Gotta start off by congratulating Jeff Burton on winning the Food City 500. While he may not have had the best car, he certainly was in the right place at the right time to pick up his 20th Cup victory. It completed a remarkable top 3 sweep for Richard Childress Racing.

In terms of a Bristol race, I felt this '08 Spring event was a pretty good race. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it 7.5. There was some good racing up at the front, and the race obviously wasn't decided until the very end.

Let's take a look at my awards for this race. As I wrote last week, a look at the season so far will be offered this week as well.

Surprisingly Good Finish: Hands down this one goes to Aric Almirola. He wheeled his #8 DEI Chevrolet to an 8th place finish. His finish was so good that I'm not even going to give any honorable mentions.

Perserverance Award: With this, I'm going to go in the direction of Kasey Kahne. Seemed like most of the race he was running around 20th, but he was able to come home with a 7th place finish. Honorable mentions to Dale Earnhardt Jr., David Gilliland and the aforementioned Almirola.

Deserved A Better Finish Award: I was thinking of giving this to Tony Stewart, as there's no doubt he had the car to beat. However, he still managed to finish 14th. While it wasn't a trip to victory lane, all-in-all 14th isn't too shabby. So, I'm going to hand this to Casey Mears. Casey was in the top 5 early on and I really feel could've had a top 15 to top 20 finish. He ended up finishing 42nd, a finish that team didn't need. The #5 crew finds itself sitting 33rd in owner points, just 16 points ahead of 36th.

Disappointing Finish: No one's finish really stood out to me, but if I was forced to pick a driver for this award, I'd give it to Jimmie Johnson. He started on the pole, and ran in the top 5 most of the day. But from the moment he made contact with Jeff Burton with just over 100 laps to go in the race, Johnson's car dropped, to an eventual finish of 18th.

Should've Stayed in Bed: Again, this was a category that didn't stick out, either. So, this is nothing more than a forced choice. I'm giving it to Mike Skinner, who finished 40th. From the time his car caught on fire, they were playing catchup.

For most impressive performance from Saturday's Nationwide race, it doesn't feel right to name someone when it's a rain-shortened event. However, in order to pick a driver from it, I say David Reutimann. I truly believe he's going to be running neck-and-neck with Clint Bowyer & Carl Edwards in pursuit of the Nationwide Championship.

That's a wrap on Bristol. Now that we're 1 month into the season, and headed for the first off-week of the '08 campaign, here's a look at some "through the season" awards.

Most Surprising Driver: I have to say it's been Greg Biffle. After finishing 14th in the point standings in '07, Biffle finds himself sitting 2nd this year, just 30 out of the lead. While he's still seeking his first win of 2008, he has chalked up 3 top 5 finishes in the season's first 5 races. And it's not like Biffle fluked his way into those finishes. He's been running right around the top 5 in every race so far this season. A week ago, this award would've most likely been going to Brian Vickers. But a poor finish at Bristol dropped him to 17th in the current point standings.

Fortunate To Be Where He Is In Points: For this I'm looking at Ryan Newman. Yes, he won the season-opening Daytona 500. But since then, Newman has run decent, but really hasn't set the world on fire. Yet, he finds himself sitting in 8th in the point standings. He's going to need a strong run soon if he wants to maintain his top 10 positioning.

Most Disappointing Driver: I'm going to look at two ends of the spectrum with this one. On one end, I could say teammates Jimmie Johnson & Jeff Gordon. But I'm going to the other end of the spectrum and say it has to be Roush-Fenway driver Jamie McMurray. A driver you'd expect to be at least top 20 points is in a situation where he has to time his way into the next race at Martinsville.

Should Be Higher in Points: I mentioned him in the previous category: Jeff Gordon. He's currently 14th in driver points, but that's no indication of how well Gordon has run during the 1st month of the season. If it wasn't for a handful of circumstances, there's no doubt in my mind he'd be sitting in the top 5 in points right now.

And, finally, the driver who's season has been a nightmare: How can I look at anyone else for this but Kyle Petty. While Bobby Labonte has been running in the top 20, Petty has been totally out to lunch this year. Not only has it been a chore to stay in the top 35 in points this year, it's been just as tough for Petty to even get past 35th at any point in a race! Here's hoping they can get things going in the right direction.

Last, but not least, let me close by saying I'm glad NASCAR waited until now to take a week off in the Cup Series. The past 4 years saw the series run just a couple of races before the first off-week, and it did nothing but break the momentum for the season. This year, they put 5 races in the record books and when the series resumes at Martinsville in 2 weeks, they'll be qualifying off of this year's points. And it gives teams just enough races to assess how the season has been going.