In the week that GM annouced it was pulling support for its teams in NASCAR's three touring series the Cup Series took in Detroit (or at least the track closest to Detroit).

The race was so boring, I have decided to give over this pre-able to previewing Sonoma, which is in the heart of wine country. So, naturally I will be indulging in watching the race while supping from my birthday present, the largest amount of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale I've ever seen in this country (is it a bad sign when your loved ones buy you beer for your birthday).

Sonoma, will of course have the double file restarts NASCAR have mandated to try and keep people interested, which means there will be double file cautions, with crashes through the opening complex every lap, probably all involving Kevin Harvick's inability to brake.

Oh, right, Michigan.

Patrick Carpentier - Mike Skinner, who morphed into Patrick Carpentier morphed back into Mike Skinner for the trip to Michigan. Unfortunately he couldn't morph into anyone fast enough to make the race as Mike and the #36 team were the only team to miss the cut......10/10

Joe Nemechek - Joe was back to being a nice normal field filler, starting 40th and manage to start and park his way to a 42nd place finish after only 20 laps. Are the start and parkers getting earlier? Are the days to Dave Blaney's 49ers consigned to the history books so soon? Also this week marked a new milestone in the Start and Park rulebook as the previously posted reasons (no matter how pointless and unbeliveable to a cynic such as myself) were replaced by "Out of Race". Is it time NASCAR had it's own Freedom of Information Act? Why were they out of the race, exactly where was that debris that save Jr. from going a lap down............10/10

David Gilliand - David and TRG team were back on track for being a proper race team, rather than one of start and park teams at Michigan, graduating up to the 30s and completing somewhere near full race distance, finishing two laps down. Well I suppose it's progress of sorts.......................9/10

Michael Waltrip - Another driver who endured an anonymous day in 30s, qualifying 36th and finishing 30th. However, one thing is for sure. If anyone is in anyway curious about the intricacies of the new (bafflingly complex) restart procedure then just ask Mikey, as he seems to have cornered the market in the wave-around, or as it shall from here on in be known "The Waltrip". Of couse Michael has only been able to take advantage of these as he hasn't caused a caution recently. He won't even be able to next week as he will morph into Patrick Carpentier, as Mike Skinner will morph into Brian Simo (no, he wasn't in the Beach Boys)........................7/10

Dale Earnhardt Jr. - If anyone studying NASCAR wants to see Jr.'s season in a nutshell they should watch the Michigan race (of course insomniacs should also watch it, and people coming off chemical enduced high who need to be brought crashing back to reality). Aside from the shameful lack of pit problems Dale's afternoon went something like this - good, good, good, good, final pitstop, boom, bad, don't know why, just bad, real bad, mixing it with Robby Gordon bad. And here I paraphrase something Marshall Pruett from Speedtv.com said, in that the way the COT handles you need to be good to win. Perhaps Dale Jr. just isn't good.........4/10

Kurt Busch - Aside from the fact that Penske are expected to bankrupt between buying out Saturn (a whole planet, wow!) from GM and the sheer numbers of lug nuts expected to not make it out of Sonoma with the team, the Brew Crew (Credit Kristen Valus) had another good race as part of what is becoming a good year, this being (to my mind) Penske's best year since Rusty Wallace analyising "Draft Lock" was a mere twinkle in the eye of sadistic networks. Kurt at Sonoma, well presuming they have enough lugs to keep the wheels on I can't help but remember the Busch v Gordon (the other one) battle from The Glen in the Nationwide Series...............2/10

Jimmie Johnson - Has Chad Knaus gone soft in the head? Has someone nicked his calculator? For two weeks running Jimmie has found his engine gasping for gas just a little sooner than he would have liked. Last week he only had a home straight to negotiate, this week, he found himself in an octane desert with a whole two miles to negotiate. The mission for Valus and company at Sonoma, drill holes in the 48's gas cans and we can leave him stranded out on track, with only a hip flask of water and dishcloth over his head (at least then he'll have an excuse to be growing that stupid beard)................2/10

And the Brikkie Goes To

There are sometimes that something happens and you just can't stop it even though you see it coming. Think, throwing the TV control to someone across the room, only for them to choose that exact moment to pick up their drink. You know it's going to result in drink-spilling-sweary-messiness but as the remote passes through the air in slow motion you can do nothing to change its course. A Field Goal missing left from moment boot meets ball is agonising to watch as it just drifts further and further away from where it should be. For being the latest in these situations the Brikkie goes to David Stremme. From the moment that car went sideways it was heading towards the one solid structure on that side of the track like it was being pulled in by an invisable cable. Yet there was nothing you (or he seemingly) could do to avoid it. If anyone wants a needle finding in a haystack, you could do worse than calling David Stremme.

Next Week

Off to turn left AND right!! And there is no Dave Blaney (I swear he's avoiding me deliberately). Instead we have Tony Raines (morphing into Chris Cook) in the #37, Joe Nemechek (not morphing), Sterling Marlin (turning Canadian as Ron Fellows) in the Missus Cookie 09 and Scott Speed (morphing into someone who knows what he's doing?). In a similar vein we have Robby Gordon, and a man who always knows what he's doing (in an all you can eat restaurant) Tony Stewart. Finished off with a big dollop of Reed Sorenson.