“Anytime you win at Indy, it’s a good weekend.”
-Kevin Harvick

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Earnhardt's DEI team not fretting about contract yet
By BRANT JAMES, Times Staff Writer


INDIANAPOLIS - Nextel Cup's current market clearly favors drivers - any driver.

An expected influx of seven new Toyota-driving teams in 2007 created rides and opportunities for some such as Dale Jarrett, Jeremy Mayfield and Elliott Sadler, who have not won in years. The market has helped Casey Mears and Brian Vickers, who have never won at NASCAR's highest level. Even David Gilliland has major options after one stunning Busch Series win. All have or will switch teams for more lucrative contracts.

So it's somewhat reassuring for Dale Earnhardt Inc. director of motorsports Richie Gilmore that his team's meal ticket is the son of the founder and has more than just a business bond with the organization. Still, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. set to become a free agent at the end of next season, constant but casual negotiations are under way to re-sign NASCAR's most popular driver.

"We talk about it all the time," Gilmore said. "It's different when you work on his contract because it's business, it's family. It's very complicated when you work with Dale Jr. and (stepmother/team owner) Teresa because there's so many different parts to it. It's his dad's business and it's complicated. I know Teresa wants it to be Dale Jr.'s and Kelley's and Kerry's (also Dale Earnhardt's children) someday because that's what Dale built it for and that's in the long-term plans."

Gilmore said he personally avoids the talks though he is the team's highest-ranking executive in the racing operation. Earnhardt Jr. is signed to a typical driver contract, he said.

"Never mix business and family and when you do, you let the family handle it," he said.

Earnhardt has several times entertained the idea of driving the No. 3 Chevrolet made legendary by his late father, but that number is owned by Richard Childress Racing. Still, Gilmore thinks Earnhardt Jr. will remain at DEI. At least, he hopes so.

"It's tough to tell," he said. "You never know how things are going to happen, but you would think so, with the name on the building and the billboard."

STAYING PUT: It's unusual for the often robotic Chad Knaus to offer much emotion or admit something is out of his control. Ultra-confident, and an all-involved leader of one of Nextel Cup's top teams, Jimmie Johnson's crew chief seemed genuinely moved Sunday by a first win in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

Controlling to the point of monitoring his team's wardrobe before flights, Knaus admitted he "didn't know what to do" to reverse the team's luck at Indy coming in, especially when a spate of odd problems - flat tire, dead radio batteries, pit fire - plagued them again. Bad Indy results (36th and 38th the previous two years) had seemingly begun downward spirals and helped knock Johnson out of the points lead both times.

"I did see it as a personal momentum-breaker for myself because it's something that we had not been able to conquer," Knaus said. "So I just wanted to come here and try to make peace with it, you know?"

The win came on the same weekend of his 35th birthday and the announcement that he had been extended with Hendrick Motorsports through 2010.

Knaus said team owner Rick Hendrick had turned him into "a great adult and helped me become a great leader."

Knaus used those leadership skills to turn away several Hendrick employees, he said, who had left for the new Toyota Nextel Cup program, then asked to return.

"Hopefully they'll tell the others on the team and nobody else will want to leave," he said.

SPARK PLUGS: Speed Channel reported Sunday that Mark Martin has been offered $8-million by either Ford or Roush Racing not to retire after this season as planned because of the upheaval within the manufacturer's program and the entry of Toyota in 2007. Robert Yates Racing is in disarray with Jarrett and Sadler leaving and the manufacturer wished not to rely on too many unproven younger drivers, the report said. Martin wanted to retire from full-time Cup competition after last season but returned after Kurt Busch's departure left Roush in a pinch. ... By unofficial estimate, fewer than 225,000 attended the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, the lowest figure in the race's 13 years. Empty rows were visible all around the track, and radio stations and hawkers were peddling tickets aplenty on race morning. ... Bill Davis Racing director of competition Tommy Baldwin said driver Dave Blaney is likely to return next season in the No. 22 Dodge.

'Talladega Nights' wins by a car length
By TOM SORENSEN
The Charlotte Observer


"Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby" is not as funny as some of Will Ferrell's previous work. It's not as funny as "Old School," "Anchorman" or "Zoolander."

