to Brian’s inside when he got loose and shot into him. Brian crashed hard and his day was over. I know AJ didn’t mean it. He likes and respects Brian and has given him a lot of credit for the setups the 83 team has provided the 84. Tonight on INC Brian made it clear he wasn’t happy with AJ, but also said that they were going to talk it over. I sure hope they do and put it behind them.

Kyle Busch won his second race of the weekend and it was very meaningful for me as a fan, Kyle and crew chief Alan Gustafson because it was Kyle’s last run in the Busch car. It’s no secret that Kyle and Alan have had their share of bitter spats and tension this season, and they haven’t treated each other very well. This win was the best thing that could have happened to them…the emotion was clear in Alan’s voice and I could almost feel the wall coming down between him and his driver. Despite their frustration with each other, despite the fights they’ve had, they love each other and have a special friendship. I’ll miss them together next season. I loved them because they were both young and talented and passionate. Every race they won they treated as if it were their last win ever (that’s one thing I really enjoy about Kyle: he does the burnout of his life, salutes the crowd and runs around the track like a maniac every single time!). This most likely will be the last race they ever win together. I was glad to see the weight lifted off them and the smiles in Victory Lane.

David’s Points:
1. Carl Edwards --
2. David -571 behind leader
3. Jason Leffler -194 behind David

Qualifying Suckage

Well today pretty much sucked for MWR. I figured from the get-go that DJ and Michael were going to have a hard time making the race because while Michael was decent in practice he was the second car out during qualifying, a disadvantage against those making their runs as the track cooled; Dale had a better draw but was just plain horrid in practice. So to see them slipping down the list of star cars on Trackpass (ESPN is always far behind real time) didn’t surprise me as much as it saddened me. Okay, I thought, David will make me smile. He was the fastest go-or-go-homer in practice with a very late draw and has commonly been the MWR car to make it while the other two do not. His name came up on Trackpass…and just sat there. It didn’t take long for my heart to sink and I vainly hoped that Trackpass froze or something, but then Denny Hamlin’s name came up and a brief thing about a delay due to track conditions. I was left to fret and wonder what happened until the TV broadcast caught up.

David was on the track when they came back from commercial and the motor sounded awful, so I figured the next scene would be full of smoke. But instead the cause of the problem was so small the tape had to be slowed down: a bolt. A freaking bolt. It came flying out of the back of the car and a belt followed soon after…the booth guys said it was to the oil pump. And that little bolt proved fatal.

All three MWR Cup cars are going home. For the first time.

It was an empty feeling I haven’t experienced since the shock of Michael’s first DNQ back in 2006. While I love each MWR driver individually and always feel cruddy if any one of them DNQs, to have all of them go home was far worse because I look at it as a setback for MWR as a whole. It stings because things were starting to improve. They were all qualifying and running well for a while. But this just shows that anything can happen and knock you right back down. It sucks. And I’m still scared thinking about the future and that Michael and David could have to live with qualifying days being the worst days of their lives all over again next season.

David still has the Busch race, which he has a good chance of winning. Michael McDowell looks pretty good too, and was following Kyle Busch around during practice, learning from one of the best. Tomorrow appears very promising and I have to look on the bright side of things, I guess, and keep focused on that.

Texas Motor Speedway - Dickie's 500

RACE WINNER: JIMMIE JOHNSON

Our Boys Running Order:
3. Martin (started 1st)
8. Kurt (started 6th)
14. Dale Jr. (started 12th)
23. Brian (started 22nd)
31. Casey (started 9th)
38. DJ (started 26th)
43. David (started 43rd)
DNQ Michael

In general, it was a somewhat boring race. Having Jimmie Johnson win again didn’t really add excitement but it is just amazing how perfect that team is. I wish Matt Kenseth could have pulled off a victory for a breath of fresh air.

Martin got his first career pole and followed it up with an awesome run. This team really needs it because although they are out of the championship, they are fighting for that 10th spot in the points and a speech on stage during the banquet. I think it’s kind of unfair that even though a team busts their butts and makes the revered Chase, it’s still only the top-10 who get recognition.

The #2 team was having a fine day until Kurt was forced to pit under green for a loose right front wheel. He fell a lap down as a result. Eventually the free pass rule put him back on the lead lap, but there was not enough time to give a finish that the car was capable of producing.

Sad to say, it was another one of those good at the beginning, fade at the end type races for Dale Jr. that I’ve been getting used to seeing. As the sun set, the car became harder to handle. Brian also had a tough day, but kept digging for a decent finish.

From Casey on down, things didn’t turn out too well. Casey was having a good run until he got loose under Tony Stewart and tagged him. Lots of smoke ensued, causing mass confusion and chaos behind. Dale Jarrett was one of those who had nowhere to go. To make it worse, he was running close to the top-20 at the time. MWR’s other team had no more luck. David was starting to run competitive lap times around 15th place when he began losing cylinders. It blew up shortly afterwards, relegating him to a depressing last place finish.

Our Boys Point Standings
- Driver Points -
9. Kurt -453 behind 1st
12. Martin -524 behind 1st
13. Dale Jr.
15. Casey -135 behind 13th
- Owner Points -
38. Brian -440 behind 35th
39. David -471 behind 35th
40. Michael -870 behind 35th
41. DJ -907 behind 35th

O'Reilly Challenge - Texas Motor Speedway

RACE WINNER: KEVIN HARVICK

Our Boys Running Order:
15. Casey (started 24th)
18. David (started 1st)

To back up his win, David went out and got another #1 in qualifying at Texas! It was even more satisfying that it was Tony Stewart who he knocked aside. But, in what’s seeming to become a trend, SPEED, who was airing qualifying, switched over to Trackside before it was even over and we missed David actually getting the pole! I was so upset. It took them ten minutes to give him an interview. I’m just sick of this “who cares about Reutimann” attitude the broadcasting stations have.

Casey qualified decently, but was sent to the back of the pack before the race when NASCAR discovered the threads on their lugnuts were altered in order to make pit stops faster.

The race began kind of like how I expected it to. Stewart was all congratulatory-friendly after David knocked him off the pole, but I knew that was a freaking act. When the green flag dropped, he laid back and shot off, nosing in front of David just after they crossed the line. Then he raced David like a sucker – forcing him down the track, pinching him off and giving him no room whatsoever. David never even got to lead a lap due to Stewart’s typical greediness and “take” personality.

It kind of went downhill from the start. The car didn’t seem to be as good as the pole suggested and David fell to the edge of the top-10. Not horrible, right? Then he had a right front tire go flat and had to pit under green flag racing. From then on it was a struggle for the free pass – a battle David never won. Casey was next in line to get on the lead lap when the checkers fell.

To make the race even more irritating, we got Carl Edwards shoved down our throats every five minutes or so. The booth acted like every moment was the last lap of the last race and Carl was only a point in front of the guy 2nd in the standings (because they hardly ever mention that it’s David). When enough cars were out of the race, he clinched the championship. What a battle. So exciting. And the celebration afterward was just so full of energy. Not.

Another experienced Cup driver with a fully-supported Cup car under a successful Cup team banner winning a Busch Championship. Something to be proud of, I guess.

David’s Points:
1. Carl Edwards --
2. David -552 behind leader
3. Jason Leffler -209 behind David

Atlanta - Pep Boys Auto 500

RACE WINNER: JIMMIE JOHNSON

Our Boys Running Order:
8. Kurt (started 2nd)
10. Brian (started 14th)
11. Michael (started 24th)
12. Casey (started 15th)
19. DJ (started 3rd)
25. Dale Jr. (started 5th)
31. Martin (started 20th)
DNQ David

This race was actually one that all our boys were running fairly well, but some unfortunately were taken out. Kurt had a great car and led nearly 100 laps, but pit road was really biting him in the butt. I love Kurt’s team and they are usually awesome on their pit stops but Atlanta was not their weekend. By the end of the race Kurt’s frustrations were boiling over as they continued to lose him spots. I’m not a big fan of drivers shrieking at their crews but this time I understood why he was doing it. Thankfully the car was good enough to make up for lost ground but I’m not sure if it got as high of a finish as it may have been capable of.

Both of our DEI guys were having great days until the last few laps. Denny Hamlin did not pit and in doing so put himself at risk of running out of fuel. What amazes me is that they were also aware that water was mixing in with their fuel, but stayed out anyway. He led the restart and immediately ran out of gas, but instead of getting out of the way he moved down in the middle of the track in front of everyone! And of course Martin smashed right into the back of him. Yeah, yeah, I guess that Hamlin may have been shocked, confused, desperate, or whatever, but I think back to a quote by Kevin Harvick: “Usually, when you're out of gas, you get out of the racing groove.” So Martin was creamed. The next restart would come with a similar result for Junior…as he dove in turn 1 his left rear wheel split from the #8 and went careening into the air. Dale Jr. shot into the fence, taking out Jamie McMurray with him. As much as it sucked for McMurray I was glad he was there because he broke the momentum of the crash, which was a really hard one. I’ll admit I held my breath and prayed to anything that would listen that Junior was okay…those limp slides down the banking scare me after wrecks and I freaked out a little bit that ESPN took their time in showing that he was moving inside the car.

Brian, Michael, Casey and Dale had good days, and it was nice to see the Toyotas with those kind of finishes. This is Michael’s third top 20 in a row! And DJ’s best finish of the year! It must have felt great for Brian to get another top 10 after not making a race since Talladega. As for Casey, he was ESPN’s In-Race Reporter. Only they talked to him once, before the race started, and ignored him the rest of the day. Wow. Gotta love ESPN.

