I sincerely hope that is the most boring race we all have to endure this year (what's that, we've still got two visits to Pocono left). It was a race so boring it took me three days to watch it, the start live, the end sometime on Monday and the middle on Tuesday morning. At least such arrangments meant I could sleep between bits of the race, rather than during it.

Seven more NASCAR drivers take the AKNK test, and get labelled with a out-of-ten rating for how much of a field filler they were over the weekend. On with the rating and ranting.

Michael Waltrip - I said last week that Mikey would be back to his caution causing ways, and he was of sorts. He was so bad he managed to make his plane have a caution, and then made his engine fail for qualifying. However, he'd obviously got all of this week's cautions out of his system by the time the green flag waved as he made his way safely around the race track to finish on the lead lap - although he did have to rely on Mother Nature to get there via a free pass. But Mikey couldn't possibly of of caused that caution.....could he?..........5/10

Joey Logano - When simply finishing with all the panels still attached is a target you know something isn't right. And that was Joey's target for the week. Admitedly it was a target he achieved, finishing 26th, one lap down, an improvement of 17 places and a few hours of sheet metal fabrication on last week. The only thing that raises him from evil field-filler anonymity is that he continues to garner far more media attention than he deserves for his performances.............6/10

Travis Kvapil - I saw Travis once during my whole three day ordeal that was the race. That one time was when his car decided to go sideways infront of whoever had a roof camera. Travis eventually came home 18th, collecting $95,000 in prize money (curiously $40,000 less than a Mr. J. Logano) and despite not having a full time ride he beat both of his Yates team mates, not that results mean anything.........5/10

Dale Earnhardt Jr - When is Dale Jr (and to some extent Tony Jr) going to learn to set up a COT? Having gone to back of the grid for the start he had none of the ability to carve his way through the field that others had, and none of ability to improve his car to help himself. Then his engine expired. That's not a good weekend, not matter how good the damned interview before the race was.........8/10

Marcus Ambrose - Why has there been so little said about Marcus' start to the season? (hint: look three paragraphs up). He has a total of 13 Cup starts, 11 on ovals, making him only a handful of races above the limit to be eligable for ROTY. Compare him to the rookie class and he's blowing them out of the water. He qualified 14th for the race, mixing it with experienced names, and although he fell back once the race started came away with a 22nd place finish, keeping him solidly in the early top-35..........5/10

Jamie McMurray - If you don't believe that Roush has already pretty much fired Jamie in his head then his early season form is making it a hard decision. Jamie was running up front for most of the race, helped partially by Brian Vickers' ill fortune that elevated him to the pole. His bid for glory only really seemed to fade as his brakes did likewise, and having to sacrifice track position to cure the problem, especially in a race with so many lapped cars, gave him little chance to use the speed he had.............3/10

Kyle Busch - I know AFNK is primarily a Cup concern, (again, my blog my rules) but how can you ignore this man's Saturday?!? A historic pair in the same day and a 3rd place showing in Sunday night's feature should pretty much have proved that his some-time domination of everything last year was no fluke. For his 3rd place, you still can't really fault him, he just happened to come up against an unstoppable #24 car, which was faced with a hugely unstoppable #17 car................1/10

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

This week's Brikkie goes to what has the possibility to be the Slumdog Millionaire of the AFNK Brikkie. Yes, it's the weather. The weather was only saved from last weeks awards by the fact that something actually happened, a luxury it doesn't get this week. You can level whatever you want at whoever you want about the start times, but none of it would be a problem if there was no weather! And even if there does have to be weather, can it at least make up it's friggin' mind! Argh!!

Next week

We enter go-or-go-home, start and park hell with Dave Blaney and Joe Nemechek after an "unfortunate" speight of fuel pump failures. The other half of the ROTY battle, Scott Speed gets examined, along with Martin Truex Jr and Roushketeers Edwards and Ragan. Oh, and I get another opportunity to give Paul Menard the once over.

It's back, whether you want it or not. The series that does for NASCAR analysis what Allen Stanford does for investment banking (and what investment banking does for investment banking) it's All Killer, No Filler.

Each week 7 drivers get they're race weekends poured over - those drivers being the guys that finished 43rd, 42nd, 41st, 37th, 27th, 17th and 7th in the previous week's race. Of course last weekend's outing was the first of the season, so I've delved into the archives to find the 7 who where due an interrogation after the last AFNK last season, which looked back on the Phoenix race. Also, as I've lost the abilty to count to 100 over the winter, the ratings will be given out of 10, the closer to 10, the more filler-y. Here goes nothing!