But it's better than "Days of Thunder," the Tom Cruise NASCAR movie made 16 years ago. And it's considerably better than "Shallow Hal," the worst movie ever filmed in Charlotte even though I know a bartender who appeared on screen for close to two seconds.

And it's better than "Kicking and Screaming," the worst Will Ferrell movie ever made but still better than "Shallow Hal."

Were there structural problems with "Talladega?" Sure. The only character who runs around in underwear is Ferrell's Ricky Bobby. Yet even though I know I'm not supposed to like the movie because I, you know, finished high school, I liked it.

I liked it because Ferrell is funny. And because it was cool to see on the big screen a restaurant at which I've eaten, the one at Park Road Shopping Center that changes names more than some restaurants change menus. In real life, it is Quaker Steak and Lube. In reel life, it is The Pit Stop.

It was cool to see Lowe's Motor Speedway. I watched "Talladega Nights" film a scene there in which fans besiege Ricky Bobby for an autograph. Alas, the scene lacked verisimilitude. The actors weren't sufficiently desperate.

But I'm biased. I wanted to like the movie. I spent a little time around Ferrell at a Charlotte Bobcats game and he was a regular guy who neither craved attention nor felt compelled to put on a show.

And I respect NASCAR for giving him access. Some major sports entities cling to an image, and if anybody attempts to sully it, they step in and on the perceived offender.

In 2003, ESPN ran a compelling series, "Playmakers" about a fictional NFL team. The show featured drug use and players who were with women who were not their wives.

Despite this, it was a blatant exaggeration, and the only viewers entitled to believe the series accurately depicted the NFL were 10-year-olds who shouldn't have been watching anyway.

The NFL couldn't handle the criticism. ESPN couldn't handle the NFL's criticism and, after 11 episodes, yanked it.

NASCAR knew "Talladega Nights" would be a tribute to stock car racing the way "Old School" was a tribute to education. But NASCAR was secure enough to crank up its engines and hand Ferrell the keys.

And if you think mindless humor in an air-conditioned theater remains valid in the summer of 2006, that's a good thing.

I laughed out loud at least 10 times, several of them during a scene in which Bobby says grace. It is the funniest pre-meal prayer scene I have witnessed.

And when Bobby talks about becoming a crack dealer, and says he'll be a nice one and not a mean one and just walk up and say, "Hey want to buy some crack," you know what that's called? That's called funny.

Yes, I was the only customer guffawing. But that's because I had the most sophisticated sense of humor in the entire theater.

Drivers' wrecks an age-old issue in NASCAR
By JIM PEDLEY
Kansas City Star


INDIANAPOLIS - Some of the drivers in the Nextel Cup series these days are so young that they have virtually no hair on their faces.

And even less experience with the series' cars and tracks.

Putting younger drivers in top-end equipment is a good trend, some NASCAR types say. Others say it's bad, and some say it's irrelevant.

About the only thing they agree upon is that on-track incidents are on the rise and that young drivers are taking much of the heat.

The situation has been simmering for some time. During the last Cup race two weeks ago at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania, it exploded.

About 30 laps into the 500-mile race, defending NASCAR champion Tony Stewart was involved in a wreck with Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer, who are in their second and first full seasons in Cup, respectively.

Stewart said afterward that young, inexperienced drivers were not engaging in give-and-take on the track. He said that they were driving in the Cup series the way they drove in the Busch series - which was without patience.

Stewart later took responsibility for the wreck. But he did not back off on his assessment of the role of young drivers.

"The age keeps getting younger and younger," Stewart said. "You can't blame them. They're 19-, 20-, 21-year-old drivers that want to go out, and they've got cars and talent that can win them races. But they don't realize that what happens in the first hundred miles or first laps of the race really doesn't mean anything. You're just really working on your car and trying to work on your equipment and get yourself in a position at the end of the race to win.

"It's a problem that's getting worse."

Others say that there have always been inexperienced drivers who have had run-ins with veteran drivers.

"I would be willing to bet that Cale Yarborough was pretty ticked off about somebody being young and aggressive," driver Jeff Burton said. "It's part of the sport. It is part of what we do. It is an aggressive sport."

Richard Petty, who won 200 races during his 32 years in NASCAR's top series, agreed with Burton. He said when it comes to inexperienced drivers making trouble for inexperienced drivers, nothing has changed.

Well, almost nothing.

