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What’s Next- The Food City 500, Bristol, Tennessee, Sunday, March 16, 2008, 2:20 p.m. EDT, 11:20 Pacific, Broadcast on FOX.

Track History- This is a .533 mile oval track affectionately known as a “bull ring” or short track with 36-degree banking in the turns and 16 degree banking on the straights. The track surface is concrete, though it started out as an asphalt track.

The first NASCAR race ran here on July 30, 1961. Jack Smith took the checkered flag that day. In the last race ran here, Carl Edwards won on August 25, 2007.Kyle Buschwon the first 2007 race, when the “Car of Tomorrow” made its debut. Shrub will be remembered for saying he thought the car sucked.

Flyin’ Ryan Newman owns the qualifying record at the “Volunteer State” track with a time of 14.908 seconds on March 21, 2003. Cale Yarborough has earned the most poles with 9.

The immortal Charlie Glotzbach ran the fastest race at Bristol Motor Speedway with a speed of 101.074 m.p.h. (2 hr. 38 min. 12 sec.) on July 11, 1971.

20 caution flags flew at Bristol in the Spring of 2003, 0 flew on July 11, 1971.

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1954. Dwight Eisenhower was President, the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn, gas cost about a dime a gallon and Tim Flock set a NASCAR record by winning 18 Cup races. That year, Al Keller won a race in Linden, New Jersey in a Jaguar- the last time a foreign name plate won a race at stock car racing’s highest level.

Fast forward to 1995. Bill Clinton was President, Brett Favre won his first NFL MVP award, and gas cost about half (or less) of what it does today. That year, on March 12, Jeffrey Michael Gordon won his first race at AMS at the age of 23 years, 7 months, and 8 days.

On March 9, 2008, Kyle Busch wrote his name in the NASCAR history books. At a track known for its close finishes, Busch the Younger (also known as “Rowdy” or “Shrub”), pulled away from Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. The win gets Toyota off the snide at NASCAR’s top level, and Busch becomes the youngest winner at Atlanta at 22 years, 10 months, and 7 days (I needed extra fingers and toes to count that one).

It was just a matter of time.

While credit must go to Smoke, Junior, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer for pushing Busch, he was in control in his very out of control way. Even if he whines, even if he’s overly aggressive, even he ain’t the most angelic face in the NASCAR line-up- give him his due. He knows how to race. Right now, he’s scary fast and crazy consistent.

I would be remiss to ignore the skill of other drivers who overcame long odds to break up front. Smoke gained 30 spots to his second place finish in a car he fought with and tires he hated even more. Matty Kenseth gained 30 pots as well to finish 8th- after starting 38th. Don’t look now, but there’s another promising young Toyota driver making noise, and he doesn’t even race for Joe Gibbs. Brian Vickers started 35th, but ran all the way up to 9th, putting him in the Chase if it began today. Kurt Busch and Casey Mears also quietly finished significantly better than they started.

Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne also deserve props. Johnson took another terrible car and managed to pull off a respectable finish (13th). Another racer would have finished 30th or worse. Kahne overcame a nasty early race spin to pull out a 26th place finish. In the old car, he would have wrecked out. These guys get the Rocky Balboa Award for winning a knock down drag out with their cars.

Speaking of the new car,- wouldn’t you agree that it has its merits? It’s a miracle that Elliott Sadler didn’t go after the first caution, but kept his car out there through THREE mishaps before throwing in the towel. An incredible 41 of 43 drivers finished on a day where the tires were a disaster.

Oh yeah, there’s those doggone tires. If enough guys complain, then maybe they won’t go too hard on Tony Stewart for his post-race diatribe against Goodyear Tires. Bobby Labonte tested at Atlanta back in the Fall- I’d be real interested to hear what he might have to say. As it is, I’m afraid the message will be missed because of the messenger- though his point had some validity. Those were lousy tires.

Kyle Busch has looked like a top 5 driver this year. If he keeps it up, me not only win the Cup title, but the Nationwide and CTS titles too.

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You could see the race was effectively over on the last two re-starts. Each time, Carl Edwards-in his #99 Dish Network Ford- took off like a scalded jack rabbit to win the UW-Dodge 400. This makes 6 wins for Team Roush at Las Vegas, to go with a pair of victories each by Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth, as well as Mark Martin, who took the #6 to Victory Lane back in 1998.

