It's the summer, and the summer is the time for endurance races (soort Grand-Am you just get it wrong), and NASCAR is clearly looking to get in on the act. The world is already familiar with famous twice-round-the clock races at Le Mans and the Nurburgring, and now Charlotte wants to get in on the act, and a rumour has it that if the city of Concord doesn't like it, they just race elsewhere.

The 227-lap 374 minute Coca Cola 600 (or 340.5) marked the first time the race had been held on Monday, and was a stupendous kick in the somewhere painfuls for the media people who were selling it on being the year's longest race (there's a research subject class, where is the longest race, buy distance in the world?)

Unfortunately it also marked the first time this season I haven't seen a lap of the race (outside of youtube and NASCAR's video player), so apologies if this isn't up to normal standards. However, there was one very important event that needs proper coverage (well as proper as I do)

Brad Keselowski - As predicted in the last edition Brad wasn't entered. Not in the #25, not in the #09. Not at all.................10/10

Sterling Marlin - Sterling's #09 car was turned over to Mike Bliss for Lowe's and after his streak-breaking Nationwide win, you might have forgiven James Finch and company for saring to dream, or at least think positively. However, it is clear that the Nationwide purses aren't what they used to be as despite a win on Saturday for the team, it appears that start-and-parking is still the best option. And with only 42 laps in the books Bliss had a mysterious "vibration", that coincidentally coincided with a caution, and decide he'd had enough, probably because of celebration that went on as long as the race........10/10

Clint Bowyer - Firstly let it be said that Clint's finish/start/# combination of 36/24/33 sound like a woman's vital statistics - I have no idea what kind of woman, as women's sizes are encoded to confuse men when it comes to the time when you finally build up the courage to buy underwear for your loved one. What's that? Oh, NASCAR. I remember. On the track (rather than the rack) Clint had another of the anonymous weekends in the 30s that have come to frustrate RCR fans, or so I gather from Jon 464 after some weekends.............8/10

A.J. Allmendinger - And A.J. was another to have a weekend to not remember, languisng down in the 30's stat-wise. And for A.J. that's not good, I was one of his cheerleaders for getting him an 09 ride, then making that ride full time. However, too many anonymous 30-something weekends may see the sponsor faith and patience that got him a full time ride, ebb away and see A.J. back with weekend's off...............7/10

David Gilliland - Another admirable week for the little TRG team that continues to run full races, when others are start-and-parking. And they are being rewarded for it. They are a tangible 120 points outside of the top-35, currently with only Scott Speed and the #34 car between them and a huge milestone. Oh, and TRG are better known as a GT team, racing Porsches, so I think that's one team looking forward to Sonoma and The Glen, whether David - who had a road course top-5 last year - is in the seat or not.................5/10

Dale Earnhardt Jr - Well, Junior zealots you got your wish. As I write this Tony Eury Jr is out of the chair on the battle box, and into the wonderfully euphemistic sounding Research and Development department (today Tony we're going to research how to make the best coffee for the rest of department....) and as swansongs go a none too glorious 40th place is not the best result you could wish for, and now, with one excuse out of the window, Dale Jr might have to do something to deserve all the attention he gets. Oh, right, he already does. Of course, I remember...............9/10

Dave Blaney - Saving "the best" till last - and there haven't been many (if any) times I have been able to say that about Dave, with or with the scare quotes round it. The big news of Charlotte, at least for anyone who understands this blog's name above the door, is that Blaney's car had a name on the hood. For the first time since Daytona, when DB wasn't in the car, there was a sponsor. And, none too coincidentally, for the first time since Daytona the car saw the chequered flag, well as much as the Daytona car did. Is this the second pattern of Dave's season? After the lap 49-equals-park-phenomenom, we now have the sponsor-equals-race-equation. And I know which I'd rather have................5/10

And the Brikkie goes to................

It has to be the weather again. It got completely in the way of what is meant to be one of the greatest weekends of motorsport of the year, and forced the poor Fox team to new levels of idiocy, during which time they managed to strip Penske of Ryan Newman's Daytona 500 win and move Motegi Speedway several thousand miles to award Danica Patrick an Indycar win in Australia. If you guys are making mistakes like that you need someone to at least check the info you're being fed. I'm free, I have a research based degree. However, a rare positive mention for UK broadcasters Sky Sports who, seeing that the chances of a race on Sunday were similar to that of rain being purple, went to re-runs of old races. First I had the closing laps of last year's 600 (complete with Jr's ubiquitous wall swiping) then snippets of the Dover race that followed it.

Next Week

There is no Dave Blaney! I know, I don't know how I'll go on. Trying to fill his boots come Mike Bliss and Max Papis (both of whom survive the part time schedule monster only to face Dover's Monster) and Kevin Harvick completes the bottom three. David Gilliland returns, Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne fall into place for rare visits to these hallowed pages and Joe Nemechek provides your weekly dose of start-and-park.