"The big difference is the press coverage," Petty said. "Guys (back then) could go off and argue by themselves. Now, they can't go to the bathroom" without being approached by reporters.

Asked whether he ever had a veteran driver complain about him when he was inexperienced, Petty said, "Not to me."

For years and years, NASCAR conducted rookie meetings at which the young drivers would, basically, be lectured by a veteran driver.

Over the last couple of years, those meetings have been scrapped.

Would they come in handy today?

Probably not, Burton said.

"Darrell Waltrip conducted my rookie meetings," Burton said. "I didn't learn much, but he was quite a comedian."

Burton said there is probably no need for rookie meetings anymore. He said with all the multicar teams in the series, the young drivers have veterans to turn to in their own race shops.

It's tough to have a discussion about give and take on the track these days without somebody bringing up the name of Mark Martin, who most agree is one of the fairest drivers in the series.

Asked his opinion about aggressive young drivers, Martin said, "There's a lot of competition and we have a lot of great drivers and a lot of great cars, and we have a number of young drivers that are very optimistic about what they can do, so it makes it interesting out there."

But problematic? Not for Burton.

"You know at Talladega and Daytona, we (veterans) cause all the wrecks," Burton said. "I don't see young drivers causing issues on the racetrack. I just don't see it."

Stewart continued to disagree - and hold a grudge.

He said that he and fellow Indiana native Ryan Newman got together for a little fishing this week. Stewart was then asked whether Edwards, who issued a payback at Pocono by spinning Stewart out in the pits, was invited on the trip.

"No," Stewart said. "We invite him to tie the anchor on the bottom half of the rope."

Indy
A weekend at Indy usually gives answers, but we have questions
By Mark Spoor, NASCAR.COM


... is there anything we can do to keep the Tony Stewart/Carl Edwards feud alive?

Gosh, I hope so. Maybe Stewart can sneak into Edwards' RV while he sleeping and slip his hand in some warm water, or something.
 
It's about time that a couple of guys didn't go from hating each other to loving each other in six or seven days. Sure, it makes us feel all warm and fuzzy, but NASCAR, and sports in general, aren't supposed to be warm and fuzzy all the time.

And any time you can do it with comedy, all the better.

How many folks were left shaking their head when Stewart referenced Eddie Haskell? How great -- and unintentionally hilarious -- was it to see Mr. Ovaltine call someone a "moron"?

As I often do, I see this matchup much like I saw pro wrestling as a kid. You have Edwards as the smiling babyface, or "good guy" being taunted by the quick-witted and slightly evil heel, played expertly by Stewart.

If you were a WWF fan in the early '80's, think Bob Backlund against The Magnificent Muraco. Now if we can just get Vince McMahon to promote a pay-per-view cage match between Stewart and Edwards, we'd really have something.

... wouldn't John Madden make a great NASCAR color man?

As I'm writing this column, I'm listening to Madden call the Hall of Fame Game on NBC. Since the race just ended a couple of hours ago -- and I'm writing this column -- I have NASCAR on the brain. Imagine Madden calling a Big One at Talladega or Daytona.

Well, Stewart comes up here near the wall and BOOM he goes into Kurt Busch and BANG Busch takes out half the field. I'll tell you something Bill, nothing will upset a guy more than when he goes flipping through the air like a football headed for a goalpost from 60 yards out.

OK. Maybe not.

... will Jimmie Johnson's win Sunday serve as a catalyst for his first championship?

The numbers suggest it will. Five of the 12 previous Brickyard winners have gone on to win the Cup championship in the same season. In my mind, the jury is still out. After all, Johnson has had dominant summers before. The key will likely be five or six races into the Chase. Can Johnson hold a lead that is 20 points as opposed to a lead that is 90 or 100 points?

Almost as importantly, can he handle getting asked if he's going to finish the job this year about 150 times between September and November?

... will Talladega Nights become one of those movies that guys quote when they're out with the boys?

If you're a guy, you know exactly what I'm talking about. You're sitting around with your buddies, wondering who's going to buy the next round or if Smitty really just ate 150 wings all by himself. Suddenly, you notice that Smitty is wearing a periwinkle shirt with peach trim. Since he's 260 pounds, it's not a great look.

Savoring the moment, you bellow, "When you buy a shirt like this, I bet you get a free bowl of soup.