David hasn’t missed a race for a long time so it was really odd watching Atlanta without him. When Michael DNQed for the first time back in 2006, I kept “seeing” his car on the track and expecting his name to show up in the running order, and it was the same with David. I guess it’s comparable to the phenomenon of getting your leg chopped off but thinking it’s still there…

Our Boys Point Standings
- Driver Points -
9. Kurt -419 behind 1st
12. Martin -513 behind 1st
13. Dale Jr. --
14. Casey -79 behind 13th
- Owner Points -
38. David -409 behind 35th
39. Brian -434 behind 35th
40. Michael -795 behind 35th
41. DJ -856 behind 35th

Memphis Motorsports Park - Sam’s Town 250

RACE WINNER: DAVID REUTIMANN!!!!!!!

Our Boys Running Order:
1. David (started 2nd)
6. Scott (started 12th)

Holy crap!!! I’ve known this was going to happen one day but you can never prepare yourself for the excitement and agony of those last few laps. David had such a great car and led 194 out of 253 circuits around Memphis, so it was great to see a win out of such total domination. The cautions were just getting so frustrating, though, because he would get a good jump on the restart and then a few laps later the yellow would come out and the guy in 2nd had another chance to anticipate a move and get around him. Mike Bliss tried really hard there at the end on the outside but (thankfully) that seemed to be as much as he could muster before David left him in the dust! Nevertheless my poor pillow was crushed in my clutches and will likely never regain its original shape (pillows have gone through a lot of pain from me due to nail-biting endings…Michael and Kurt at Phoenix in 2005, Casey at Charlotte this year and several Busch races last year).

Tears of complete joy came to my eyes and I jumped up and slam-dunked my pillow to the floor. I know he’s been incredibly hungry all season long and wanted to give the crew a win for all that they’ve given him (confidence comes to mind, thinking back to Trackside). I wanted to see that little Dream Machine doing big burnouts and was thrilled when David sent up big plumes of smoke to the sky. Then he stopped, and started getting out—

Hey, let’s watch some football!

WHAT?!

So that’s how my tears of joy turned into bitter tears of anger. It’s selfish, I know, but I could not believe (okay, yeah I did, it’s ESPN we’re talking about) that they wouldn’t even lengthen the broadcast a bloody ten minutes to give David an interview! For his crew, his family and friends, his sponsors and fans! I know the race went way over schedule, but come on. A first-time winner, a guaranteed emotional winner and they think a stupid football (apologies to the football fans) game is more important?

Thank everything good in this world that NASCAR.com has the sense to put up a video and an interview or else I might have gone completely insane. But then I feel for the people that can’t view it for various reasons. I even watched all the NASCAR programming I could watch today and there wasn’t any added coverage.

ESPN is a joke. Their coverage is a joke. No, we don’t need an update on Carl Edwards every 30 seconds. We know he’s going to win the damn championship, okay? It’s not such a disaster that he didn’t clinch it, okay? No, we don’t need to see your draft tracker. No Rusty, we don’t need to hear you on NASCAR.com’s video saying something nasty about NASCAR regarding your son while the cameras are rolling for David, hello! I’ve been sick of ESPN’s so-called NASCAR “knowledge” since day 1 and now I’m even sicker that they did this. I’ll never be so happy to see the FOX and TNT crews in my life!

I don’t normally do this, but I fired off a complaint to ESPN. Not like they give a crap what some short 19-year-old that lives in the woods thinks, but I hope they have an inbox full of angry fans. I was polite, probably more than I should have been (it was tempting to end it with some scathing remark like “you lame-ass mo-fo’s” but I decided against it!), but I felt like they need some…constructive criticism. They’ll probably just find a picture of me and throw darts at it, but whatever.

I’m mad about the lack of coverage, yes. But thankfully there are lots of awesome photographers (I love you guys!) that were able to bring me as a fan sitting at my computer closer to the emotion of victory lane. I see some wonderful pictures of David, Buzzie and the crew celebrating. The fireworks and the beer shower! That’s some great stuff right there and exactly the reason why I love NASCAR. Congratulations to David and the entire team!

For a while Scott Wimmer also threatened for the win, which is awesome in one way but stressful in another when the guy he’s trying to beat happens to be another of your favorites, but he raced cleanly just like I knew he would in my heart. He faded to 6th at the end but it was still a great finish and padded the 29’s owner point lead.

Other than that it was a long, long race full of cautions. Dario Franchitti was the causer for several when his brakes started failing (and yet he still dove into corners like a maniac…oh well, he’s a rookie I guess!). Brian Keselowski wiped out Steven Wallace, which resulted in Steve looking for some revenge. That was bad, and dangerous to do even under caution, but I couldn’t help but laugh watching this unfold. Steve came barreling down the straight and Brian actually tried to get away from him, swerving back and forth and throwing Steven off! Being a wildlife biology student it reminded me of a rabbit zigzagging to escape a bobcat! Steven never touched the 49 as far as I could tell but ended up sitting in the grass before being parked by NASCAR (which was the right thing to do). Steven isn’t very popular among fans but for some reason I like him. He’s got some anger issues but there’s something about him that keeps me from disliking him. However I tend to like the ones that get really pounded by fans. A popular technique of downing Steven is calling him “blinky”, a low-down, heartless dig to his disability that I’m appalled by. I have a big problem with crap like that that so I naturally defend him against such insensitivity.

I also have to mention Todd Kluever, who was supposed to be racing this weekend until a last-minute decision was made to put Colin Braun in the 16. That was devastating. Todd has put nothing but heart and soul into a mediocre ride and he keeps getting crapped on by Roush. I can’t stand it and it makes me so sad. Time is running out…I don’t want to see another talented driver get discarded and forgotten…

David’s Points:
1. Carl Edwards --
2. David -531 behind leader
3. Jason Leffler -227 behind David

Martinsville Speedway - Subway 500

RACE WINNER: JIMMIE JOHNSON

Our Boys Running Order:
17. David (started 19th)
18. Michael (started 29th)
19. Martin (started 2nd)
20. Casey (started 22nd)
23. Dale Jr. (started 7th)
30. DJ (started 33rd)
31. Kurt (started 11th)
DNQ Brian

Martinsville has never been a track I particularly liked and last weekend’s race didn’t help much. Despite the New Car’s matching front and rear ends, there were a record-breaking 21 cautions and an extra six laps. To further extend my displeasure for the place, the average finish of our drivers was about 23rd.

Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon pretty much dominated the race, leading a combined total of 315 of 500 laps. Now, I have nothing against those two, but it sure would be nice to see someone new win once in a while. However, Martinsville has a special meaning to them and they race extremely hard to get a #1 there for Rick Hendrick.

Dale Jr. led 24 laps and even ran well on seven cylinders. But running down on power eventually ripped things apart in the engine. When taking the green for the green-white-checkered, black smoke was puffing out of the sidepipes and relegated Junior to a last on the lead lap finish.

The start of the race was a struggle for Martin despite qualifying second. Near the end of the race he and Casey got into a tizzy and wrecked each other. Then Martin was involved in two more incidents and Casey in one more. I’m sure neither were very happy going home.

Kurt was looking at another solid day until a tire cut and he smacked the wall. Afterwards, the car just wouldn’t handle. He finished five laps down.

Similar days were to be had for Michael and David. Both claimed that their cars were horrible, but neither driver gave up. Each of them fell a lap down and, thanks to all the cautions, got free passes. It was funny because Michael wrecked going into a turn in practice on Friday and wondered if he would even make the race. Then he pulled nearly the exact same move Sunday! But both he and David did great jobs staying out of a lot of trouble and putting sub-25th place cars in the top-20.

DJ struggled early and got into a wreck not of his own doing. He dropped down a couple of laps and could run competitive times but just could not regain positions.

Then came a really interesting and disturbing altercation following the checkered flag. Matt Kenseth was about to be interviewed by SPEED’s Bob Dilner when teammate Carl Edwards pushed him to one side and began arguing with him. Matt looked irritated and the two exchanged angry words. After several seconds, Carl stepped over the wall separating the track and pit road and turned to give off some more comments. Matt sent him some closing remarks and Carl aimed a punch at him! It was rather scary watching Matt’s reaction of flinging up his hands to block, but then Carl suddenly pulled his fist away and gave this really eerie and venomous grin before he walked off. Apparently, when Reed Sorenson blew a tranny on one of the restarts, Carl dove it in very deep into Turn 1, running into the side of the #17. To indicate his unhappiness with the move, Matt bumped Carl out of the groove. The two talked about it on the radio and Matt thought everything was fine. I guess not! I like Carl but man, that was not cool. To make it worse, Jack Roush will probably do nothing since Carl is his current favorite.

Our Boys Point Standings
- Driver Points -
10. Kurt -420 behind 1st
11. Martin -447 behind 1st
13. Dale Jr. --
16. Casey -118 behind 13th
- Owner Points -
38. David -387 behind 35th
39. Brian -519 behind 35th
41. Michael -876 behind 35th
42. DJ -913 behind 35th

Charlotte Motor Speedway - Bank of America 500

RACE WINNER: JEFF GORDON

Our Boys Running Order:
10. Michael (started 19th)
17. Martin (started 32nd)
19. Dale Jr. (started 22nd)
21. Casey (started 9th)
26. Kurt (started 8th)
29. David (started 20th)
DNQ DJ
DNQ Brian

It didn’t take long for Dale Jr. to again mingle with Charlotte’s craziness and nearly put me into congestive heart failure again! Lap freaking 1 and he was 3-wide on the top, causing a big panic among the drivers he was passing. To add to my dismay David hit the wall moments later, so I fumed for a while and was annoyed at June, but I don’t really know how much he had to do with David’s brush with the fence. Dale Jr. continued to have an interesting night messing with future teammate Jeff Gordon, but his threats on the radio didn’t amount to any on-track retaliation (thankfully).

David’s night spiraled downhill for a while and a few choice words were used to describe the car’s handling, but Frank did a wonderful job rallying the team and making the car good enough to pass others that weren’t damaged. David apologized and took all the blame at one point but Frank had none of that and quickly told him they were all in this together. That definitely made me smile. They held on despite a flat tire and survived the rest of the night.

