The Pep Boys Auto 500 was a typical, Sunday afternoon boring 1.5 miler race until the very end.  In the last 20 laps, Carl Edwards made a phenomenal, outside pass on race leader Denny Hamlin.  It looked as if he just flew by him.  Afterward, the driver of the number 99 car soared to his 7th win this season.  He said that he needed to come out and dominate the race, and he did just that.  Carl led every lap he could and never backed down.  Toward the beginning of the event, he was racing Jimmie Johnson as if it were the final ten laps.  Before the race, Edwards and Biffle had discussed about how crucial it was to keep Johnson out of the lead.  For the other Chasers, it is critical to salvage every point possible over J.J.  Don't be surprised if Carl Edwards goes out next week and wins Texas as well.  He has the car and team to win the Championship, but the poor finishes at Talladega and Charlotte have made his chances slim.

This week we have all been talking about how Jimmie Johnson needs to have a terrible finish to tighten up the Chase.  After rained out qualifying, Jimmie got the best pit stall and starting position and led the early portion of the race.  Then, mid-race, most of us were jumping for joy when Johnson got the drive-through speeding penalty for too fast entering the pits.  He dropped to about 30th position, and we all thought this was the week the Chase desperately needed.  Of course though, we were all wrong when we witnessed a remarkable comeback by the number 48 team.  On the final caution, Chad Knaus made the call for Jimmie to come down for four tires since he was back in about eighth place.  That was an excellent call by Mr. Knaus.  In the final ten laps, he raced his way from about eighth position all the way to second.  He was practically flying by a car a lap.  On the final lap, J.J. about wrecked Denny Hamlin while passing on the outside.  If the race were ten laps longer, Johnson probably would have won the event.  That comeback has everyone's head buzzing and was the move of a Champion.  All of us though his points lead would shrink this weekend because of his troubles, but instead, he just got a bigger lead.  Jimmie probably will be able to lock up the Cup at Phoenix if he keeps racing the way he has been.  As much as I hate to say it, Jimmie Johnson deserves to win his third straight Championship and become a legend in this sport.

Third place finisher Denny Hamlin also had a great day and resulting in his best ever run at Atlanta.  He must have felt devastated about losing two spots at the end after leading so many laps.  I'm glad he is doing well again after that incredibly hard crash back at Talladega.  Even though he is out of Title contention, Denny giving it everything he has each and every week.

Matt Kenseth had the dominating car for most of the day as he led the most laps.  He is another guy that is out of Championship contention but hasn't let down in the least bit.  Kenseth has some good tracks coming up in the next couple of weeks and is still looking for that first win of the season.

The Busch brothers both had good finishes and got back on track after two terrible finishes last week at Martinsville.  After being a baby last week, Kurt Busch showed his manlyhood at Atlanta and had a car capable of taking the checkered flag.  Overall, this has been one of the worst years in Kurt's racing career.  He rarely can get a top ten finish and lucked out with a rain win.  Ever since he left Roush, he hasn't been the same.

Moving from the Heroes to the Dog Pin

Jeff Burton's Championship hopes are now over after two bad weeks in a row.  His terrific work at Charlotte has been undone.  Burton claimed that drivers have to win races in order to win a Championship, but drivers also have to finish solid every single week in the playoffs to win a Title.  We all had hope that the likeable veteran may finally get what he deserves.  Now though, our hope has vanished for this year.  His only hope comes next week in the Lone Star state.

On Sunday, Michael Waltrip made his 1,000th big series NASCAR start.  He was running well at the start of the 500 miler, but his good fortunates went bad in a hurry.  At the end of the race, Michael just needed to be parked.  I mean, come on; the man brought out the last two cautions of the race.  I don't think a driver that bad even deserves to be out on the track.  This start in Atlanta has reflected what Waltrip's racing career had been like since he left DEI.

NASCAR's Issues

NASCAR better rack their brains like crazy over the offseason.  This was the tenth time qualifying has been rained out and the third week in a row (a new NASCAR record).  Lining up by points just isn't fair for the other 42 drivers who aren't the points leader.  That number one pit stall helps a driver drastically as well as the clean air from starting on the pole.  Even Jimmie said that he would rather qualify and start around fifth and sacrifice the pole position because some Chase contenders may qualify toward the back of the pack.  Drawing positions of the top 43 drivers in the fairest way to settle the issue.

While watching the race on Sunday, I noticed their were an incredible amount of debris cautions.  Is it just me or is NASCAR wanting to tighten up the field?  I just find it hard to believe that the race would have to be slowed down that many times.