"Oh, it looks good on you though."

Instant thunderous laughter ensues from the rest of the table while our boy Smitty is left only to hang his head in shame and pile in some more blue cheese.

As far as Nights goes, there are some potential classics in there. "Help me, Jesus. Help me, Tom Cruise," or "I can't control my heart rate. I've got a cougar on me," or "If you're not first, you're last" have potential.

Sadly, I think Nights is doomed to the dreaded Jerry McGuire of quotedom, where everyone and their brother, even people that didn't even see the movie, were screaming "Show me the money" or worse yet, "You complete me" at every opportunity for a year, then never again.

Time will tell.

Why does Tony Kanaan walk down the street with only a container of caramel in that Reese's commercial?

If you're walking out of a coffee shop and you see some guy walking down the street with a container of caramel -- that's actually labeled "caramel" and he's saying "mmmmmm caramel," you're calling for a group of guys with white suits on.

Why is poor Kanaan subjected to this? Was the check really that big?

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.

Breaking point: Indy could influence Chase
Brickyard dramatically changes bottom half of point standings
By Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM
 

SPEEDWAY, Ind. -- Separate last-lap crashes involving Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle in Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard did more than bend up a couple of fast cars.
 
They put serious dents in both drivers' chances at the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

While the cars can be repaired to run again, Kahne's 36th-place and Biffle's 33rd-place finishes may be more than either driver will be able to overcome with five races remaining before the Chase.

Both drivers started up front and fully expected to make gains with good finishes. Instead, they came away frustrated from Indianapolis with golden opportunities lost.

Kahne gave up four positions in the standings, dropping to 37 points behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the 10th and final spot in the Chase. Biffle, who had hopes of moving back into the top 10, is now 12th, 122 points behind Junior.

The beneficiaries of Kahne and Biffle's misfortune Sunday were Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Earnhardt -- all of whom had to consider themselves lucky to not be in the same situation, after each had their own troubles.

"It's unfortunate we're dwindling out of the Chase hunt, but that's the way it goes," Biffle said.

"I haven't seen the points, but I imagine it puts us in it pretty deep," Kahne said. "We've been trying hard, but we haven't had the best of breaks in probably the last two months."

After taking four tires on the final round of pit stops, Biffle restarted 12th. Unfortunately, while the cars of Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick were able to pick their way to the front, a frustrated Biffle was mired in the pack.

"Track position [Sunday] was way more important than tires, and we decided to put four tires on instead of keeping track position," Biffle said. "It cost us, obviously. Just cost us our finish."

On the final lap, he ended up in a no-win situation -- behind a spinning Robby Gordon with nowhere to go.

"I don't know what happened," Biffle said. "I saw the No. 7 spinning out and he hit me. There was nothing I could do about it."

Kahne seemed to have a car worthy of winning Sunday's race early on, as he battled Jeff Burton for the lead. But in the middle of the race, Kahne began sliding back.

"We have a chance to win every race after practice and you get in the race and you can't do anything," Kahne said. "That's just the way our cars have been lately. We haven't figured it out.

"It makes you mad. You want to race good."

Instead, Kahne found himself going hood-first into the wall when the racing got rough.

"I was trying to get in a battle with all those guys for position, sixth, seventh, eighth," Kahne said. "I had to block [Carl] Edwards and come back to Stewart. Trying to pass Stewart I got loose and then I just tried staying off Tony, I guess I ran into the wall.
 
"It hurt. It still hurts, but that's racing. I can't believe it happened. We battled that car, battled the tires, battled everything all day trying to get a top-10 and didn't make it back."

Gordon, Stewart and Earnhardt somehow made it back, as each picked up one precious position in the standings despite their own misfortune.

Gordon was down as many as three laps to the leader after replacing a broken sway bar bolt before the race was 20 laps old. Finally getting back on the lead lap after the Lap 87 caution, the four-time Brickyard winner wound up a happy 16th, moving up one place in the standings to eighth.

"That was one hard-fought 16th," he said. "To have a car as good as ours and not be able to race up front for the lead and for those top positions is pretty frustrating. I guess we should just be fortunate we got back on the lead lap."

Stewart dropped as far back as 36th after making an extra pit stop to tighten loose lugnuts. He avoided the aftermath of Kahne's accident to finish eighth, putting him ninth in the points.