Roush Racing did themselves proud. Not only was Edwards strong, Kenseth looked good up until the Gordon incident at the end, Greg Biffle finished 3rd, and even David Ragan got in on the fun by edging Kasey Kahne out for 6th. Jack Roush must have some magic in his hat that he uses for Vegas, because his teams are good to the point of making you think that somebody at the “Diamond In The Desert” must owe him a favor or two.

I was just sure this was Kyle Busch’s race to lose, in spite of the fact that no one has ever won from the pole at Sin City. The younger Busch made me look like a prophet for a bit until the handling on his car went south on him late in the race. Edwards ran with the #18 M&M’s Toyota all day, first overtaking Shrub on lap 21. By lap 117, Busch surrendered the lead, and although Dale Jr. and Jeff Gordon had good runs- today seemed destined to be a Roush day.

It didn’t look that way at first. Roush driver Jamie Mc Murray almost took flight in the infield after a spin-out and Edwards darn near got penalized for a pit road incident involving a stray tire. Fortunately, crew chief Bob Osborne kept a cool head, stayed on top of officials, and they ultimately ruled in favor of Edwards, blaming a TV camera man for being in the way (Dang media types anyway).

There were a record number of cautions as it seems that NASCAR teams are still figuring out how to work the “new” car at Las Vegas. Accidents cut short the days of Tony Stewart (who bit the wall hard on lap 109) and Robby Gordon (victimized by a lfat tire on lap 144), Patrick Carpentier, DaleJarrett, Kurt Busch, and Scott Riggs.

Speaking of Riggs……it was nice to see some less familiar names up front. I thought the Haas-CNC cars of Scott Riggs and Jeremy Mayfield looked great in stretches, and it was good to see another solid performance by Elliott “Rabbit Release” Sadler. It was also weird seeing Ken Schrader up front, though he gave way later in the race.

It wasn’t a good day for Open Wheelers. Sam Hornish, Patrick Carpentier and Dario Franchitti all saw their best laid plans go up in smoke.

I’m glad Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon weren’t hurt too seriously.Gordon had two words for track owner Bruton Smith concerning the inner wall “Safer Barriers.”

Though it was a bummer to see wrecks mess up otherwise good days, there’s no doubt this race belonged to Edwards. The Columbia, Missouri native was just too much. He and his Roush teammates (Kenseth and Biffle) were easily the most consistent cars out there, with apologies to RCR teammates Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick, and the HMS combo of Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

It just hit me- another random thought- no Jimmie Johnson today. Apparently, Johnson was a victim of Murphy’s Law. Everything that could go wrong apparently did to the #48.

This may not have been the best race I’d ever seen, but it was a good one. Today’s outcome springs forth yet more new story lines in a 2008 season that bears no resemblence to 2007.

Will Carl Edwards make it three in a row, to turn At-lanta into Hot-lanta? I wouldn’t bet against it.

From personal experience, I know that sports fans love lists. I got my first taste when SPORT magazine did a list of the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL about the time I was 13 (back in 1977). I recall a scoring formula being drawn up, and my favorite quarterback of the day, Roger Staubach, being on that list. I also remembered having argument with who and wasn’t on the list.

My point being, I also know that sports fans also love to take issue with lists. I will endeavor to come with a thorough analysis of NASCAR’s best to attempt to put sound reasoning behind my analysis.

How did I arrive at this list? First, I identified roughly 20 of the Sprint Cup’s best drivers. There’s really no need to bog myself down with the likes of journeymen drivers such as Kenny Wallace and Dave Blaney- though they obviously possess talent. They’ve never won, so it makes no sense to compare them side-by-side with the likes of Jimmie Johnson or Tony Stewart. I also threw some of the newer drivers out such as David Ragan and Paul Menard, who again, have not yet attained measurable Cup success, though may very well at the end of their careers end up with all the same gaudy statistics of drivers like Jeff Gordon.

From there, I selected six criteria important in driving success: racing skills, strategy, “closing” ability (that ability to charge hard when the driver sniffs a potential win), passion, consistency and equipment. Now I realize strategy and equipment involve other members of the drivers team, but even in those areas- a driver can play a part, and it’s not the only criteria. All six are needed on some level. to be great, and point values are assigned to each driver for each category on a scale of 1-10- with 10 being the highest. Once all those points are added up, then I add up the grand totals for a driver rating.