Michael’s race is one to gloat about, for he took a car that he thought was horrible and finished 10th with it! I’m so proud of him and honestly didn’t think he’d have two top 10s under his belt by now. He even spun through the grass (and almost crapped himself from what he said on INC because it surprised him so much!) but came back and cut through the field like a surgeon (another INC saying).

I felt incredibly bad for Kurt when he smashed into another car on pit road during a gas-only stop, but was a bit miffed with whoever told him he was clear. In my opinion, if you’re the guy doing something different like two tires or gas only you should be the one keeping a sharp eye out for the guys in the back that will be coming into pit as you’re leaving. Things got worse when Kurt dropped a cylinder later on, which killed his dreams of a good finish. His second engine problem in the Chase…

Casey was having a decent night before a tire failure sent him screeching into Bill Elliott. That really sucked…but by hitting Elliott the damage wasn’t so bad to Casey’s car and the crew was able to make enough repairs to salvage a top 25.

A mistake on Martin’s part almost cost him a top 20 when he ran out of gas after failing to come down pit road when Bono called him in. Fortunately it worked out fairly well in the end.

And I still miss the old Charlotte. Although with Bruton Smith’s recent hissy fit about his precious drag strip, maybe he’ll tear the track down and build it somewhere else!! Ha ha, I wouldn’t be so lucky.

Our Boys Point Standings
- Driver Points -
7. Kurt -315 behind 1st
11. Martin -378 behind 1st
13. Dale Jr. --
14. Casey -122 behind 13th
- Owner Points -
38. David -405 behind 35th
39. Brian -450 behind 35th
41. Michael -891 behind 35th
42. DJ -892 behind 35th

Feeling Much Better....

After a few days to brood and ponder and think about what David will be doing next season I’m feeling much more confident. I guess it helped to read actual parts of the transcript as well as a lovely article on NASCAR.com. I had no idea that David has worked for UPS before…I wonder if he wore the shorts or was turned down like DJ in the commercial!!

I also found this quote by Michael when asked about David’s transition from Aaron’s to UPS relieving and interesting:

“We haven't really talked about the details of that, but the way I envision it happening is that he will start out the season in the No. 00 Aaron's Camry in the Cup series and run that car for five races. Then that car will simply change colors. His team and David will stay in the same car with the same equipment, they will just take off the Aaron's decals and apply the UPS decals. That is the way I envision it happening and we will have three Cup teams next season.”

First of all it sounds very promising that David will keep Frank and the team. Secondly, he mentions the car changing colors but not numbers…hmm. I hope that means that keeping the 00 in David’s name is still a possibility. I’d love to see that happen!

Michael on INC also explained more about the partnership and I feel more secure about that as well. He looked very happy as a whole tonight which made me smile because I have a feeling he’s been going through some difficult times as of late…

Charlotte Motor Speedway - Dollar General 300

RACE WINNER: JEFF BURTON

Our Boys Running Order:
3. Dale Jr. (started 26th)
12. David (started 8th)
13. Scott (started 19th)

This track just about gives me a heart attack during every race now and it didn’t help that Junebug was driving like an insane person all night and adding to my potential cardiac arrest! He nearly wrecked Jeff Burton at the end of the race but I suppose I can’t complain too much because it all worked out in the end and no cars spun off Junior’s front bumper. Generally I’ve noticed a change in his driving style in the past few weeks…he’s much more aggressive and a bit more reckless. I know he wants to win another race at DEI (not to mention a race this season), so I can’t be hard on him, but he’s scaring me with all his wild moves.

David didn’t have the excellent night everyone expected due to an early-race brush with the wall, but the Dream Machine crew did a wonderful job fixing the car up again and David raced his way back to the top 15. According to his post-race interview he was an “idiot”, but I think most of the blame should have been directed toward a horrible track, since he was in the company of other “idiots” such as Jimmie Johnson (who, by the way, is a Cup champion) and Clint Bowyer, neither of which were talented enough to save their cars – like David did – and also took out many of their fellow competitors with them – which David did not do. Don’t be so hard on yourself, David!

Scott also didn’t have the night he had hoped for in his last run in the 21 car.

But looking at the results and noting how many have the word “accident” as their status, I’m glad my boys survived and all finished in the top 20. I don’t think “beast” is a cruel enough word for Charlotte…maybe something like “demon” would suffice…

David’s Points:
1. Carl Edwards --
2. David -638 behind leader
3. Kevin Harvick -115 behind David

Frustrated!!!

WARNING: Feeling very irritated and unsure. Definitely will be some ranting. As more information comes out of I calm down after a while I might change my tune, but for the moment I’m writing what I’m feeling.

MWR’s long-awaited announcement was made today at Charlotte regarding both Dale Jarrett’s plans for next year and a partner. Basically what is happening is this:

1. 50% of MWR is now owned (personally) by Robert Kauffman, who founded and co-manages Fortress Investment Group. MWR is now MWRH (Michael Waltrip Racing Holdings, LLC).

2. Ty Norris (thankfully) is still going to be VP and GM, but now Cal Wells III (listed as the owner of the 00, former owner of PPI Motorsports, former expectant minority owner at Robby Gordon Motorsports) is the Executive Vice President of Operations and Larry Johns (no clue who he is) is the Chief Financial Officer.

3. DJ is running in the 44 UPS Toyota for the first five races of 2008 as well as the All-Star race, and then he will retire.

4. David will drive the 00 (supposedly sponsored by Aaron’s) for the first five races and then will drive the 44 with UPS as a sponsor. David will also be in a full-time Nationwide Series car as he is this season.

Okay. There was nothing an any official MWR (coughMWRHcough) press release about Frankie and the 00 team, but in this article David doesn’t know whether he’ll keep them or not. That’s alarming to me. David has such wonderful chemistry with the entire team and it would be absolutely ridiculous to rip them apart! What is Michael doing here? Does he want Frank? Does he want Frank to go to whoever will be driving the 00 (rumored to be Josh Wise and/or Michael McDowell, two development ARCA drivers with little experience in NASCAR), and David can “pick up the 44 team”? I know David is definitely talented and good-natured enough for any team to fall in love with him, but he’s got a great thing going with the 00 crew.

I’m also upset about the number switch. Apparently UPS wants to keep the 44…why? They’ve only been with the 44 for one year. It was so cool that David could make his Cup name in a number he’s run with all his life and I think he really enjoyed it. I don’t see why UPS would get their panties in a bunch about the 44. It would be easy to just switch sponsorship to the 00 as well as owner points.

Owner points. I guess the plan is for DJ to get into the Top 35 and then David will get those points. But what happens if David goes on a streak of great finishes and is solidly in the Top 35 after Bristol? And if DJ is teetering on the edge? Will David get dumped to crappy points even though he earned his way into the Top 35, and then whoever gets into the 00 reaps the benefits of his hard work? David should get the higher owner points, hands down, from the 44 or the 00. He is the 1-year veteran of MWR versus a new driver. He is MWR’s shining star.

Oh yeah, as far as I know UPS is still signed only through 2008. I remember David saying some time ago that the contract was for multiple years hinging on sponsorship. That’s scary.

So who is the Kauffman guy? This whole “partner/investor” thing isn’t really my cup of tea. I don’t understand it (except for the big money part) and I don’t like it. I don’t want NASCAR to turn into stupid money-making machines where drivers are treated like greyhounds.

I’m nervous to see some parallels forming between David and Casey Mears. Both are kind of being pushed around to fit into gaps in the team and the sponsors. Both have lost their sponsors for this year to take over someone else’s sponsor next year. Both are losing their numbers, and those numbers had emotional meaning to the drivers. And both are way too good to be treated like that.

On the positive side (always have to have that or I go insane), I’m very happy that David will be a fulltime NS driver next season! And I’m looking forward to some great UPS commercials!

Talladega Superspeedway - UAW-Ford 500

RACE WINNER: JEFF GORDON

Our Boys Running Order:
6. Casey (started 29th)
7. Kurt (started 41st)
22. David (started 5th)
25. Michael (started 1st)
39. Brian (started 3rd)
40. Dale Jr. (started 26th)
41. Dale Jarrett (started 43rd)
42. Martin (started 13th)

It was a much anticipated race at Dega, more so than ever because it was the first time the New Car battled for position on a superspeedway. The weekend started out in an exciting fashion when the impound format landed all eight go-or-go-homers in the top-8 – and our Mikey nabbed the pole! To make it even better, not a single one of our boys had to make the trip back north.

Talladega is Talladega, but a lot of drivers complained about the boring single-file racing that often strung out the field into a follow-the-leader type line. I can tell by listening to drivers’ radios and reading their quotes that this probably frustrates a driver more than being caught up in the Big One. Although it’s fun watching the cars rim-ride, it tends to drag on, broken only by a caution or a brave man who decides to bring the race back to racing. Luckily for us, one of those men was Michael Waltrip! It was great seeing him and Junior working together like old times and showing their competitors whose boss. Mikey swung down low and after many failed attempts finally got enough backing to create a power train straight to the front. With some help from Jeff Green, David led 2 exciting laps (which, true to their nature, ESPN totally missed) before Mikey got a shot from Junior and retook the helm. Brian also did his best to work with his fellow Toyota drivers.

But as you could probably tell from the running order, not all good things last. Martin blew an engine. When a DEI car blows an engine, I tend to get a bad pit in my stomach. That wasn’t helped any when other DEI/RCR engines started expiring, and finally Junior’s car spewed thick smoke along the trioval (right in front of Michael, who jumped aside just in time). The smoke was nearly opaque and unfortunately for DJ, who was just coming up through the field, it blocked his car from Kyle Petty’s vision and he got smacked into hard, ending his day.