So far, this Chase has been really monotonous just as it was last year.  It has been total Jimmie Johnson domination all the way to Homestead.  NASCAR needs to come up with a better points system that emphasizes winning during the Chase and keeps the Top 12 closer together through the postseason.  Ever since they started receding the field by wins is when the Chase got boring.  It was exciting when they receded the guys five points apart.

That's all for now.

                                                     

35-21- Michigan State.  That was the final score on Saturday evening as thousands of disappointed fans were leaving the "Big House".  Many people thought that Michigan would deliver against their state rival, but we were all wrong again.  Even Wolverine defensive end Brandon Graham stated before the game, "We are not going to lose to State."  Currently, Michigan is 2-6 with an ugly victory over Miami, Ohio and a miracle comeback over the Wisconsin Badgers.  In order for them to be bowl eligible, they have to win out the rest of the season.  In order to do so, they will have to travel to Columbus and defeat the Ohio State Buckeyes.  This might be the worst season in Michigan history with many good records annihilated.  Last week, they lost to Penn State for the first time in nine years, and yesterday, they lost to Michigan State for the first time in six years.  The worst loss was to Toledo as the Wolverines came up short to a MAC team for the first time ever.  The growing pains of this team sure are showing and will be remembered forever.

At the start of the game, the Spartans clearly showed they had a better running game with their first touchdown.  The controversial call of the game was Michigan's first touchdown.  The receiver was clearly out of bounds, but the call was reviewed and overturned.  The officials claimed because the Michigan player knocked over the pylon which was part of the field, the play was ruled a touchdown.  But the NCAA rulebook clearly states, "A player or an airborne player who touches a pylon is out of bounds."  I can see why Mark Dantonio was so angry about that call.  Really, the final score of this game should have been 35-14.  At the end of the first half, Michigan rallied by some long passes and made it a 14-14 game.  In the second half, the Wolverines took the lead 21-14, but the Spartans made it a 21-21 game at the end of the third quarter.  In the fourth quarter, Michigan just fell apart like they did last week.  Rich Rodriguez needs to give them a serious talk about finishing the game and not letting down.  Michigan State's Javon Ringer came alive in the last couple minutes of the game and helped the Spartans to their victory.  Ringer is in the Heisman run but probably cannot compete with guys like Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford.  In the end, my Wolverines were left weeping again and the ecstatic Spartans finally took home the Paul Bunyan trophy.  The whole game was full of interceptions and fumbles.  Both teams need to have more training about keeping hold of the football.

                                        

Atlanta Motor Speedway- Hampton, GA.  This weekend NASCAR comes to my home track and races only half an hour from my backyard.  The Chase has only four races left, and most of the excitement has pretty much vanished.  Jimmie Johnson has a 149 point lead over Greg Biffle going into Sunday's Pep Boys Auto 500.  J.J. has not finished outside of the top ten in any of the first six races.  The guy can run well on any type of track and make the best out of any bad situation.  He has already rewritten some of the record book and is about to do much more.  Johnson won this exact race last year en route to his 4-in-a-row.  All he has to do is finish in the top ten for the rest of the season, which is highly likely.  The only way another man can win the Championship is for Jimmie to have some serious trouble.

Tony Stewart has always run well in Georgia, including two wins and a dozen top ten finishes.  After a rough week at Martinsville, he will want to make Home Depot proud in their home city with a win on Sunday.  Watch out for "Smoke".

Carl Edwards loves AMS and will always remember it for giving him his first Sprint Cup victory.  Carl probably would have won the race back in March if it weren't for engine trouble.  After his Charlotte calamity a couple of weeks ago, he needs a win to get back in the hunt.  Edwards got some of his momentum back with third place finish last week.

Kevin Harvick also got his first Sprint Cup win at Atlanta back in 2001.  I remember how all of the teams that day formed a line and high-fived him after winning in Dale Sr.'s car.  In the spring, he ended up with a seventh place finish.  His winless drought this season could end on Sunday.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. almost got his second win of the season back on the paper clip.  Atlanta has given him a win and many good finishes.  Even though Junior is out of the Cup hunt, he still wants to celebrate with another victory.

Kyle Busch had never run well on the fastest track on the circuit until his win back in the spring.  "Wild Thing" hasn't been a factor at all during the Chase and has had many devastating races.  He did get a top five back in North Carolina and will do the same this weekend.

Jeff Gordon is still looking for his first win of the year.  Last week was pretty much his last chance, but he has always run well at Atlanta.  Back in March, Gordon won the pole and hung on for a fifth place finish.  For the veteran, it's now or never.

Boy, I hope Goodyear has worked on their Atlanta tires since the spring race.  They just got dogged by drivers like Tony Stewart and others.  Expect more blown tires though as we have seen in the past couple of weeks.  AMS is really rough on race cars, and it will be a long 500 miles for the drivers.