So without further ado, here goes (in ascending order):

9- (tie)- Kevin Harvick- The man who took over the late Dale Earnhardt’s ride as a rookie in 2001 for Richard Childress in many ways mirrors some of “The Intimidator”’s qualities. As you will see in the scoring breakdown, Harvick received 9s for racing skills and passion. “Happy” is pretty solid across the board, making one wonder why he was not been a bigger winner, though it should be mentioned he is the #2 winner all-time in what is now the Nationwide series. The double duty may be one of the problems. In recent times, equipment issues have definitely hurt Harvick’s stock.

Scoring: Race Skill- 9, Strategy- 8, Closing ability- 8, Passion- 9, Consistency- 6, Equipment- 7 TOTAL SCORE- 49

9- (tie)- Ryan Newman- If qualifying were winning, “Flyin’ Ryan” would be as familiar as Jeff Gordon or Junior with over 40 poles to his credit. Until Newman won at Daytona, he had not been to victory lane since late 2005. Newman picked up 9s for skills and passion, plus 8s for equipment and closing ability. Consistency and strategy (with a dash of bad luck thrown in) keeps Newman from the top, but this is a pretty good ranking for a guy with a baker’s dozen wins.

Scoring: Race Skill- 9, Strategy- 7, Closing ability- 8, Passion- 9, Consistency- 7, Equipment- 8 TOTAL SCORE- 49

6- (tie)- Clint Bowyer- The Emporia, Kansas native is the car guy’s racer with an impressive collection of classic cars and a dirt track behind his home. The fact that a driver this inexperienced is on the list tells you what I think of his potential. Bowyer is very strong across the board, and needs only to learn to relax to become a mroe frequent victor. Oddly enough, though RCR teammates Harvick and Jeff Burton have had some real equipment issues recently, Bowyer has managed to dodge debilitating car-related problems- perhaps another testament to his skill.

Scoring: Racing skill- 8, Strategy- 8, Closing ability- 8, Passion- 8, Consistency- 8, Equipment- 7 TOTAL SCORE- 49

6- (tie)- Kyle Busch- Some people may disagree with me, but I believe “Rowdy” most resembles Earnhardt than any other driver on today’s NASCAR circuit. The 22 year old is extremely aggressive on the track and will not hesitate to try to thread the needle on a pass. With that, I give Busch a 10 for skill and he also gets a 10 in equipment as a member of the Joe Gibbs stable. Working against him are issues of questionable strategy (maturity?), closing ability (he’s been on the wrong end of way too many photo finishes) and Kyle has a low mark for consistency- again brought about by aggressive driving that has led to early exits. Still- on the whole- you can see how good the Las Vegas born Busch can be.

Racing skill- 10, Strategy- 7, Closing ability- 7, Passion- 9, Consistency- 6, Equipment- 10 TOTAL SCORE- 49

6- (tie)- Dale Earnhardt Jr.- NASCAR’s favorite son one of three drivers on the list who gets a 10 for skill. A listen in on the radio tells you Junior is very conscious of everything going on out on the track. Lil’ E is also one of four drivers who gets a 10 for passion, something evident in his speed week performance and many interviews. Until his move to HMS, Earnhardt had bad equipment, but gets a 10 here by virtue of being with Hendrick. Consistency and some very questionable strategy have no doubt played some part in Junior not being a more frequent presence in victory lane.

Racing skill- 10, Strategy- 6, Closing ability- 7, Passion- 10, Consistency- 6, Equipment- 10 TOTAL SCORE- 49

5-Matt Kenseth- While not necessarily the best at anything, Kenseth has virtually no downgrades in any other category other than equipment, somewhat the failure of his team and manufacturer (Ford) in their progress on the “new” car. Nonetheless, the 35 year old has a well-rounded approach and takes very good care of what he has. The 2003 Cup champion has a storied track record for consistency and closing ability. I submit he’d have an even better track record with a team like Hendrick or Gibbs. I’m not suggesting Jack Roush is a slacker, but I would say that his team is behind the curve and Ford’s engines are ponderously weak compared to Chevy and Toyota.

Racing Skill- 9, Strategy- 9, Closing ability- 9, Passion- 8, Consistency- 8, Equipment- 7 TOTAL SCORE- 50

4- Kurt Busch- The only thing that will hamper Busch the elder’s legacy is his propensity to get into trouble. His run-ins with the equally mercurial Tony Stewart and Johnny Benson aside, Busch is another very well-rounded driver. Evidence of the 2004 Cup champion’s skill is his 2nd place finish as Sunday’s Daytona 500 in spite of starting at the very back- 43rd! Kurt is also very aware on the track and rarely makes a bad decision (except when he’s mad). The deal with this guy is he just isn’t weak any ANY category.

