I was talking with some relatively new NASCAR fans over the last week, and it amazed me that few people remember Infineon Raceway being called Sears Point.  To me, it will always be such, just as Lowe's Motor Speedway will always be Charlotte, North Carolina will always be The Rock (if it ever makes it back into the NASCAR schedules) and New Hampshire Motor Speedway wil forever remain New Hamshire International Speedway (or, perhaps, just "Loudon").

It's really interesting to look back at how the Sonoma race course has changed over time.  I can still vividly remember Dale Earnhardt, Sr. driving through the "Carousel" (turn six, if I recall correctly) with a slim margin over Mark Martin on the final lap of what would be his only career road course victory.  That was the premiere -- nay, the only -- high-speed passing point on the racetrack.  Now it's been replaced, or at least circumvented, by the Chute.  Then they made the chute boring by putting a low-speed corner at the bottom that, strangely enough, is almost impossible to use for a passing opportunity.

I bring this up because yesterday's race made me feel a little nostalgic.  You know, back to the days when races at the California track were exciting and, um, eventful.  Anyone else remember the accident involving Derrike Cope and John Krebbs in which the two guys plowed through a tire barrier, cleared the embankment, and Krebbs went tumbling end-over-end after getting about 20 feet of air?  Well, you don't have to -- it's right here:



Those were the glory days of road-course racing in NASCAR.  Nowadays, Infineon is a pretty crappy place to watch a race.  Thank God for the fact that I live on the other side of the country and, thus, have no urge to buy a ticket.

Yesterday, there were two -- two -- passes for the lead on the track.  And one of those was in the middle of a wreck after leader Greg Biffle suffered a severe brain cramp and decided to go foot-to-the-floor the whole way up the hill.

The Oh-Crap-I-Made-It Award goes to David Gilliland, who somehow managed to be the only one of five cars in the wad created by Kevin Harvick's attempted powerslide just before the Chute to stay pointed in the right direction.  He went from getting passed for fifth to being in second place.

Tony Stewart was my pick to win yesterday, and it seemed from lap 30 on that the racing gods were simply conspiring against him.  He gets caught having not pitted prior to the first caution and fell way back in the pack -- all the way back to 39th, actually.  Then, after making his way back to the front, he got punted by Harvick.  But, it's hard to keep Smoke down, and he rallied back for a top-ten finish.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. kept up his string of consistency, picking up his 14th finish in the top 15 -- his only finishes outside the top 15 were California, when he was wiped out by Casey Mears, and Dover, where he nearly avoided the big one early on before being plowed from behind.  As of now, he is on pace to match or exceed his career-best 2004 numbers for top-fives (16 in '04, 7 so far in '08), top-tens (21 in '04, 11 so far in '08) and percentage of laps led (.11%).  He also suffered four DNFs that season; this year he has been running at the end of every race.  Compared to '07, he's on pace to obliterate his numbers, having already equalled his top-five total, is just one away from equaling his top-ten total, and has surpassed his win total.  In fact, at this time last year, he was mired in 16th in the standings.  This year, he has improved by 13 spots to third, behind Infineon winner Kyle Busch and the uber-consistent Jeff Burton.  Not bad, especially considering he currently has a 174-point advantage on teammate and two-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson, and 215 points on Jeff Gordon -- also a teammate, and a four-time champion.  Nay-sayers, beware.  He's proving the equipment at DEI has held him back.

Look for a similar break-through for Martin Truex, Jr. when he leaves at the end of the season.  And he will leave, mark my words.  Rumors have him in the new fourth team at Richard Childress Racing.  But that seat in the number 5 car could be awfully tempting, considering his good buddy Dale Jr. would be sharing a garage with him once again.

Well, that's all I have time for right now.  I'll be back to the normal schedule (preview on Friday, follow-up on Monday) this week.