Of course, when the Big One finally did happen, it chose to occur right in front of a group of our guys. Bobby Labonte’s car suddenly took a left turn while running on the high side and nailed Kyle Busch, who then hit Robby Gordon. Gordon’s car turned up and just barely missed Michael… but hit David squarely broadside. David nosedived down the banking and spun. He would have been fine, I think, if David Ragan hadn’t been down there on the apron to hit him. Brian, after battling a lost 1st gear, was also collected. David’s beaten up #00 was one of the only cars to limp away from the carnage. I’d say finishing 22nd with a wrecked machine isn’t too shabby!

Even with a car that had a pancaked right side from hitting the wall, Michael was still in contention. He raced on, but his day didn’t end well. With only a couple handfuls of laps to go, he blew a right front tire and took out Elliott Sadler, Greg Biffle and Tony Raines. It really sucked, but apparently Sadler decided that Michael did it by lack of talent and proceeded to blast him on MRN radio, calling him an “idiot” and remarking that Michael can only win at restrictor plate races. Um, wow, Elliott, when was your last win? Fontana in 2004? Maybe you should look at your own career before insulting someone else.

The finish was exciting, but I couldn’t help but feel disappointed that Kurt and teammate Ryan Newman couldn’t get 1-2. Those two have worked so well together! It was also kind of miserable to watch Casey be the pusher to Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson and then get hung out in the end. But… that’s the way it goes, I guess.

Our Boys Point Standings
- Driver Points -
7. Kurt -215 behind 1st
10. Martin -300 behind 1st
13. Dale Jr. --
15. Casey -116 behind 13th
- Owner Points -
38. Brian -359 behind 35th
39. David -365 behind 35th
41. DJ -807 behind 35th
44. Michael -909 behind 35th

Pumped!!

If I had said on Thursday that Michael Waltrip was going to get the pole at Talladega I would have been laughed at. Yesterday when he made the quickest lap at the time, I thought he’d most likely lose it…but he didn’t! For the first time since 2005 at Pocono, Michael was on the pole. Better yet, all three MWR cars made the show! Michael said that that made him happier than anything.

Generally all the star cars qualified very well. I expected them to but not at the magnitude it turned out to be: the first top 35 car qualified 12th. Not to mention that AJ Allmendinger qualified 9th and missed the race. Again, a lot of fans are freaking out about a 9th-place car going home, but the only reason the star cars did so well is because they had full-blown qualifying setups while the top 35 cars did not. I believe if it had not been an impound race things would have looked a lot different on the speed charts, but not necessarily affecting the star cars that made the race and went home.

Another notable development occurring yesterday was not a very good one because it involved Kurt’s car failing post-qualifying inspection – it was too low. He didn’t qualify really well anyway and moving to the back at a plate race isn’t always a bad thing, but I’m a little nervous about further penalties, which that team can’t afford.

I love Talladega, despite the fact that most of my drivers could get caught up in wrecks not of their own doing. It’s fun and it’s good racing. There’s an ongoing argument that drafting isn’t real racing because anyone with a good car can draft, but I completely disagree. The cars are very equal. Drafting takes brains and good reflexes. And it’s very intense! From the green to the checkers, your heart is pounding because anything can happen at any time, anywhere.

Good luck to all my drivers today and I hope they all have fun and stay safe.

Random News Items

Probably the biggest thing that’s going on with our drivers at the moment is regarding David and where he’s going to be next season. Honestly for a while I thought he was going to leave MWR but at this point I’m assuming he’s staying, if anything because there aren’t any other rides to choose from. But I’m still wondering about one key element: sponsorship. No one knows what Domino’s and Burger King are doing and they seem to be taking their time on that decision. The newest development that’s of interest to me is some negotiating between Dale Jarrett, UPS and MWR on what those three are willing to do. Maybe it has nothing to do with David but I think it comes at a coincidental time of doubtful sponsorship for the 00.

I don’t believe Michael would give David a contract with absolutely no guaranteed sponsor for at least a few races. But I also think he’s willing to take a risk with limited sponsorship in order to keep David, in hopes that something else will come along. The latest on DJ and UPS make me wonder if UPS is a backup plan if the 00 can’t get its own sponsor(s). Will Dale run the races with UPS when the 00 has a sponsor, and then when the 00 doesn’t UPS will move to the 00 and DJ will sit out?

It’s rather depressing and I think it will hurt the organization as a whole to have only two full-time cars when its accustomed to having three, but Dale appears to be okay with a part-time schedule and from the way he’s praised David I think he’s happy to sacrifice some of his races to allow David to become a star. It’s definitely frustrating to no end for me as a fan to see David, the best MWR driver by far, having sponsor troubles while Michael and Dale are not…

In other news, it looks like Brandon Whitt will be making an appearance in the Truck Series again at Atlanta! Ironically enough he will be driving for Red Horse Racing, the team that fired him a few years ago (and has subsequently fired David Starr, Aaron Fike – a druggie – and is now searching for a full-timer). It’s only for one race and only because Jason Leffler can’t make it to Atlanta, but I hope Brandon kicks some ass and shows owners (especially Jeff Hammond and Thomas DeLoach) that he deserves a good ride.

Kansas Speedway - LifeLock 400

RACE WINNER: GREG BIFFLE

Our Boys Running Order:
4. Casey (started 16th)
10. Dale Jr. (started 6th)
11. Kurt (started 12th)
26. DJ (started 13th)
30. Michael (started 11th)
31. David (started 25th)
38. DJ (started 9th)
DNQ Brian

Rain, rain, go away. Mother Nature sure is enjoying messing around with these races this season!

I was thrilled to see Biffle get that win this year but the whole “reasonable speed” deal is bothering me. I don’t exactly think NASCAR made the wrong call, but I do understand why Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon were upset. It wasn’t like Biffle slowed a little bit – the pace car was driving away into the sunset and leaving the field behind. I know NASCAR just wanted to end the race, declare a winner and go home because it was dark and everyone is tired, but then they probably should have just called the race a lap earlier for darkness and ended it there.

I’m also irritated because of something that happened to David directly that contradicts that situation. David got involved in the restart-after-the-rain wreck, but didn’t quite get stopped and got going again at what I’d say was a reasonable speed, so in theory he should have maintained his position on the lead lap, right? Nope. He got put a lap down because Kevin Harvick sped by at a high rate of speed and took the lead. So yeah, I went a little buggy over that.

Martin got caught up in that mess too, which sucked and put a good dent in his championship hopes.

There was also a little controversy over that wreck, which in my opinion Michael had a part in creating. He didn’t have a good car and was also having radio problems, but he drove like crazy during that restart and nearly got into Jimmie Johnson, and then drove down very close to Schrader and either made contact or took the air off him. It wasn’t on purpose – just a racing incident – but it just kind of annoys me that some Michael fans are acting like he had nothing to do with it. However, with the way the entire field was racing at that time I’m willing to bet they would have wrecked sooner or later.

David had a good car once again and got totally screwed by the rain, since he pitted while running about 15th and then the race was red-flagged because of rain. Then he got wrecked which killed his chances of finishing well. But…I’m still very satisfied that the cars are getting consistently good every weekend now!

Kurt got a bit screwed as well in something that shouldn’t of happened. Tony Stewart had a bunch of damage from that restart wreck but didn’t pit even though he had wheel well issues. I knew the tire was going to blow. And it did! Jeff Green was lucky enough to see Tony signal frantically out the window but unfortunately Kurt was not and plowed right into him. Tony threw a bit of a tantrum inside the car and I felt kind of bad for him; he also denied interview requests which after his little F-bomb (don’t get me started on that unprofessionalism – is that a word?) was a good idea, especially since he would have likely gone off on Kurt, and then I’d be very angry.

Our Boys Point Standings
- Driver Points -
8. Martin -158 behind 1st
9. Kurt -177 behind 1st
13. Dale Jr. --
15. Casey -218 behind 13th
- Owner Points -
38. Brian -289 behind 35th
39. David -346 behind 35th
41. DJ -726 behind 35th
44. Michael -881 behind 35th

Kansas Speedway - Yellow Transportation 300

RACE WINNER: KYLE BUSCH

Our Boys Running Order:
3. Casey (started 9th)
9. Brian (started 10th)
15. Scott (started 26th)
17. David (started 31st)

I’ll be honest, I didn’t get to see this race in its entirety because I have a life and went out shopping with my mom. With my busy college schedule this semester and the fact that I like to spend my day off fishing, I never did watch this race except for what I saw live. From what I saw on INC it seemed like your typical Kansas race with a few big crashes and some long green runs. I’m glad Kyle won especially because it was a battle right to the end!

It was pretty disappointing that Brian finished 9th after having a car that could have won the race; another one lost on pit road. I don’t like to get on the pit crews because they have a tough job and get so easily blamed by fans for screwing up a driver’s race (meanwhile the drivers get all kinds of excuses), but Brian’s lost one or two already with this team and it gets kind of frustrating after a while.

Other than that it was nice to see Casey have another good run, and Scott and David finished decently but a little lower than the norm.

David’s Points:
1. Carl Edwards --
2. David -696 behind leader
3. Kevin Harvick -122 behind David

New Hampshire International Speedway - Sylvania 300

RACE WINNER: CLINT BOWYER

Our Boys Running Order:
5. Martin (started 2nd)
8. Casey (started 15th)
16. Dale Jr. (started 19th)
25. Kurt (started 3rd)
26. David (started 20th)
43. Brian (started 42nd)
DNQ Michael
DNQ DJ

Despite it being a rather boring race to watch on TV, I was really happy to see Clint get his first win. Other than my boys winning, first-time winners are my favorite victory celebrations. He burned out so hard that he blew the engine and that’s always cool to see.

Martin and Casey had great days!

Dale Jr. was good in the beginning and led some laps but ended up spinning out at one point as a result of the handling going away.

Kurt’s day went downhill when his engine lost a cylinder but I’m glad it didn’t fail completely and that he salvaged a half-way decent finish. He was running very well before his problems so I’m not counting him out of the championship yet. He’s a good one for going on a tear when he needs it the most.