Racing Skill- 9, Strategy- 9, Closing ability- 9, Passion- 8, Consistency- 8, Equipment- 8 TOTAL SCORE- 51

3- Tony Stewart- With over 30 victories, “Smoke” is one of NASCAR’s most prolific drivers. A testimony to his abilities are his 2002 & 2005 titles. For his skill and equipment, Stewart gets 10s. In fact, his lowest score comes in the strategy department- a respectable 8. Truth be told, on any given day, this guy is the best- conjuring up in my mind comparisons to Cale Yarborough.

Racing Skill- 10, Strategy- 8, Closing ability- 9, Passion- 9, Consistency- 9, Equipment- 10 TOTAL SCORE- 55

2- Jeff Gordon-Love him or hate him, you can’t deny greatness of a driver with 81 career wins and 4 Cup titles (1995, 1997, 1998, & 2001). The 36 year old from Vallejo, California also just missed titles in 1996 (to Terry Labonte), 2004 (to Kurt Busch) and 2007 (to teammate and employee Jimmie Johnson). Gordon gets 10s for skill, consistency, and equipment. Gordon also gets very high marks for strategy and passion (though that may begin to wane).

Racing Skill- 10, Strategy- 9, Closing ability- 8, Passion- 9, Consistency- 10, Equipment- 10, TOTAL SCORE- 56

And the winner is………1- Jimmie Johnson- You can’t be REAL surprised can you? At this point in his career, the only category where the two time Cup champ and owner of some 37 wins has ANY weakness is in consistency- and even then, Johnson scores an 8. He races hard, he races smart, knows how to save himself for the end of the race, and his victory total tells you that in spite of his laid back California image, Johnson has a fire in his belly.

Racing skill- 10, Strategy- 10, Closing ability- 10, Passion- 10, Consistency- 8, Equipment- 10 TOTAL SCORE- 58

On the cusp: Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Burton

Back in the day they’d make the list: Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte

Making the list soon: Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex, Brian Vickers

Has potential, but it’s late: David Reutimann, Greg Biffle

There you have it. To me it is kind of funny how this pretty closely resembles last year’s Chase. Perhaps What I’m really doing is offering up my ingredient list of how they got there.

I’ll be curious to hear arguments against my list. After all, that debate is what making a “best of….” sports list is all about.

NASCAR’s largest and most competitive Ford team faces a very interesting 2008. With Roush-Fenway Racing you have a very intriguing and sometimes volatile mix of veterans and fresh faces. In 2009, one of these drivers will be looking for a new ride as NASCAR will mandate a maximum of 4 individual racing teams per organization. Who will it be? This is a deep team, and yet it is one not without question marks.

With his his midwestern charm and trademark victory backflip, Carl Edwards is without a doubt the most recognizable member of the Roush garage. Edwards ran away with the Busch Series title by dominating the early 2007 races, easily outdistancing David Reutimann and Jason Leffler. Edwards also ended a long victory drought with a win at Michigan in June and performed consistently enough to make the Chase, though he seemed to have rough spots. Throw in his presence in the Office Depot and Dish Network ads, and his work in the “Fast Cars and Superstars” series on ABC, and it seemed that the Opie Taylor-ish “Cousin Carl” was everywhere.

In spite of his successes, Edwards’ sunny image took a big hit in his altercation with Roush teammate Matt Kenseth in the wake of the Martinsville race. By now, most serious fans have seen Edwards shoving the soft-spoken and mild-mannered Kenseth and taking a mock swing at him on camera as Kenseth prepared for an interview. Through this incident, details came to light that served to tarnish Edwards’ image. First, we learned that though they’re teammates, Kenseth and Edwards rarely speak to each other. Edwards also made himself look like a whiner when he said he felt no support from his teammates. As people began to wonder about the sudden surly tone, fellow Roush drivers Jamie Mc Murray and Greg Biffle suggested this was the real Carl. Though Edwards has apologized, the damage has been done. Discussions on message boards lead me to believe that some casual fans of the #99 Ford have written him off as a phony.

So- who is the real Carl Edwards? Will the chilly relations within his team make the Columbia, Missouri native a pariah and therefore, expendable? Will better success for this organization cover all this? This is a part of the intrigue of the 2008 season.

