Contrary to what the subject claims, we'll do this chronologically. Come back in time with me five days.

Last Sunday saw one of the better Pocono races in recent memory. That's not saying much, because Pocono has never been a nail-biter. As Klvalus said Monday, I almost nailed it with my call of Carl Edwards winning after he and Kasey Kahne took turns dominating. In a way, I was very close: the two had the best cars, but a late flat tire almost derailed Edwards' day entirely. The most exciting thing to watch was Edwards' late-race run through the field, from 32nd to 9th in the final 20 laps. That was followed closely by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. managing to pull off a top-five finish on older tires than the rest of the leaders. The finer points:

• I'd like to take a moment here and praise NASCAR's RaceView. If you can swing the $69.95 annual fee, it's well worth the money at less than $6 per month. It was insane watching Kyle Busch's accident look exactly the same on a computer simulation as it did in real life. NASCAR has a real winner here.
• Speaking of Busch's accident, what was he thinking? His spotter never actually cleared him, and he relied on his instincts. He's proven time and again that, while he can handle a car with the best in history, his instincts almost always result in mangled sheet metal. He has a long way to go before he can be considered a top-tier driver, no matter how many times he wins.
• I was somewhat impressed with TNT's RaceBuddy. The multiple camera angles are fun to watch, but it has a deal-breaking flaw for me: there's no way to completely disable the audio. I prefer to listen to a specific driver at any given time, but it gets drowned out by the track audio from RaceBuddy. I hope they fix that, because I'd like to see more of it. It's a novel idea if nothing else.
• The high line is now the fast way around two out of the three corners at Pocono. Satan just called, he asked for his winter coat.

This week, NASCAR got sued! A former black female official (if you haven't heard about this already, trust me, her gender and race are critical to the story) has sued the organization for wrongful termination, sexual harassment and racial and sexual discrimination. I will withhold most judgment, but for now, but I will say this: most of me wants to call B.S. on the case based solely on the fact that her claims encompass almost every current, pop-cultural stereotype of both blacks and women, as well as the stereotypical country bumpkin. I've lived in Texas and I currently live in North Carolina; to hear her tell it, NASCAR employs every redneck in the south. That, and her case reads like a press release for an joint venture between the NAACP and the Women's Lib movement.

This week's fantasy update: Carl Edwards (9th), Martin Truex, Jr. (17th), David Reutimann (19th) and Jamie McMurray (20th) gave me all four drivers in the top half of the finishing order; unfortunately, only one was in the top 10. Not the best two-week stretch I've ever had. This week it looks like Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Ryan Newman and A.J. Almendinger as the starters right now, but I have Carl Edwards, David Ragan, Kyle Bush and Travis Kvapil waiting if my starters don't show me something in practice tomorrow.

On to Michigan! Starting with Pocono, we're now in the throes of the Fuel Mileage Fast Lane™. Two trips each to Pocono and Michigan, plus two road courses and a venture to Auto Club Speedway (California), mean that seven of the twelve races between last weekend and Labor Day Weekend have a significant chance to have the outcome decided by who can go the furthest on a tank of gas. Bristol is in there somewhere, though, as well the Soft-drink Swap 400 (Pepsi 400 becomes the Coke Zero 400 this year), so it's not an entire loss this summer.

Who takes the checkers this week? Well, I'm torn between Kenseth and Edwards as the "typical favorites" here. The recent surge by Red Bull Racing's Brian Vickers and A.J. Almendinger could be the x-factor, though. It's a big, wide-open track, and the Toyotas definitely have a horsepower advantage. If Hendrick Motorsports can get a few more horses this week, they could be a threat too. Jeff Gordon is historically good here, and Earnhardt has been up front here a lot over the last two seasons. But Kasey Kahne has won here, too, and he's the hot driver in the series right now. Add in the fact that qualifying got rained out and this week really is wide open. Scary.

The Final Word: NASCAR hastily called a meeting today for all drivers and team members. The content of the meeting is up for grabs at this point: NASCAR officials say it was entirely a reminder that the racing is all about the fans, and that nothing else was discussed. Drivers seemed to hear, "stop pissing and moaning about the new car," and claim that the topic of the fans never came up. The two sides only agreed that the pending lawsuit was not part of the discussion. InvertedMind sides with the drivers; NASCAR officials had time to align their stories and rehearse responses. The drivers were caught off guard by it, whatever it was about, and all had independent opinions that NASCAR is fed up with the competitors throwing the car under the bus. If that's the case, they better stop saying it's about the fans, and that they want the drivers to express themselves more. Telling them what they can't say is bordering on fascism.