David’s car was a lot better than his finish showed. He got trapped a lap down and was too loose at the start of the run to fight for the Lucky Dog, which ensued in a lot of frustration over the radio. To add insult to injury, when David finally got out in front of the other lap cars the caution never flew again, and with a long green flag run he didn’t stand a chance with so many other cars getting lapped ahead of him.

Brian started in the back and stayed there, unfortunately. He got black-flagged at one point for running the paddle on pit road and that ended any chance of a good finish.

Our Boys Point Standings
- Driver Points -
6. Martin -40 behind 1st
12. Kurt -102 behind 1st
13. Dale Jr. --
15. Casey -229 behind 13th
- Owner Points -
38. Brian -277 behind 35th
39. David -373 behind 35th
41. DJ -699 behind 35th
47. Michael -925 behind 35th

A Few Things in the News...

First of all, the most popular news for sure in the NASCAR world is in regards to Dale Jr. and his much anticipated move to Hendrick Motorsports. This week it was announced that Tony Eury Jr. will be jumping ship at DEI as well and moving over to the yet-to-be-numbered team of Dale Jr.’s! This is very exciting for me because I have a lot of faith in Tony Jr. and also in his pairing with Junebug. Some people think it has bad news written all over it but I think these are a misinformed bunch that don’t know this unique driver/crew chief relationship as well as I do (some are also jealous Michael Waltrip fans who wanted Tony Jr. to come to MWR…like there was ever a chance of that happening!). Yes, Junior and Tony Jr. fight. They yell at each other. They’ve also known each other since they were little kids and are like brothers. They were also in a rather hostile environment called Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Having Tony Jr. will likely make Junior feel comfortable at HMS outright because it will be a familiarity. On the other hand, I’m a little apprehensive about it because I don’t know how either will adapt to Hendrick cars, which according to Casey Mears drive very differently than what he was used to (this is supposing that there will be as much of a parallel between his situation and Junior’s, of course). The learning curve could be shortened with Tony Jr. or it could be lengthened, depending on how quickly Tony Jr. gets a handle on the cars. But in general I’m happy with it. Tony Jr. wanted out of DEI and wanted to be with his cousin.

Some less thrilling news was that Casey will now be driving the 5 car in 2008, not the 25. Selfishly, this is frustrating because he hasn’t had a number for more than a year since he was in the 41! Fans like identity with their driver and seemingly every time Casey gets one it gets taken away the next season. Emotionally, I’m disappointed because he won his first Cup race with this number and it also has personal meaning to him because of his father. I’m a little annoyed that Casey didn’t have much of a choice since the 5 was Rick’s first number, but Junior has his pick of whatever number he wants. Alan Gustafson will be Casey’s crew chief and I’m a little sad about that because Casey gets along very well with Darian Grubb and I’m not happy to see him put to another position. To top it all off, it’s looking like National Guard will be on Junior’s car, while Kellogg’s and Carquest will be on Casey’s (and sorry, but I’m not wearing a hat with Tony the Tiger on it!!). This leads to some fear that Casey is now the least important driver at HMS. But there is also some excitement because the 5 team is a great bunch, so I’m hoping Casey will gel with them and kick some ass.

Lastly is some news that I’m 50-50 on: Todd Kluever is a free agent and will not be back with Roush in 2008. Half of me is bouncing off the walls with happiness because quite frankly Roush has treated Todd like crap. Does he not see that Greg Biffle is running about the same in that 3M #16 as Todd? I think Todd is more talented than his results show and deserves a better team owner. But I’m also terrified that he’ll fall off the radar; a team won’t be interested in him and he’ll go the route of Brandon Whitt and disappear. So if you’re some team looking for a talented, good-looking young driver and you have somehow stumbled upon this blog, pick Todd Kluever!!

Richmond Int'l Speedway - Emerson Radio 250

RACE WINNER: KYLE BUSCH

Brian Vickers: 6th (started 13th)
- A better result was in store, but for some reason the crew was off and kept losing the track position Brian gained. Still, a great night for the #10 team.

- Quotes:
“We weren't too bad tonight -- we were able to get a top-10 finish, but we could have been better. The tires really got us there at the end. I think we could have had a top-five, but our pit stops really hurt us the most. Trent Owens (crew chief) did a good job getting the car better all night long with all the pit stops -- we just got killed on the pit stops. Every time we would get some good track position, we would lose it in the pits. It happens sometimes -- everybody makes mistakes, but that's really what hurt us tonight.”

Scott Wimmer: 8th (started 18th)
- Unlike Brian, Scott had a mediocre car but was benefited greatly by his team’s good pit stops. He made up a lot of spots in the closing laps, which is always a plus.

David Reutimann: 23rd (started 17th)
- A spin during qualifying may have set the #00 team back a bit when they decided not to change tires and keep their starting spot. When the race started, David made contact with David Ragan and cut a left front tire. He had to pit under green despite leaving a formidable debris trail. After his service was done, the caution flew, trapping him two laps down. The rest of the night was a battle to survive till the end. David even got in front of leader Kyle Busch at one point in an effort to gain a lap back, but was eventually overtaken. Not the best showing for the team, but 23rd is not a horrendous finish.

- Quotes:
“We just struggled right from the beginning today. I had a cut left-front tire early in the race and had to come down pit road - that cost us track position and that's ultimately what we had to battle all night. We had a fast car and I think we were able to make a lot of changes to the car, but we could never make up the track position that we lost early on. It's real disappointing because I know we had a car that was a lot better than where we finished.”

- David’s finish was one spot above Kevin Harvick, so he is now tied with Harvick in driver standings.

Other Notes:

- It was great seeing Kyle win. He seemed so emotional in victory lane and appreciative of his team. There have been some tense moments between Kyle and the #5 group, especially Alan Gustafson, and I was worried that the rest of the year was going to be based on that. After Friday night, I am certain that Kyle and Alan will continue to be close friends.

- AJ Allmendinger was running in the top-10 near the end of the race before he was dumped by none other than Todd Bodine. Needless to say, I was not happy.

California Speedway - Sharp AQUOS 500

RACE WINNER: JIMMIE JOHNSON

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 5th (started 7th)
- This team is trying as hard as they can to get back into the Chase but even a 5th place finish and leading fifteen laps still puts him 128 points from 12th in the standings. Kurt and Kevin are going to have to have major problems at Richmond for Junior to have a chance.

- Quotes:
“It was fun, hot, sweaty and car was tight, loose, never perfect, but we worked hard. I am tired, real tired. I am so proud of my guys, they worked so hard and it was so hot this weekend, I am proud of them for sticking it out and giving us a good run. I don't know much about the system (points), never have. Never cared to. I just go out there as hard as can. It doesn't look like we are going to make it but we aren't going to quit trying. Until they say we aren't in the Chase. Just a long day out there, hot, real hot.”

Martin Truex Jr.: 6th (started 8th)
- For the first time Martin will be competing for the Cup Championship, since he only needs to start the race at Richmond to make it! He had a great night at California and did everything he needed to do for the big picture.

Brian Vickers: 8th (started 17th)
- Brian has been Toyota’s shining star consistently throughout the year and this race was no different. He led three laps and was very good all night but unfortunately a carburetor problem held the team back from possibly a higher finish.

- Quotes:
“The biggest thing is we had a carburetor problem that almost cost us tonight. Earlier in the race it cost us 25, 30 spots at one point. It was mainly a steering issue down pit road and when we finally got that fixed it was great. For a while there every time we came to pit road under caution, turning out of the pit box it would stall. Top-tens are what we need. It was good - that's how we are going to make up ground in the points. Making the race and finishing 43rd, we aren't going to make any points.”

Kurt Busch: 9th (started 1st)
- He led twice for 21 laps after starting on the pole and basically had a good solid night to keep him in the Chase, passing Kevin Harvick. Now he is 141 points in front of Dale Jr.

- Quotes:
“The night was really interesting. I felt like our car as the race grew longer we just kept getting looser. I’m not sure what added to that, but maybe we were disguised by our good run at Michigan, but it was 60 degrees out at Michigan and it was 160 today. We were just on the loose side of things. The car started off okay, just every lap we made we kept getting worse and worse. We changed everything under the sun to make the Miller Lite Dodge better, but all in all we’ll take this finish in the top 10. That’s what consistency is all about.”

Casey Mears: 15th (started 13th)
- A pretty consistent day, maybe not as high as he’d like but better than it could have been.

David Reutimann: 32nd (started 28th)
- A great run that turned ugly! David sliced through the field and drove into the Top 10, making it all the way up to the lead during green flag pit stops! It was so awesome to see him running so well and over the radio you could hear the excitement in everyone’s voices. Then the crap hit the fan when Jeff Gordon got loose under Jeremy Mayfield (who was two laps down at the time), and a big wreck ensued that took David right out. He hit Ricky Rudd broadside and then sailed through the grass, tearing up the front of the BK Camry and ending the 00 team’s good night. David struggled on during the remaining laps in a foul mood, which no one could blame him for.

- Quotes:
“The pit stops were great, the car was good, everything you need to run up front. We just got caught up in a deal there. I’m still not entirely clear on what happened. The result was that we got screwed up and we tore the car all to heck and it just kind of screwed our night up. I’m really proud of the guys. The pit stops were great. The car was good. We ran like we should and that felt really good to do that. I mean you’re out there racing guys like Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, guys that are running good and winning races. You’re passing those guys and running up front with them and they’re racing with you. They’re giving you hand signals and motioning to you. I’m so used to just letting those guys go because they’ve been so much better than me. It’s nice to have the shoe on the other foot. I enjoyed the night. I thought I was going to get my first Raybestos Rookie of the Race award tonight but I’ll have to do it next week.”