Perhaps the driver we should really watch is Matt Kenseth. After a non-descript start, Kenseth rallied at crunch time with a number of great late season finishes. Kenseth fostered his reputation as a conservative driver who airs it out at the end. By the same token, with low-key demeanor, the driver of the Dewalt #17 is one of the more invisible, albeit successful drivers on the circuit. Still, I think the 2003 Nextel Cup champion may have momentum going for him that will pave for a great 2008. Part of what will help is that the solid finishes by all Roush drivers at CoT races leads us to believe that Roush-Fenway has caught up with their Car of Tomorrow programs. With his intelligent handling of the car, I suspect that Kenseth will either be a Sprint Cup champ or top five driver.

Greg Biffle offers another veteran presence in the Roush shop. After a rather quiet stretch dating back to 2005, Biffle visited victory lane with a controversial finish at Kansas in September. Like Kenseth, Biffle is not necessarily one of the more memorable faces on the NASCAR circuit. Given that, one can’t help but feel like the 38 year old needs a strong 2008 to stay off the chopping block. Biffle married during the off-season. Hopefully for him, the Vancouver, Washington native will run a more inspired schedule.

Jamie Mc Murray provided one of the real highlights of 2007 with his photo finish victory over Kyle Busch at the Pepsi 400 at NASCAR’s mecca- Daytona. In addition, “Jamie Mac” ran a strong race on the road course of Infineon, before running out of gas and paving the way for Juan Pablo Montoya’s first NASCAR victory. That Daytona victory ended a protracted spell between wins, but at age 31, and with his “pretty boy” looks, you get the feeling Mc Murray will have to be pretty bad to have to worry about getting his walking papers from “The Cat In The Hat” (team owner Jack Roush).

David Ragan’s 2007 was typical of a young NASCAR driver. The driver of Mark Martin’s former ride finished second in points among rookie drivers and had moments of brilliance. By the same token, Ragan was involved in quite a number of crashes and made his share of rookie mistakes. NASCAR pundits talk a great deal about his potential, but the question this year will be “Is it enough?”

Yes- the Roush-Fenway team will offer storylines galore in 2008. We’ll have to keep watching to see if these story line are positive….or negative.

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In today’s competitive climate of sport, one should never take victory for granted. Take NASCAR for example: a racer is doing incredibly well if he wins 20% of the races he enters. 20%! No less than Mark Martin has said to savor each victory, because you never know if you’ve just won your last one.

That’s just wins, not Championships. The fact that a driver as prodigious as Martin has never won a Cup is testament to this. Neither did greats like Junior Johnson, Fred Lorenzen, or Fireball Roberts. Now try wrapping your head around two in a row. Only 8 drivers have done it- Dale Earnhardt went “back-to-back” 3 times (1986-87, 1990-91, 1993-94) Richard Petty twice (1971-72, 1974-75), Cale Yarborough pulled a 3-peat from 1976-78, Darrell Waltrip went back to back with Cup titles in 1981 & 82, David Pearson accomplished the feat in 1968 & 69, as did Joe Weatherly in 1962-63. Lee Petty was the original repeat Champ in 1958 & 59. Today we add one Jimmie Kenneth Johnson, who added a companion Nextel Cup today next to his 2006 title. The company the El Cajon, California native joins says a lot about the achievement.

Before adding more to that, let us tip the cap to “Mr. Consistent.” Matt Kenseth ends his 2007 season the way any driver would want to cap off a season. The 35-year old from Cambridge, Wisconsin ends a great stretch of top 5 running with his second victory of the just concluded season. Kenseth quickly overtook Johnson early in today’s Ford 400 at Homestead and never really looked back. Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman kept Kenseth on his toes, but the driver of the #17 Ford was in control. Given that today was the swan song for Kenseth Crew Chief Robbie Reiser, it seems fitting to end the association in this way.

Reiser has accepted a promotion at Roush- Fenway Racing that will enable him to spend more time with his family in 2008. Though he will be missed on the track, Reiser will be a valued contributor to the Roush team in his new capacity. If Kenseth’s late season run is any indicator, there are great things in store for the Ford team that is home to Kenseth, Carl Edwards, David Ragan, Jamie Mc Murray and Greg Biffle.