"I think we passed 60 cars or more [Sunday], so I'm pretty happy with it," he said. "We went to the back and battled our way back into the top 10.

"This is not how we wanted this day to go, by any means, but to have us get back into the top 10, it was an awesome day for us."

Earnhardt's sixth-place finish was easily the most amazing of the three. Mired deep in the pack all day and seemingly little hope of a decent finish, the No. 8 team decided to stay out when the leaders pitted on Lap 143. When the green flag came out again with 13 laps to go, Earnhardt was second behind Kyle Busch.

Track position paid off, as Earnhardt was able to hang on for sixth and put himself back into 10th place in the standings.

"We took a chance and made it work and we just got lucky," Junior said. "We're thanking the Lord tonight."

Indy
By B. Duane Cross, NASCAR.COM

Today's quiz is multiple choice: Which driver has scored the highest average points in his Cup starts this year? (Answer below)
A) Travis Kvapil
B) Tony Raines
C) Michael Waltrip
D) Scott Wimmer

Mikey failed to qualify for a second race this year, and after a mulligan at Charlotte there would be no Part Deux; NAPA did not "buy" another driver's ride so Waltrip could tool around in 31st place at Indianapolis. The No. 55 is 39th in owners' points, 264 points out of a guaranteed spot in the Daytona 500.

Racing aficionados and movie buffs can bid on and buy four of the "prop" race cars driven by Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly and Sacha Baron Cohen in the filming of "Talladega Nights." 
 
Instead, the face of Toyota '07 spent Sunday glad-handing (and watching Bill Elliott finish 21st in the Michael Waltrip Racing No. 00).

Sunday also marked the end of a 940-race streak with a Waltrip -- Mikey or ol' D.W. -- in the starting lineup. The streak began at Riverside on Jan. 18, 1976, when Gerald Ford was still in the Oval Office. ... In the meantime, we've had five presidents -- or, one more than the number of Cup wins for Michael.

Does it get any better next weekend? Of the 13 active tracks at which Michael Waltrip has started at least 20 races, he has led the fewest laps at Watkins Glen (16 of 1,701 laps).

Maybe Waltrip has too many irons in the fire -- driver, owner, corporate pitchman for everything except The Clapper. Maybe too much time is being spent doing this that and the other. Whatever the case, he hasn't had a top-10 finish since Michigan on June 19, 2005 -- 41 starts ago.

Fact is, Waltrip's career is back-sliding:
1985-2000 -- average finish 20.4
2001-05 -- average finish 21.2
2006 -- average finish 31.1

Or maybe after 22 years Father Time has caught up with Mikey. ... Maybe he should shill for Time.

Answer: Raines -- 118.06 | Kvapil -- 94.88 | Waltrip -- 85.75 | Wimmer -- 75.35

Again, not picking on Mikey; just the facts, ma'am.

• Jimmie Johnson pocketed $452,861 with his victory at the Brickyard, bringing his season total to $6,412,081, the fourth-highest season total -- and still 15 races remain. With an average take-home purse of $305,337, JJ is on pace to become the first $10 million driver in NASCAR history.

Of course he'll have to win several races to make a run at $10M; there are no more Daytona and Indy paydays left on the schedule.

Johnson's fourth victory of the year ties him with Kasey Kahne, and it was JJ's 22nd career win, breaking a tie with Bobby Labonte, and tying him with Terry Labonte for 26th all-time, one behind Ricky Rudd.

• Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be the first NASCAR driver to appear as an in-studio guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central, 11 p.m. ET Thursday (repeats throughout Friday).

The Daily Show appearance is part of a full day in New York for Earnhardt, who also will join boxing champion Arturo GATT at the Budweiser One Night Stand music event at Mulcahy's on Long Island (8 p.m. ET). Fans will be able to watch a live webcast of the event at www.budweiser.com.

• Congratulations, Robby Gordon. By finishing 35th on Sunday you helped set the record for the most cars on the lead lap for a completed 400- or 500-mile race. (Break out the bubbly!) ... On the down side, it was RG's 100th consecutive race without a victory (Watkins Glen, Aug. 10, 2003).

But that's still not as tough a stretch as Ken Schrader has endured. Sunday was the 500th consecutive start without a victory for Schrader, whose last victory came June 3, 1991, at Dover. (But that Little Debbie commercial is hilarious, dude.)