Michael Waltrip: 23rd (started 16th)
- This whole situation just sucked. I don’t know what happened with the tire rub – if Mark Green couldn’t see in all the haze or what – but the rub was clearly not getting any better and I was screaming for Michael to pit! Then it went boom. It was such a scary wreck with all that fire, but although I think the safety crew should have been a little quicker with the fire extinguisher, they let Michael do what he wanted and get out of the car at his own pace.

- Quotes:
“I was trying to get by Ricky and he moved over. That caved in our left front fender. The tire rubbed and the left front tire blew off. When it blew it took some oil lines with it and those caught fire. The car filled up with smoke and fire. The crew does such a great job at sealing off the interior of the car. I saw just a little bit of flame by the shifter, nothing much. I'm bigger than the car - if I try to get out of the car in a hurry it is disastrous. I just took my time and took my stuff off. Right there at the end is when it started to flame and smoke up and I had to get out in a hurry. That is why I'm so thankful the Car of Tomorrow is here because I just can't get out of these cars in a hurry. I've tried it at the shop - basically I have to take my helmet off to get out. It was a short day for the NAPA Toyota, it was pretty fast before this happened.”

Dale Jarrett: DNQ

Other Notes:

- It was ridiculously hot at California!! 107 degrees, are you kidding me? It made me laugh because one of NASCAR’s excuses for replacing Darlington with Cali was that South Carolina is too hot at this time of year. Yeah, right. I was also oh-so impressed with the amount of fans in the grandstands. It’s not a good thing when you can see the color of the seats. California doesn’t warrant two dates on the NASCAR schedule.

- Congrats to AJ Allmendinger for his best career finish of 18th! It was so great to see him have the finish he’s been striving for!

- Ricky Rudd ended up separating his shoulder in the wreck with David, Jeff Gordon and Jeremy Mayfield, and won’t be racing the Cup race Saturday night. This also makes me question Fontana’s safety, for he is the third driver (after David in the spring and Brad Keselowski) to get into a serious crash here this year.

California Speedway - Camping World 300

RACE WINNER: JEFF BURTON

Scott Wimmer: 12th (started 25th)
- It was really nice of Kevin Harvick to put Scott in his #77 Busch car this weekend and Scott came back from starting from the rear being a lap down early on to a decent finish.

David Reutimann: 15th (started 13th)
- I was a little surprised that David didn’t run better, but you have an off night sooner or later. It was very interesting when it came down to the last lap, and who is David racing to the line like a dragster? Jason Leffler! Leffler got the position, but I was glad to see no smoke or sparks and ripping of sheet metal…I’m all for these two racing hard, but no more wrecking! David dropped back down to 3rd in points behind Harvick, but with Carl Edwards’ continuing problems he is now (only) 657 points from the lead!

- Quotes:
“The car wasn't running as well as it should have all night. Our Camry was capable of running in the top-10, but we had some lug nut issues. On that last pit stop, we came in and the lug nuts came loose as we were pitting . The left rear tire came off and messed up our quarter panel. Overall, it was a good day for the points but we would have liked to give Toyota a solid finish in their backyard. We are going to put this behind us and go to Richmond next weekend.”

Brian Vickers: 27th (started 9th)
- A strong car early faded a bit at the end, which seems to be a bit typical, but he ran well all night until a wreck took him out. Matt Kenseth turned himself across Steven Leicht during a restart and smashed into teammate Carl Edwards, sending both into the wall and, of course, right in front of Brian…

- Quotes:
“Tonight we had a really, really strong car - especially on long runs. We weren't as good as some guys the first 10, 15, maybe 20 laps, but the second half of the run we were strong. We were so fast. Everybody did a good job. Coming in for four tires on the last pit stop was the right call. We were getting ready to smoke those guys who didn't get tires. I don't know what happened, who wrecked who or who got into who. I don't think it was intentional, it was just one of those racing accidents. Toyota has a great car here in the Busch series - I'm glad I had the opportunity to race it.”

Other Notes:

- Brad Keselowski was involved in a horrifying wreck on Lap 69 and it made me very thankful that SAFER barriers are installed at California. AJ Allmendinger was racing hard with JJ Yeley while Brad ran at the bottom of the track beneath them. Eric McClure rode up top, trying to stay out of everyone’s way, but when these four drivers lined up side-by-side disaster struck. Yeley made contact with AJ’s right rear quarter panel, sending AJ flying down the track and right into Brad. Brad shot back up, taking AJ with him, and slammed astonishingly hard into the wall. The 88 soared into the air trailing a curtain of flames and AJ found himself briefly trapped under him. Brad’s rear tire was hung on the wall for a few scary moments before it hit the track again and slid down to the grass. It was evident as soon as Brad began to be helped out of the car by safety workers that he was hurt, and several workers held him up. Brad grimaced in pain the entire time until he was brought into an ambulance via a stretcher and was later transported to a hospital. He was released from the hospital with no broken bones (according to ESPN’s Cup broadcast) – that’s unbelievable! I so glad he is okay, for he is a young talent and in my opinion a perfect fit for JR Motorsports.

- AJ Allmendinger is driving for Ganassi in the Busch Series for several races now, which I think is really cool of both Toyota and Dodge to allow to happen. More than anything, AJ needs seat time and he was doing a great job last night from starting at the rear of the field and making his way forward. It really sucked when he got into that accident, but his post-race interview was nothing but class.

- ESPN coverage continues to make me want to vomit! Not only did we miss all the pre-race ceremonies except the command because of some lame football game, but when the race actually started the booth guys were awful. Brian “Vicker”? “Kevin” Hamlin? Kyle Busch was called Kasey Kahne. Rusty suddenly thought “nervy” was the coolest, trendiest word ever and used it about five times in ten minutes. I’m also getting really irritated when they see one replay of an incident and instantly “know” what happened. Andy Petree really screwed up with the Kenseth/Leicht incident, immediately blaming it all on Leicht. When it was clear from the second angle that Kenseth turned across Leicht, Petree just shut his mouth and didn’t speak another word about it. Learn from the other broadcasters, boys! When you think you know what happened, say, “Well, it looks like from this angle that…” instead of, “So-and-so did this!!”

Bristol Motor Speedway - Sharpie 500

RACE WINNER: CARL EDWARDS

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 5th (started 17th)
- Obviously, Junior is on a mission to make the Chase and you can see it in his driving. He ran up front all day, battled with Kurt Busch and beat him in the end. One thing I did notice, especially after the big deal with Kyle Busch and the commitment line in the Busch race deal, was when Junior was cutting onto pit road for a green flag stop. When he brought the car down, he only touched the line with his left-side tires, hitting the “cone” (orange square painted on the track) head-on with his front bumper. I fully expected a penalty, but when it didn’t come, I was surprised. We know that if you hit the line with a tire, you’re committed and are penalized if you go back out. But what if you barely touch the line or hit the “cone” and come in? I thought you had to be to the left of the “cone” for it to be legal. But…no one else seemed to notice so I guess if it was illegal Junior was incredibly lucky.

- Quotes:
“I want to thank my team. They gave me a great car. I want to thank Budweiser and all my sponsors. We had a fun night tonight. We ran pretty good. I was pretty happy with that. We didn't get the win like I wanted to. It's a nice race track. They did a good job on the track. I enjoyed the new configuration and hopefully next we'll come back here and do a little bit better. I had a good time though.”

- Despite the good finish, Junior still has a lot to make up to enter the Chase. He is 158 points away from 12th place Kurt.

Kurt Busch: 6th (started 19th)
- It wasn’t Kurt’s typical dominance at Bristol, but a great day big picture. He remains 12th in points, 158 ahead of Dale Jr.

Martin Truex Jr.: 11th (started 25th)
- After battling into the top-5, a missing lug-nut penalty put Martin back to where he had started. He clawed his way to just outside of the top-10, but the car ran much better than his finish showed. The #1 team stays 11th in the standings.

Casey Mears: 22nd (started 30th)
- The car’s loose handling made the night a struggle. He fell a lap down after long green flag runs. When the crew could finally adjust the car and make it better, the power steering went out. To make things worse, Casey had to switch to the back-up battery. It was a hard-fought finish and allows Casey to remain 16th in points.

Michael Waltrip: 23rd (started 16th)
- It didn’t look too good for the #55 NAPA team when Michael dropped like a rock to the back of the field for the start of the race. Michael also got a lot of criticism when he fought with leader Kasey Kahne while running two laps down, eventually causing Kahne to lose the lead to Carl Edwards (Edwards, by the way, had to shove Michael out of the way to get by him). I’ll admit, I wasn’t too pleased with Michael, mostly because I was just waiting for him to get wrecked. The commentators speculated that Michael was trying to get TV time since he has had such a bad year. A lot of Mikey fans were enraged by this, but Michael later confessed on Inside NEXTEL Cup that it was true. Later, when a wreck peeled Jeff Gordon’s bumper partially off, Mikey weaved back and forth behind Jeff’s car to help tear it cleanly away (this was just to help, not TV exposure, said Michael). However, despite people complaining about him holding Kahne up, it appeared that the battle assisted Michael in retaining track position. A 23rd place finish is great for a team that’s made less than half the races, so I’m satisfied with it.

- Quotes:
“We fought all night and the highest we got was 23rd -- that's when the checkers fell. We had a good restart there with 30 laps to go -- I got up on the outside and was able to get past about three guys. Then I was good enough to hold them off. We learned a lot today -- we really needed to race our COT in order to get some data. We really haven't been able to race those very often because of our woes early in the year. Tonight was a good night -- we wish we could have finished better. We started off slow, but Bobby Kennedy and the boys just kept adjusting on it and we were able to get it better and better. That feels good when you're running your best at the end.”

Dale Jarrett: 34th (started 33rd)
- They struggled in race trim and fell a lap down early, but that wasn’t their only problem. To make matters worse, DJ pitted outside the box during pit stops and was penalized. Then he got damage on-track which caused a tire rub and a lengthy pit stop for repairs. Just a lousy night.