The Roush-Fenway team will no doubt be joined by the likes of Richard Childress, Roger Penske and Joe Gibbs  as teams well-positioned to knock Rick Hendrick off the top of the heap. Nothing lasts forever, but I’m not ready to bet against HMS.

Even on his own team, Johnson will have stiff competition. Jeff Gordon is far from finished as a racer, Casey Mears is a capable driver, and there’s guy named Earnhardt will will be more than ready for a re-birth. It’s this kind of friendly and spirited competition that has made HMS great. I think we’ll see Junior smiling a lot more in 2008.

Next season seems like an eternity away. Plenty of time for Johnson to savor a truly historic season complete with 10 wins, 4 victories in a row and one big trophy.

To Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motor Sports and Johnson’s fans- “Congratulations.” This is truly something special.

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It’s like the country singer Jerry Reed used to sing "When you’re hot, you’re hot." NASCAR fans haven’t seen a streak like this since 1998 when Jeff Gordon reeled off four consecutive wins en route to his 3rd Cup title and 2nd in a row. Jimmie Johnson picked up his 4th victory in a row today and a Nextel Cup high 10th for 2007 in the the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Speedway.

For a while, it looked like pole-sitter Carl Edwards had something for the #48. Edwards ticked off 87 laps before becoming afflicted with a little bad luck I sadly call"Junior-itis." With a little hiccup of the engine, Edwards goes from hero to zero.

Edward’s teammate Matt Kenseth once again looked like a potential winner. He was at or near the front all day. But if Edwards caught "Junior-itis," then Kenseth has "Mark Martin-itis." This syndrome is also known as "always a bridesmaid, but never a bride." Sadly Kenseth ran another near perfect race, but unfortunately, near perfect is not perfect enough when up against the Johnson juggernaut.

It’s pure and simple. Johnson is in a zone. I would liken it to the night when Joe Montana completed 21 passes in a row, or when Kobe Bryant scored 81 points. If you’ve experienced "the zone" then you know what I’m talking about. If you’re an auto racer, the events on the track are frozen in time, but you’re still going 200 miles an hour. Nothing can touch you. It’s as if destiny has called your number.

Johnson was at the front or near it all day. Every pit stop ran with surgical precision. Chad Knaus seems incapable of making a bad call. Short runs, long runs, it’s all going Jimmie’s way. Making more smooth the path to victory are the declining fortunes of 2nd place chaser Jeff Gordon.

Gordon just didn’t have it today. Gordon never captured the lead. His car never handled quite right. The #24 Chevy just didn’t have the juice, and compounding his frustration was trading paint late in the race with Kevin Harvick. Gordon was quick to point out in his post race interview that he was fading before the incident, so in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t affect the outcome.

Other drivers looked promising to push Johnson. Tony Stewart made a great late run, as did Ryan Newman. Unfortunately, Newman looked wimpy on the restarts. For Stewart, it was a case of being good, but not quite good enough. Greg Biffle looked great late, but ran out of laps. The same can also be said for Kyle Busch, who was unable to pull a series sweep at Phoenix. 

The open wheel defectors were a topic of much conversation going into today’s action, but they were relatively quiet today. Jacques Villanueve showed us that racing NASCAR isn’t as easy as it looks. A loose car led to a minor collision, but the impact was enough to crash him out. Patrick Carpentier was nearly invisible, running quietly in the back, and Sam Hornish had an inauspicious Cup debut. For these guys, success is measured by finishing the race and not causing trouble. Hornish and Carpentier acquitted themselves nicely today.

The way this season is playing out is disappointing to many observers, but you have to give J.J. credit. He can do no wrong right now. What else can you say? To put in perspective remember that Johnson has won four in a row- Bobby Labonte won a Cup title in 2000 having won four ALL season.

It’s like watching the Patriots or the Yankees win. You may not like it, but you have to respect that they do all the things all things needed to do to win.

Jimmie Johnson is carving out a little piece of history for himself, and we’re all eye witnesses to it.

Did you react the same way I did? I learned of the YouTube footage of the Carl Edwards- Matt Kenseth shoving match after last Sunday’s race in Martinsville and I was more than a little schocked. I’m thinking “What in the name of Richard Petty is this all about?” Well, unless you’re a casual fan or cave dweller, you know by now that this storm has been brewing for quite a while, and the portrayal of Team Roush, as seen in the Dish Network commercials, is not as realistic as we all thought.