• Pole-sitter Jeff Burton and rookie Clint Bowyer gave car owner Richard Childress a first front-row sweep at Indianapolis. It was the second time that a manufacturer has won the top-two starting positions at Indy (Ricky Rudd and Darrell Waltrip started 1-2 in Fords on Aug. 5, 2000).

Say Anything

"Your nickname on Sex & the City was 'Mr. Big.' That's funny, that's my nickname around here."

"Mr. Big what?"

"Mr. Big Mouth."

-- Pre-race banter between Wally "0-for-226" Dallenbach, who apparently can talk a big game, and actor Chris Noth

Figuratively Speaking

34.3 -- Greg Biffle's average finish in three races at Watkins Glen, the worst among all active drivers with at least two starts at the serpentine track. His finishes: 30th, 35th, 38th.

Fast Facts

• Clint Bowyer's fourth-place finish is his career best and sixth top-10 finish this year. It also marked the fourth time this season that Bowyer has been the highest-finishing rookie. At least one rookie has a top-15 finish in all 21 races this season.

• Jeff Burton has 15 consecutive top-15 finishes, a streak that began at Texas in April, and he has scored more points in the past 10 races than any other driver. Meanwhile, RCR teammate Kevin Harvick has posted five consecutive top-10 finishes.

• Start me up! At Watkins Glen ...
Dale Jarrett is expected to make his 625th Cup start;
Jeff Burton is expected to make his 425th Cup start;
Kevin Harvick is expected to make his 200th Cup start.

Up Next
Watkins Glen | 1 p.m. ET Sunday | NBC

• Three of the past six qualifying sessions at Watkins Glen have been rained out, including each of the past two seasons.

• Mark Martin's 6.22 average finish at Watkins Glen is tops among all active drivers. He has 17 top-15 finishes in 18, including 16 top-10s.

• Tony Stewart has won three of the past four races at Watkins Glen, while Robby Gordon has five top-five finishes in seven races at the track.

Mailbag

My wife is in the Air Force and we just received orders to Great Britain and we were wondering if races are shown there and what the time frame might be? We don't want to miss three years of NASCAR. Can you help please? We are going to Menwith Hill.
-- DOMD28

Hope this helps. NASCAR is broadcast in the UK on the following networks:

American Forces Network -- Cup, Busch and Truck events
NASN -- Cup races live (and repeats)
Channel 5 -- Weekly one-hour Cup program
Motors TV -- Busch races live (and repeats)

Inside the Numbers

Estimated ticket sales for Friday-Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.
No. Movie $$$

1. Talladega Nights $47
2. Barnyard $16
3. Pirates of the Caribbean $11
4. Miami Vice $9.7
5. The Descent $8.8
6. John Tucker Must Die $6.05
7. Monster House $6
8. The Ant Bully $3.9
9. The Night Listener $3.6
10. You, Me and Dupree $3.6
 
* -- Earnings in millions
 
FYI: Menwith Hill is the largest electronic monitoring station in the world. It is one of a global network of Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) bases run by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), which monitors the world's communications and relays information to NSA HQ at Fort Meade, Md.

My wife, our friends, families, etc. are all big NASCAR fans and we were excited to see Talladega Nights. The trailers were some of the funniest I have ever seen. Got tickets for the first night and I will tell you ... everybody I was with kinda chuckled here and there, kinda squirmed in our seats here and there, and were all of the consensus that the outtakes at the end were the only thing worth seeing. I am the first one in line to poke fun at myself, but where I think this movie completely loses it is that NASCAR fans are good people. ... It doesn't hit to close to home, it hits another planet. NASCAR fans are crazy, but they aren't stupid. They are fanatics, but not idiots. They are God-fearing, not sacrilegious. Anyway, I know it is not popular to not like Ricky Bobby's movie, but it sucked.
-- Roger

I reckon red is the new green; Talladega Nights raked in a box-office topping $47 million in its opening weekend. Personally, I thought the movie could have used more cowbell.