David Reutimann: DNQ
- Had a good car, but an early draw for qualifying killed him.

Brian Vickers: DNQ
- Early qualifying draw.

Other Notes:

- After the exciting Busch race, the Cup event seemed rather dull and boring. Now, I don’t want any race to have constant wrecking, but long green flag runs at Bristol are pretty tedious. Hopefully, it was just one of those races, and not the new resurfacing not agreeing with the New Car.

- Wasn’t a good night to be David Ragan. Three stand alone wrecks! I guess a bungee cord isn’t a good way to hold the shifter into gear after all.

- I was pretty upset with the accident involving AJ Allmendinger, Aric Almirola and Jimmie Johnson. I understand that AJ and Aric were lapped cars at the time, but I think Jimmie could have shown more patience than he did. He dumped Aric, which put Aric into AJ. Just a really crappy situation for two drivers who really need the track time.

Bristol Motor Speedway - Food City 250

RACE WINNER: KASEY KAHNE

David Reutimann: 3rd (started 10th)
- He was just awesome all night. After fighting his way to the front, he led 33 laps but had to give it up to make his last pit stop. Then he fought all the way back to the front! Unfortunately, his tires had fallen off quite a bit at the end of the race, but he still took part in a thrilling 4-way battle for the lead with Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne and Jason Leffler. Coming off of Turn 4 on the last lap, Leffler got loose trying to pass leader Kahne and checked up. David, apparently remembering ORP, never let off and ran into the back of the #38, sending him spinning across the finish line. I had to laugh a bit, but I was really glad Leffler didn’t hit anything and still got 2nd place. If he had wrecked, it wouldn’t have bode well for David and would’ve just continued their rivalry. I hope that was the last payback David gives Leffler and that this is done. Leffler took it like a man, but he did hint that David was dwelling on their rough battle at ORP. Plus, it is true that Leffler never actually wrecked David there, so David just flat spinning him out may have been a little overboard. Still, such a great run for the #99. I hope they get that win this year. I can tell it’s starting to frustrate David.

- Quotes:
“Our car was pretty good today. Everybody that worked on this car did a great job. We lost a little bit on our tires there at the end, but I was pretty happy. It was a lot of fun.”

- On Leffler:
“He had a run on the No. 9 (Kahne), but had to check up to keep from getting into him. I had a run and got into him. I don't think it had any outcome on the race, like it did with us at ORP. It was a little different.”

- David takes back 2nd in points and gained on Carl Edwards. He is now 690 points from a championship…ha. He is still 6th in owner points.

Scott Wimmer: 5th (started 25th)
- Pit strategy helped Scott get to the front. Once he was there, he stayed there. A good night in the #21!

Casey Mears: 19th (started 24th)
- The night was okay for the #24 team. Casey, while trying to pass Mike Wallace, got loose underneath him and wrecked him. It was just another one of those races at Bristol.

Dale Jarrett: 23rd (started 38th)
- He really struggled early and through the midpoint of the race and went 2 laps down at one point. However, caution after caution put him back on the lead lap and he made up positions for a solid night in a rare Busch series start.

Brian Vickers: 36th (started 28th)
- The team was having a hard time at the beginning of the race, but began improving as the night went on. Brian was just starting to look like he was going to have a decent finish when Kyle Busch insisted on passing him immediately. He roughed Brian up and ran into the side of him before passing him. Brian attempted to go after him and was just inches from running into the back of him when the earlier contact blew a tire and he hit the wall. Night = over. I like Kyle, but I was not happy with that move at all.

Other Notes:

- NASCAR made a big screw-up when they penalized Kyle Busch for violating the commitment line rules during a pit stop. They claimed he had his left-side tires on the yellow line when he swerved away and stayed on the track. He was sent to the end of the pack. However, ESPN showed a replay and it was very clear that Kyle never touched the line! By the time NASCAR realized this, they could do nothing to help the #5 team because the race had been going green. It was during this time that Kyle, probably royally pissed off, wrecked Brian. Kyle made it back to 4th place and likely would have challenged for the win if he hadn’t been penalized. Despite me being unhappy with him, he handled the penalty like a man and didn’t freak out on NASCAR.

- ESPN is a bloody joke. I just couldn’t believe that blackout with 2 to go! Unreal! And then to come back as the checkers were flying to see Leffler spinning and having no idea what was happening was just a classic. Showing a replay of the last two laps was a complete anticlimax since we already knew who won. ESPN, for being such a great sports network, sure can’t spend any extra money on their video and audio quality. They are constantly having issues with sound and video skipping or scrambling. Combine that with their cruddy coverage and horrid pit reporters and you’ve got a great way to watch NASCAR.

- Who knew Bristol could get better? That was the best Busch race I have ever seen there! The new concrete with the progressive banking was just genius. Two-wide, even some shaky three-wide racing! Whether it will translate to great racing with the New Car remains to be seen until tonight, but I was just floored by the success the resurfacing provided.

Michigan Int'l Speedway - 3M Performance 400

RACE WINNER: KURT BUSCH!!!

Kurt Busch: 1st (started 15th)
- Wow! I didn’t expect this sitting down for the race on Tuesday, but I’m not surprised because of the roll this team is on. It’s very exciting to see Kurt and the Miller Lite team clicking so well and beginning to dominate the series after struggling a little bit earlier this year. He lead 92 laps; basically once he got up front he never left, and with the 10 extra points he’s putting himself in a good position once the Chase starts. I also must say that I think Kurt has done the coolest burnouts this year! I’m very proud of the distance this team has come, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing what they can do if they make the Chase (which I think they will). They are still 12th in points, but 163 points in front of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

- Quotes:
“It was a great run for the Miller Lite Dodge. To be able to get the race underway was a relief. I thought we had a good car in practice, and it turned out to be true. We made one big adjustment at the end of Happy Hour and three days later we were able to put it to use. It really turned out great. It was a really smooth and steady day for us. We had to race some guys hard and got to move forward. We led some laps and put ourselves in position. That’s what it takes when you’re running for the Chase, to get in, its just smooth and steady effort. Pat made excellent pit calls. With all the restarts at the end, it challenged me to be my best and to be on top of my game with restarts and feeling the car out. This Dodge ran magnificent in the corners and the straightaway power was Penske/Jasper Power and it was great. It was a total team effort. You can’t leave anyone out. To be conservative is our approach and so far it’s worked out.”

I also loved this speech from Roger Penske!:
“Let me say this. Kurt Busch was a great driver from the very beginning. I was very disappointed in the situation that took place at Phoenix because Kurt did not have a DUI but it was thrown up that way. Then when he was let out of the team it aggravated a situation that we didn’t need. We’ve worked with Kurt. I think he sees the benefit. We brought him in as part of the family. Right out of the box he won a race for us his first year. I think he’s matured as all young men do. I’d rather have a guy that I’m pulling on his belt and having to kick him in the butt. I can tell you that. It’s all about race drivers here. We will work on the personality. We will work on the things you might need to do. I think Kurt appreciates what we’re putting behind him. As we do Ryan (Newman), as we do our other drivers on our team. And he’s delivering. I can tell you it’s making a huge difference. We’re always right on that half inch of being successful or behind. He certainly has demonstrated in the last races here how good he really is. I think he is right at the top of his game. His age, his experience and now with us giving him the tools that he needs he is going to be fine. I think it was the best move I ever made. We hung with him when he was down, face down quite honestly. Remember, we had a beer sponsor too. So it wasn’t the coolest time for me to walk into Phoenix with that going on. But the Miller Brewing Company stood behind him. The team has stood behind him and certainly you can see what has turned out to be a terrific team and some great success to date.”

Martin Truex Jr.: 2nd (started 14th)
- Despite come clutch problems hindering their pit stops, the Bass Pro Shops team was there at the end chasing down Kurt. Martin had little chance of making it was battle for the lead since Kurt was so dominant, but he made a valiant effort and padded his points lead on Chase competitors Dale Jr and Ryan Newman.

- Quotes:
“Great day. I just got to thank all the guys on the Bass Pro Chevrolet. They did a good job today. We had a little trouble. We got up to about eighth there and our last green flag stop the clutch went out and couldn't get off pit road and lost a bunch of spots and that was the best we'd been all day as far the car went so I was happy with the car and it was an easy decision to stay out there at the end. You know I had no clutch, I was going to get killed on pit road so we got some clean air, man, and that thing just went to diggin' so not a lot of fun at the end but I could smell the victory but congratulations to Kurt. He deserved it. It was a great win but great run for us, real proud of all the guys.”

Brian Vickers: 8th (started 18th)
- Brian is proof that these Camrys have horsepower and can be rocket ships when they’re set up right! From the drop of the flag he was picking off positions and by the end of the day would lead three times for 11 laps. Seeing Brian (and Dave Blaney) running so well is very encouraging because at the very least we know the Toyotas are capable of winning races.

- Quotes:
“We had a decent car. We were probably our worst there on the last restart. We were just too tight - we took two tires and no fuel. It was tight in front of us after that and it was just too much. We are definitely improving, we just need to keep working on it. We've gotten better and better. These guys do a great job. Toyota brought a new package this weekend - a new intake manifold - and that helped.”

Casey Mears: 11th (started 29th)
- I couldn’t believe how bad the 25 was at the start of the race – he went right to the very back of the field! Of course ESPN completely ignored this, and only by going on his forum was I able to get any clue what was wrong (which was a really bad vibration). Thankfully the vibration apparently didn’t amount to anything, because he eventually got the Lucky Dog and was back on the lead lap. As much as I couldn’t believe how bad he was at the drop of the green, I was equally surprised when he made his way back into 11th. A great recovery!