                 

Jimmie Johnson had the car to beat all day long in Martinsville, VA after starting on the pole because qualifying was rained out.  He led a career high 339 laps and held on during the Green-White-Checker for the win.  Can you believe he has won four out of the last five Martinsville Races?  That number one pit stall sure was a huge advantage for getting on and off pit road.  At this point, it is his Championship to lose.  As we heard, this is the largest lead in the history of the Chase, leaving Martinsville.  I wouldn't be surprised if he locked the Title up before they got to Homestead.  In order for any other driver to win it all, Johnson will have to have a terrible race, which probably won't happen.  He is good on all of the tracks left on the circuit.  Jimmie may even get four consecutive wins again this year; he is that good.

It was total Hendrick domination during the Tums QuikPak 500.  Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fought up front all day but just didn't have the car to overtake Jimmie Johnson.  His car was good on the long runs, but it wasn't good on the short runs where it counted.  This race should build his confidence up after last week's disaster.  Jeff Gordon also had a good race, coming home with a fourth place finish.  For a while toward the start of the race, he was up there fighting with the number 48 car.  In my opinion, this was his last real chance to win a race this year.  By now, it is really setting in his mind that he probably won't win a race in 2008.  Both of these guys are pretty much out of the Championship hunt.  Casey Mears had ran a good race for one with a sixth place finish.  Instead of the track being named Martinsville Speedway, it should be renamed Hendrick Motorsports Speedway.

I've got to give credit to Matt Kenseth for making the best out of a terrible race car.  Early on, he wrecked but didn't get any damage.  That call to stay out on the final pit stop was very smart.  Usually, at a track like Martinsville, four tires is the call to make.  This track is just so tough on race cars.

Carl Edwards hasn't been too good at Martinsville until today with only one top ten finish.  Today though, he ran a great race resulting with a third place finish.  Carl is in a position to take the Cup if Jimmie Johnson screws up in the next four races.  Last week was his death call, though.

Jeff Burton started on the front row but drifted back into the pack quickly.  He did not have a good handling race car and had a terrible final pit stop.  That black flag for working outside his pit box was costly.  Those guys should have known not to do something like that.  When Burton looks back down the road, he will probably remember this particular incident.  Many people think he will overtake J.J. in points, but I don't think it will happen.  Again, Jeff is in the top position in case Johnson faulters.  This week, he undid some of the good accomplished last week.

One last thing: I think it is sad that a race is more than likely going to be taken away from Martinsville in 2010.  It has some really good racing and adds variety to the schedule.  The track even added a new, large screen with a brand new scoring tower and even made pit road concrete.  I get so tired of going to one 1.5 mile track right after another.  Why can't they just take a second race away from Pocono for Kansas?  That's what needs to happen.

That's all for now.

                                                           

46-17- Penn State.  That was the final score on Saturday evening in State College, PA.  All Nittany Lions fans were rejoicing after the win because they realized their team is the real deal.  It was the first time the Lions defeated the Wolverines in nine years.  For many seasons in the past decade, Penn State had gone 11-1 with their only loss to Michigan.  This year, they have the chance to achieve perfection.  It will be interesting to see if it will happen.  Their only obstacle left is a big showdown in Columbus, OH next week vs. the powerful Ohio State.  The Buckeyes sent a message yesterday that they mean business after their annihilation of Michigan State.

All I can say is too bad for my Wolverines.  I really thought that they would keep their streak alive against Penn State.  For the first quarter, it was all Michigan.  They ran out on that field and played like a new team.  As the announcers, it showed of the good things to come with Rich Rodriguez as head coach.  They were also fortunate because of the Penn State fumbles.  Steven Threet made some great passes as well.  By that point, everyone was talking about how Joe Patterno may have to leave the box and get down on that field.  In the second quarter, Michigan calmed down and just kept the Nittany Lions under control.  Penn State had some huge rushes that showcased their powerful offense.  The Wolverines went into the locker room with a 17-14 lead.  Patterno must have given a phenomenal half time speech and dogged his team to death.  In the first half, I bet Penn State just looked ahead to next week, but in the second half, they buckled down and got their priorities straight.  Then, in the second half, the Wolverines traveled to the land down under.  They did manage to make a huge stop that only gave the Lions a field goal and made it a tie game, 17-17.  But then, that game changing safety when Threet went down in the inzone just woke Penn State up.  After that, it was all Nittany Lions for the rest of the game, and Michigan practically threw their white flag of surrender.  I bet Rodriguez wasn't standing on the sideline with his feet crossed at that time.  He was probably yelling at his players about all of their rookie mistakes.  That second half was what typically has happened to Michigan all year.  I thought they had overcome their problems, but they have a lot of growing pains left to come.