Welcome to the Labor Day edition of RSO. Summer's over already? Except for it still being 90 degrees two months from now, I guess it is. NASCAR goes back to Cali this weekend. So Cal to be exact. You remember So Cal, don't you? The only place in the country that will not support an NFL team. So Cal, the only place in the country that has bulldozed two---TWO---previous Cup tracks due to indifference. Yet, NASCAR keeps taking Jed Clampett's kinfolks advice. You know..."move to Californy, it's the place you oughta be."

Next year's Bud Shootout, which annually kicks off Speedweeks in Daytona, has changed formats. Instead of being for the previous year's pole winners, it will take the top 6 points finishers from each manufacturer. Four manufacturers mean 24 entrants. Thanks, Count . Some fans are whining that Tony Stewart won't be included next season. Fear not, there will probably be an addendum to include the most recent series' champion.

NASCAR gave Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards the lightest penalty possible for the Bristol aftermath. Six races on probation? Tony Stewart was on two different probations at the same time, and I believe, there was even a double secret probation for Smoke. A NASCAR probation=wink, wink.

Joey Lagano will drive 5 Cup races this year for HOF Racing. Ken Schrader will drive some races in that #96 Toyota also. Poor Brad Coleman. He quit his full time NNS ride to drive the DLP #96, and it lasted for one race. Everyone knew he wasn't ready. So why screw the kid's career up by offering him a ride just to yank it back a week later?

Ryan Newman will be flashing by in the #12 Kodak car this Sunday night. Monster Energy Drink will be revving up Robby Gordon's #7 this weekend. Jeff Gordon will be driving the Pepsi #24. Tony Stewart will be counting calories along with Jared in his Subway #20. R&L Carriers will be hauled along by Matt Kenseth's #17 Ford. Mr Edwards' #99 will be ducking trouble with Aflac, Sunday. A duck riding a horse?

Jeff Burton makes his 500th Cup start Sunday Night. Burton has 5 top-five finishes in 16 starts at Cali. Jeff Gordon has 3 wins and 8 top-fives in 16 starts. Kyle Busch has a win and 3 top-five finishes in 8 starts. Dale Earnhardt Jr has 4 top-tens in 13 starts.

Tony Stewart has 7 top-tens in 14 starts at Cali. Kevin Harvick's home track has not been good to him. He has no wins, no top-fives and only 3 top-tens in 12 races. Denny Hamlin has one top-ten in 5 starts. Kasey Kahne has finished in the top 10 in 5 of the last six races at Fontana, and he won this race two years ago.

Drew Carey will be the Grand Marshall for the Pepsi 500 at Fontana Sunday night. Drew Carey? He used to be mildly entertaing. Have you seen the "Price is Right"? He's as stiff as Cameron Diaz's hair in "There's Something About Mary". Jed's kinfolks said there would be movie stars. Not C-list game show hacks.

Finally, more than a few race watchers think that Kyle Busch is the first driver to ever express displeasure by giving a little tap after a race. The TV intro to that very same Bristol race showed at least a dozen drivers doing the same---or worse---after a Bristol race. Everyone from Robby Gordon to Jeff Gordon was shown jacking up another driver. But, since it's KB2, he needs to be suspended. Brilliant! Before going off half-cocked, substitute your favorite driver with the one who you think was so bad. Would you honestly call for the same penalty? I didn't like what Edwards did at Bristol, but I won't talk trash about it, because if Busch had done it to him I could live with it.