Wait!! There is actually NASCAR here....... Who'd have thunk it??

Very seldom does this blog seem to live up to it's title, but today it does (sort of)

Several websites have reported the Bill Davis is talking to buyers for his single car Cup team (and presumably his hugely successful Truck team). While reports mention "others", the one man who seems to be mentioned by name is former indycar racer Danny Sullivan.

It's far from a done deal by the sounds of it, with Sullivan quoted as saying "I've been pursuing it, but haven't gotten a response from (Davis). He's still dreaming on the price," No price is mentioned.

Of course right now BDR's Cup team is in no-mans-land. After a second team with Jacques Villeneuve lasted no longer than Daytona (in February), and long-time sponsors CAT departing to RCR's #31 team (horray!! another reason to hate RCR for Blaniacs). Even Dave Blaney's contract is up at the end of the season.

There's been no mention of the team having found a new sponsor - given Dave's record for bad luck perhaps he can pick up sponsorship from a mirror company, nor a mention of a new contract for Dave, although given Davis' career long links with Blaney you might think that Davis might look to help out Blaney if the sale goes though.

Of course there's always a horrible chance that Sullivan might recruit new drivers from what he knows. But we don't need anymore open-wheel converts do we?! 

It's the sharp end of the season, and in the championship race is in it's engineered closeness, even though it's probably a 3 (or generously 4 horse race now) so I can forgive a majority of mainstream media coverage being about the contenders, but the 'also rans' deserve a mention when they do something good.

Last weekend at Talladega the Toyotas (who at times this year would be in the dictionary under 'also ran') swept all qualifying before them, with at clutch of the top positions for Sunday's race. Many (myself included) put this down to the fact they were set up of single lap speed rather than running in the draft, and this may be true (I think it was Villenueve's official reason for volunteering to move to the back). But, the acquitted themselves remarkably during the race. Jacques kept up with leaders all day, eventually finishing 21st. Even more remarkable was how Toyota's pole-sitter Michael Waltrip ran - bothering the top-10 or 15 just about all day until his tyre let go. The same goes for David Reutimann, who was taken out in The Big One, ending a promising run. And finally Dave Blaney, who qualified second and ran well all day, finishing 3rd (2nd had the finish line been a few yards later).

And yet, only a handful of post-race words were dedicated to this seeminingly miraculous turn around, while entire tomes were produced about anything Hendrick touched.

And right now, post Lowe's the same thing is in danger of happening.

OK, so the Yotas didn't qualify well, with Brian Vickers being the largest casualty. But this weekend is probably the biggest step forward this season.

The race wasn't anything special, no fuel mileage - which gave Vickers a 5th in the 600 at Lowe's, no lottery like super-speedway.  Lowe's is a bread-and-butter track, run well at Lowe's and your on to a winner.

But the race looked like 'Dega success all over again. A.J. Allmendinger - who has had possibly the wort season of any Camry driver - ran well and appeared to have a top-10 in his grasp before failing to 15th - but when you add to that the fact that Johnson, who appears to make Lowe's his own personal playground, was 14th, suddenly 15th seems a decent result (Yes, I know JJ's race included spin and damage, but give AJ a chance).

But, taking his place in the top-10 was Michael Waltrip in 10th, coming back from his part in a spin during the race for only his second top-10 of the season. But again the main kudos went to Blaney, finishing 6th. Coming from a 34th start Blaney made progress all day, making progress through the field while many of those who started around him fell laps down. This is Dave's 3rd consecutive top-15 - he finished 15th at Kansas, and has put him safely in the top-35 owner point for now, having passed the #21 after Dega, and the 45 at Lowe's.

So these finishes and drives may go unreported while we find out that Jeff Gordon wore green socks on Saturday night, I like to think I've gone some way to redressing the balance.

Firstly I want to start this post with an apology.

To NASCAR,

Sorry for thinking you'd screw up Talladega this weekend. The COT worked well, the racing got 3-4 wide like it should and Petty's accident shows that we may have finally got over the headline grabbing flips that have punctuated past races at the plate tracks.

You didn't have any phantom debris cautions, or other convenient events to help the guys you supposedly favour.

And you decision to let Villeneuve race was vindicated at the guy finished ahead of several guys who are meant to be winning the title (true all he had to do was keep turning laps but he showed he can handle himself on the big tracks.

Now on the main post.

Way to go Toyota! Blaney's 3rd place finish seems to have slid under the radar under amongst all the Hendrick/chase hoo-hah. 

 We all thought the 6 cars you had up the front of the qualifying order was a fluke - or simply because they had the single lap speed but not the long run speed. And we might have been right. But....

Waltrip, Vickers, Reutimann and Blaney's running up front all day showed that it wasn't all artificial, and only wrecks and tyres prevented 4 'Yotas in the top 15 or so.

It looks like the Camry teams may finally have a handle on their chassis, and they seem to still be improving. A video on NASCAR.com has an interview from Vickers saying that they've improved in the last few weeks and should continue (it's the video of Jacques' quali laps if you want to find the exact quote). It seems that they may be heading for Craftsmen dominance rather that F1 also ran status.

It seems that Gibbs may have made a wiser choice than was first thought. If Chevy want to use their newer engines (the one's that keep grenading beneath RCR and DEI drivers) in all its teams then a sophomore year Camry set up, with guarenteed starts for 6 races may be more reliable.

How long is it before a Camry can?