At about Lap 110 of the Brickyard 400, I informed my wife that from now on I'll be free on Sunday afternoons. I will be taping the races and fast forwarding through the commercials that NBC cuts to every 5 laps. If I'm only going to be able to see half the race, I want to do it in half the time.
-- Dan

I tried to watch Sunday's Brickyard 400, but between the commercials, I didn't see much. This is ridiculous. Less than two minutes of racing followed by commercials ... over and over again. I know that advertising pays the bills, but this is just unacceptable. NASCAR needs to do something about this before fans just abandon the TV coverage. This isn't just the usual commercial breaks, this is greed. NBC's coverage is, at best amateurish; maybe that's why they run commercial after commercial. I'm not the only one who's noticed it, either. Several co-workers have mentioned it, and some have quit watching, it's that bad.
-- John

Have you gotten any other e-mails mentioning what appears to be an extremely high number of commercials during the last couple races? I didn't notice it as badly during the FOX broadcasts, but Sunday was horrible! At times they didn't even get a complete lap in before jumping back to another commercial. All I have to say is, I'll start TiVo'ing the broadcast and watching it later if the clowns at NBC don't show us more racing!
-- Janet

No, haven't heard a word about too many commercials ...

Get in the Loop

From NASCAR's Loop Data: Earlier this season, Kasey Kahne captured four victories -- his last coming at Michigan in June -- and was solidly in the top 10 in the series standings. Kahne -- who has been in the top 10 since the second week of the season -- has now fallen to 11th place and is heading to a track (Watkins Glen) where he has faltered in the past.

Kahne's four victories came in the first 15 races of the season. During that span he led 368 laps and had the fastest lap 349 times. Kahne also ran 71.7 percent of his laps in the top 15. This strong performance helped him amass a Driver Rating of 98.9 through the first 15 events.
 
Kahne began to struggle at Sonoma, where he finished 31st -- a preview of things to come. In the past six races he has only one top-10 finish (eighth at New Hampshire). Kahne's dismal finishes have given him an average finish of 25.7.

More surprising has been Kahne's inability to run with the leaders. He has led only one lap and has been in the top 15 only 42.7 percent of the time. Kahne's driver rating now reflects his adverse performance; his rating of 70.3 ranks 19th among drivers with at least five starts in the past six races.

The most telling statistic for Kahne maybe his average point gain: For the first 15 events Kahne averaged 136.7 points per race, in the last six events he has only averaged 87.3 points per race.

Fantasy Perspective

Can Kasey Kahne make up any ground next weekend? The three drivers in front of him in the point standings:

• Eighth-place Jeff Gordon holds the NASCAR record with nine road-course victories. He has 17 top-10 finishes in 27 road-course races, and has led 612 laps, fourth all time.

• Ninth-place driver and defending race winner Tony Stewart has competed in seven races at Watkins Glen, with three victories and five top-10 finishes. He has a 7.428 average finish at the track. Smoke has five wins and nine top-10s with a 9.066 average finish in 15 career road-course races.

• Tenth-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. has three top-10 finishes in six races at Watkins Glen, and was 10th in this race one year ago (his third consecutive top-10 finish at the track). He has a 17.5 average finish at Watkins Glen, and all three of his career top-10s in 13 starts on road courses have come at The Glen.

Of course all of this would be moot had the yellow been shown after the Greg Biffle / Robby Gordon dust-up on the last lap at Indy.

And Finally ...

• As a Green Bay Packers shareholder, the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday was emotional. Was there a dry eye as Reggie White's bust was unveiled? "It's not how we die, it's how we live," said Sara White, the widow of the Minister of Defense.

Joe Gibbs and Reggie White collaborated on the Joe Gibbs Racing diversity program, which traces its roots back to May 2003. JGR and White formed the diversity program to create a grassroots stock car team to assist minorities with motorsports aspirations. Aric Almirola was an original driver with the program, and 16-year-old Marc Davis is the team's current driver.

"I think Reggie would be very, very proud of the program and the people representing it," Gibbs said in a statement released by the team.

• Welcome to the World Wide Web, Portland. My left-coast connection -- Primetime with Ian Furness and Jason "Big Suke" Scukanec -- is now part of the online streaming revolution. Check 'em out from 3-7 p.m. PT at www.1080thefan.com.

(And forgive Suke for not knowing how to spell Hank Jr.'s nickname; it's B-o-c-e-p-h-u-s. But he does live by Man Law: Life is just a rodeo; the trick is to ride and make it to the bell.)

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.