My how a week changes things. Until now, Carl Edwards has been largely perceived as this classy, upbeat, generous racer who also happens to be a fairly successful Nextel Cup driver, sitting squarely in the middle of the Chase standings. I mean, who doesn’t like his celebratory backflips? His homespun demeanor has earned him the nickname “Cousin Carl.” Who wouldn’t like this Wally Cleaver type for a cousin? Yes, until now, “The King of Concrete” (he has a knack for running masterfully on concrete tracks) has received a pass for his display of temper with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and a couple of other blow-ups on the track. Now suddenly the leader of the “Young Guns” has a reputation tarnished, and suddenly he’s showing up on “drivers I don’t like” lists on places like Yahoo Answers! alongside the usual suspects- Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick and the like. Hey ya know, given the level of success those guys have had, maybe I wouldn’t mind being that list after all. What gives?

It is my opinion that the concept of teamwork is pretty tenuous to begin with. Let’s face it, auto racing is fundamentally an individual sport. Yes, there is the crew, but they are support for the man who gets the spotlight. On the track, it’s 43 men for themselves. Every race, especially lately where you have Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon running up front, a discussion will come up at a magic moment where commentators will tell you the team concept will go out the window from here on out, and if one teammate has to rub out another, so be it. As it is, we’ve seen the nature of competition test the mettle of the friendship between Gordon and Johnson, as they’ve battled hard against each other for wins. Apparently, the two didn’t speak to each other for two days after the spring race in Martinsville, but obviously they got over it. It begs the question: What are you supposed to do when racing a teammate? Do you give up track position because your teammate is higher in the standings or has more at stake? That seems to go against the grain of good old fashioned competition!

Realistically, all you can expect in my opinion is for your teammate to show you enough consideration not to put you in the fence. The concept of teamwork may also come into play when “drafting” on a Super Speedway like Daytona or Talladega. Otherwise, the only other place I expect to see the comeraderie you see in team sports is in the garage, where information will be shared among drivers, crews and engineers on what’s working out on the track. It also pays dividends with sponsors. Roush Racing (of which Edwards and Kenseth are a part), is a classic example of a team where you see a sponsor like Aflac or Dish Network on multiple cars. The team concept does also have that ancillary benefit getting multiple drivers together in commercials. Otherwise, I don’t think you can expect much more from a teammate. They have their own interests, and rightly so.

I never thought I’d see the day- I have to disagree with Carl on his complaint about team support. I honestly don’t think they OWE him a pat on the back when he wins. It would be a show of class if they did- but frankly I think you’re not going to get that from this personnel group. Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Jamie Mc Murray, and David Ragan are not cut from the same cloth as the guys at Hendrick or Childress. Heck, for that matter, I see better teamwork at DEI. Kenseth and Biffle are lone wolves, and the younger guys in the Roush group are preocuppied with trying to make their own mark in the sport. It’s been said by others that a lot of leadership was lost when Mark Martin left Roush Racing at the end of the 2006 season. This season seems to provide evidence of that.

If ANYONE was poised to be a leader in this group, it was Edwards. Unfortunately, this episode says a lot about what his oldest teammates think of him, and I’m not expecting we’ll hear from Mc Murray or Ragan on this. Instead of being put in a class with the aforementioned racing teams, we see with “Team Roush” a level of dysfunction we expect from Joe Gibbs Racing- home to NASCAR’s “resident rebel” Tony Stewart, and his strong-headed protege Denny Hamlin. It will take a long time for Concrete Carl to regain credibility with his team. To some, it wouldn’t matter.

It does to Carl. For him, this is going to hurt a while.

I had this headline picked out two days ago. The boys at NASCAR didn’t disappoint with a track pounding war at Martinsville. A record setting 20 caution flags tell you all you need to know about what happens when you stack up 43 cars on a half-mile track with a championship and pride on the line.

For all intents and purposes, it’s a two horse race to the finish to Nextel glory with teammates and buddies Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon running neck and neck. Gordon led the way early on, but once again, regardless of some good short runs by Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and even a few moments for Juan Pablo Montoya- one had the feeling that eventually the Lowe’s #48 Chevy would sieze a lead and wouldn’t let go of it. Jimmie and Jeff traded leads and paint, but it was Jimmie Johnson prevailing for win number seven (making J.J. number one in the series for wins in 2007) at Martinsville.

The wrestling match for the 2007 Nextel Cup will continue next week at Atlanta, where Gordon has four wins, Johnson two (including a March 18 this year).