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 12th (started 39th)
- Junior had a great car and worked very well with teammate Martin to go from the back to the front. It looked like it was going to be a Top 10 day when a pit road mishap dropped him out of contention. As the Bud Chevy came down pit lane, Junior realized at the last second that he was right beside his pit stall, and he overshot. To avoid a penalty he had to back up, costing him a lot of time on the racetrack. I feel really bad for this team because they’re going to have to run really hard if they want to make it into the Chase, based on the results Martin and Kurt are putting up.

- Quotes:
“A big miscue on my part. Just was watching a car in his stall getting his tire changed and didn't realize that my pit was prior to his instead of after so I missed my stall. My fault totally. My guys have been great all day long. That motor, I can't believe it. It's just like. I don't know where it came from because I've been critical of our motor department in the past but that thing had to have been 20 (hp) better than anybody here, even my own teammates.”

David Reutimann: 23rd (started 12th)
- At first the Domino’s Camry was a relatively decent car and although David had some issues with its handling he remained in the Top 20 for quite some time. Unfortunately about mid-way through the race that went downhill and David became very irate over the radio. I felt incredibly bad for him because the frustration and desperation in his voice was so thick you could cut it with a knife! I was so impressed with Frankie and Shawn because they eventually calmed him down (he was getting so bad that his voice was a few octaves higher than it is normally) and David got back to work. 23rd is nothing to despair about and I think David realized that in the end. As I’ve said many times before, listening to this team is a lot of fun – the chemistry just flows from them.

- Quotes:
“I’m content with the finish we had today in the #00 Dominos.com Toyota. Of course, it’s a no-brainer that we would’ve preferred to finish better, but after three rough weekends in a row it’s nice to stay out of trouble and finish the race”

Michael Waltrip: 40th (started 11th)
- After a 10th-place finish at the first Michigan race, seeing Michael quickly drop to the back of the pack was very disappointing. A flat tire didn’t help and put him in a hole that he couldn’t get out of with an ill-handling car. When he wrecked I thought at first that he had it saved, but he didn’t keep the car stopped once he missed the wall; he turned left and Joe Nemechek crashed right into him. Part of me wishes that Michael just held the brake, but the other wishes Nemechek had been further down the track instead of rather close to the wall. It was just a sucky situation in general.

- Quotes:
"I just lost it. As long as I slid and nobody hit me I thought I'd be okay. But, then I slid and Joe did hit me as I was coming off the wall. I didn't know which way the wheels were pointing out there in so much fog and we spun out there a little bit. I was trying to let everybody get by and I think he was the last one to go by and he got me. I'm okay."

Dale Jarrett: DNQ
- Poor Dale…


Other Notes:

- Rain!! Is it monsoon season?!

- I must admit I wasn’t surprised when Montoya caused the first wreck of the race. And just like I expected, he dove it in the corner like a wild man and thought Blaney would yield…hmm, kind of like the All-Star race?

Michigan Int'l Speedway - Carfax 250

RACE WINNER: DENNY HAMLIN

Brian Vickers: 6th (started 2nd)
- After starting on the outside pole, it was very obvious that Brian had a great car! When the green flew it didn’t take him long to take the lead – he blew by Greg Biffle and showed his muscle. In all he would end up leading 19 laps, but a problem in the pits was the 10 team’s downfall. The crew was having issues putting fuel into the car, causing long pit stops that would kill all of Brian’s hard-earned track position. It was disappointing because he was the best car on the racetrack.

- Quotes:
“We had a great car. We messed up and gave the race away in the pits. We had a slow pit stop - we came in first and came out 35th the first stop, and we didn't get all the gas in the car. The caution came out and we worked our way back up to second - we had to pit and went to the back again. That pretty much did us in. The race was green from that point forward. We charged as hard as we could and we were the fastest car on the race track for most of the race - we just lost too much ground starting at the back and we couldn't make it up. I'm proud of my crew - they gave me a fast car. I appreciate the opportunity to drive this car. We had a car to win - we should have won this race - we just beat ourselves. We had a good stable car. We were really, really good compared to most guys on the long runs. I really believe we could have won this race.”

Casey Mears: 9th (started 13th)
- Yet another great run for the National Guard team! He had a pretty quiet, steady day.

David Reutimann: 16th (started 14th)
- Poor David! He had a really good car and began to show it quickly as he started passing cars on Lap 1 – but then bad luck hit. David Gilliland in the 25 moved up the racetrack coming off the corner just as David was sticking his nose beside his right rear quarter panel. Gilliland never seemed to know David was there, and David let off too late. The incident resulted in a big hole on the Dream Machine’s “headlight” and a killer of handling. Despite the mishap David hung on to finish in the Top 20, which I’ll take because it could have been a lot worse and it could have been a wreck. He gained on Carl Edwards, but was passed by Kevin Harvick for 2nd by a handful of points.

-Quotes:
“It sucked. The 25 (David Gilliland) ran over us about four laps into it like we weren't even there. I was on the outside of him and just killed the front of the car. From that point on we lost all our track position. It was tight on exit and from that point on - our race was over before it even began.”

Other Notes:

- Michigan Busch races seem to bring out the worst in Carl Edwards! On Lap 26 an ill-handling 60 car slipped up a little bit, backing into Reed Sorenson, who had little time to react. Contact was made and Carl spun, thankfully not hitting anything else (although he lost a lap). The situation was a racing incident, but Carl let his anger get to him and drove down pit road to wave at Reed’s crew (like it was their fault), and then in his post-wreck interview he spouted off about the wreck and insulted Reed (he never called him by name, but whether he didn’t know who was in the 41 or he was alluding to Reed’s insignificance, I don’t know). Whoa Carl, chill. You would have probably finished like crap anyway, because your car was crap!

Watkins Glen Int'l - Centurion Boats at The Glen

RACE WINNER: TONY STEWART

Martin Truex Jr.: 6th (started 12th)
- The day was uneventful until the infamous restart on Lap 72. Juan Pablo Montoya was in front of Martin, but a long gear caused him to be slow on acceleration. Martin attempted to pass him into Turn 1. Montoya blocked him all the way to the inside of the track and, because he was holding Martin up, Martin got into the back of him. A big wreck ensued, taking out Montoya, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Jamie McMurray. Martin was unscathed. More on that wreck later.

- Martin is still 11th in points.

Kurt Busch: 11th (started 13th)
- He ran great all day, but in order to capitalize on Dale Jr.’s misfortunes, crew chief Pat Tryson made a call to bring Kurt in for fuel. It was a smart move to avoid running out of gas at the end of the race and put as many points between Kurt and Junior as possible.

- Quotes:
“It was a good day. We worked our way up all the way to second at one point. We tried to be conservative on fuel and that put us in the back of the pack. All those yellows at the end made it too tough to pass.”

- Kurt remains 12th in points, 163 markers ahead of Dale Jr.

Casey Mears: 15th (started 19th)
- Despite getting spun out by the #66 of Jeff Green, Casey had a good solid day. The contact lost him some spots, but since road racing can be very difficult, the finish was nothing to complain about.

- To further satisfy the #25 team, Casey moves up three spots to 16th in points and up two positions to 17th in owner points.

Dale Jarrett: 29th (started 37th)
- Pit strategy put the #44 Toyota out in front early in the race, but a long green flag run forced them to pit and shuffled them to the back again, where he stayed for the rest of the race. Apparently there were some horsepower issues, for DJ claimed he struggled through the esses.

- Dale is still 41st in driver points and 42nd in owner standings.

Brian Vickers: 41st (started 36th)
- Progress was made at the start of the race, but soon the brakes became a problem. Brian spun the car and was hit hard by Regan Smith. The foam that sits inside the New Car’s doors burst and littered the track. The #83 team patched up the car as best they could and Brian was able to soldier on. During a fuel stop, he got busted for speeding and had to make a pass-through penalty under green. Eventually, the transmission gave out, putting the team out of their misery.

- Brian remains 39th in driver and owner points.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 42nd (started 14th)
- The #8 team’s demise came earlier in the week during practice. The car was horrible, causing Junior to over-rev the engine. The crew made whole-sale changes to the car and it ran excellently during the race, but the abuse from practice proved too much for the engine and it blew on Lap 63.

- Quotes:
“I am real proud of my team. We were terrible all weekend but that car was good during the race. It was fun to drive. I thought we were putting on a show, we were working really hard and had something to be proud of and now all kind of disappointed but we will come back next week. We just beat on the motor too hard. I think we was just too rough on it. The motor was good. The car was really, really good.”

- Things aren’t looking very good for Junior now in the points race. He dropped to 14th, 100 points away from Kurt Busch.

David Reutimann: DNS

Michael Waltrip: DNS

Other Notes:

- Okay. Of course I have to talk about the Montoya fiasco. Plain and simple, Montoya put himself in that position. He knew he was slow and chose to block Martin anyway. And the whole, “The 1 hit me!” excuse was a bunch of crap. How the heck was he planning on cutting into Turn 1 that tight in the first place? He hit the rumble strips for God’s sake. I say, he was going to get into Harvick whether Martin hit him or not. As for the whole fight afterwards, Harvick did nothing wrong. Juan was out of the car first and Juan made an aggressive move first. Yes, Harvick did approach him and touch him, but I saw nothing violent when he put his hand on Montoya’s helmet. Not like the shove Montoya gave Harvick’s helmet a second later. Montoya did all the pushing and shoving, even having the gall to try to shove past an official. Gotta give props to Jeff Burton! The moment he went up to Harvick, Harvick cut off the fight. Yeah, yeah – Harvick’s had his share of scuffles. But Montoya marched into NASCAR thinking he owned the series and it’s about time someone stood up to him. I guarantee most of the garage agrees.

- What was with Tony’s nonexistent celebration? No burnout, no fence climbing. What a ripoff, and the boos from the crowd showed the fans thought the same.

- I felt really bad for Jeff Gordon. He looked so upset. It probably wasn’t the embarrassing solo spin as much as realizing he was going to have to explain why he screwed up to reporters for the next week or so.