Other observations:

The Pinball Wizards. If this were football, Juan Pablo Montoya and Martin Truex Jr. would be doing serious time in the whirlpool tomorrow. These guys collected more bruises on their cars than a train wreck. If I didn’t know better, I could’ve sworn I heard a collective cheer when Junior gave Montoya a little “love tap” to take the lead. I’d also swear that nearly every wreck in the second half of the race had Truex in the middle of it. If rubbin’s racin’, then Truex and Montoya were racin’ hard.

The Race For Pride. Give credit to Ryan Newman. He’s got nothing to lose, and he’s driving like it. It would be real easy for Rocket to mail it in, but now he has two consecutive top fives to his credit. Junior gave it all he had too. Once again, Lil “E” battled bad equipment, but still put himself in a position to finish well. A tip of the cap also goes to chasers whose title hopes have faded away. I thought Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, among others, raced hard and raced like professionals- though it was less than ideal day. Happy qualified well for this race, and Kenseth had the best finish he’s had in over a month.

Green, white, checkered. Now I am a little tired on this. today was the 6th finish of this type in 2007. I am going wonder out loud if one unintended consequence of the more durable Car of Tomorrow is that perhaps cars that would have been parked in the old days are still out limping along cluttering up the the track at the end. At times- I honestly think there are a few too many guys out there at the end that shouldn’t be. It’s be nice to see a cleaner finish- Pepsi 400 style.

To fans who dislike Jimmie and Jeff, I kinda feel for ya. Yet, let us not forget Clint Bowyer still has a slim shot, and anything can happen.

That’s why we keep watchin’.

Now that was a race! I’m not sure I’d grade it as the best of 2007, but it was certainly a change of pace from the dominating performances we’ve recently seen.

Jimmie faded fast. To make matters worse, he came up lame with a flat tire. Then it looked like Denny Hamlin might break out the broom for a Dover sweep. He fell back and then he and Kype Petty offered up our daily dose of fireworks. A little more intense than the near mishap between Carl Edwards and Jeff Gordon in the pits. It sure looked like Matt Kenseth was going to pull away with the win, then he ran into uncharacteristic engine trouble. Rusty Wallace of ABC/ESPN pointed out this was the first DNF due to engine failure that M.K. had in over 2 years. Then the King of Concrete- Carl Edwards overtook the lead and mastered the Monster Mile for the win.

He had plenty of familiar company near the top. One gets the feeling that Roush/Fenway Racing has a handle on the Car of Tomorrow. we expect Carl to be good. It was nice to see teammates Kenseth and Greg Biffle running up front with him.

We had a little something for everybody- not only did Roush fans have something to cheer about- there was good news for HMS fans too. In spite of finishing outside the Top 10, Jeff Gordon is now the leader in the Chase standings, followed by teammate and defending champ Jimmie Johnson.

Old schoolers had to love that Mark Martin ran well today. He had the staying power to run up front, just not enough juice to overtake the Office Depot 99. It sounds like the furthering progression of the merge between DEI and Ginn Racing is enabling Mark to get better information.

Junior fans had a top 5 finish to cheer about. He couldn’t quite reach the very front, but seemed to run a very smart efficient race.

Fight fans had to get a kick out of the Denny Hamlin- Kyle Petty confrontation. Kyle said something about Denny hallucinating on whatever he was taking for his “flu.” If you ask me, when referencing my post from yesterday- Denny won the batte and lost the war.

Wreck fans weren’t cheated either. We got a mini-version of “The Big One” at Dover. Seems Kurt Busch blew a tire and collected about 11 other cars with him.

Looking back, it’s still early yet, but it looks like a pecking order is coming into view. It is my opinion that Hamlin and Harvick will finish outside the top 10, with Gordon, Johnson, Edwards, Stewart and I’m gonna say…….Matt Kenseth making the top 5.

Shout Out For The Boards- Kodiak 621 at “NASCAR for Dummies” has a great set of files on NASCAR families, and “Women of NASCAR” (I suspect his wife Amanda is carrying some ‘o’ the water on that one). You can see a great love of auto racing history and stats there. The kind of stuff I like.

I get a lot of good laughs out of ‘NASCAR Drivers Rule”. lots of good humor here. Somebody decided yesterday to re-cast “Star Wars” with NASCAR celebs. Imagine Junior as “Luke Skywalker” or Kenny Wallace as “C3PO”? I loved it!

See ya later,

Jimmy Mac