Michael Waltrip - How the hell did that happen? He was actually the highest finishing Toyota (who thought that would happen). Michael's practices were all over the place, although what Daytona practices tell you about a car's performance can be written on a matchbox. His mediocrity was backed up by a 15th place in his duel, but come race day Mother Nature appeared to favour Mikey. Having been unseen up till that point, he appeared in 7th, just as the rain's began to hit the track. That is Mikey's slice of luck for the entire year, he'll be back to his caution causing best next week.................5/10

Kurt Busch - And while we're on the subject of top-10s that you never expected, here's Kurt Busch! He too lurched between the sublime - 2nd, 3rd - and the ridiculous - 46th in the myriad of practices, before finding his plate legs to finish 6th in his Duel. I know that Kurt has proven himself able to drive the super-speedways (remember he took Tony Stewart out a few years back when they were running 1-2), but given Kurts more recent history, keeping the wheels on the car should be heralded an achievement. A top-10 as a miracle.........4/10

Paul Menard - This slot was originally for David Gilliland. However, as everyone realised he was rubbish over the winter, he got shoved out and his owner points given to Bobby Labonte. Right, so why is Paul Menard here instead, well, because I make the rules around here and I'm always on the look out for opportunities to bash Paul Menard. And it appears so is Jeff Burton. I was a little worried that Menard might actually do something worthwhile this weekend, I needn't have worried, as he smudged his new Ford against the wall in time honoured Paul Menard fashion...............7/10

Denny Hamlin - Denny finished 26th. Not anything to write home about for a driver who has made the chase in his first two season's, but when you consider he was one of the innocent victims of "Lap124gate" and his car was last seen careening through the grass with at least three other cars it's not a bad weekend. I only hope Fedex delivery drivers don't take the same approach...............7/10

Juan Montoya - Now, I was expecting big things from Montoya this weekend, but his challenge was pretty much ended when he was pitting a wrong time when Stremme had a tyre go down. Even so, after he got back to tail of the crocodile after lap 124 he was able to fight his way back to 14th, by the time of the final caution, and is one of the drivers who can probably consider himself hard done by by the rain...........3/10

Reed Sorenson - From a driver who's pit strategy did him out of a chance to win, to one who had a ticket to victory lane so nearly presented to him by his. Along with stable mate Elliott Sadler, Reed was praying for rain as they held out for a Petty 1-2-3 with the 'dinger. Unfortunately, the rain stayed awy just long enoug to see Reed slip to 9th, 4 spots worse than his 2008 outing, hopefully not a sign of things to come or Reed could be out of ajob soon.................4/10 

Kevin Harvick - In quite possibly a record for AFNK we have 4 top-10 finishers amongst the 7 drivers this week, with Harvick topping the tree with his second place. I fully expect Matt Kenseth's lawyers to be sueing FOX right about now, presuming that they were not approached about removing the title of "King of where the hell did he come from" from Matt and awarding it to Kevin mid race. N.B. No driver can be a suprise while he drives a yellow car, you tend to see them coming..............1/10

Introducing the Brikkies......Replacing last season's Honorary Field Filler award are the Brikkies, so named after my new foam brick, which is liberally used to show displeasure at the TV. Normally this is reserved for d-list celebs and politicians (there is a debate as to whether they are the same thing) it has found a new use in being hurled at NASCAR.

And The "Brikkie" Goes To..........

If only they were all this easy!! It's Dale Earnhardt Jr! He was destined for the award for random stupidity based on his pit misdemeanors, but his late and post race felonies he became the only candidate. Firstly he causes the big wreck (regardless of intent), and then moaning about everything else when he got out of the car. Firstly, yes your pit sign in pink, and perhaps others are too. Are you capable to wielding a can of spray paint to change the sign's colour. Yes you are. And then the line. It's a line! It tends not to move. It didn't just jump out and throw itself beneath your wheel. You heard any of the thousands (hyperbole excuse me I'm on a roll) of drivers who have been pinged by that rule moan? No. Grow up.*

And while we're at it let's add a "Best Supporting Brikkie" for Darrell "born yesterday" Waltrip. If Dale Jr says he didn't mean to wreck Vickers he believes him. Are you that naive? Do you not recognise people are capable of laying?

Next week

Joey Logano makes his first, of what I feel will be many, visit to the AFNK ranks of the new season after continuing his introduction to the many and varied wall of NASCAR. Travis Kvapil and Kyle Busch make the number after their woes. Jamie McMurray makes an appearencce, Marcus Ambrose provides an international flavour (as if I don't), Michael Waltrip makes it 2 for 2. Oh, and a certain Dale Earnhardt Jr.

* My anger of course has nothing to do with the fact that Jr took out Vickers, who turned out to be my only wash-out from my Fantasy Team.

As I sat watching the opening portion of the Daytona 500 last night my mind was switching between different things.

Firstly, I was watching the ticker to keep track of a few different drivers, cursing or smiling where appropriate.

Secondly I was actually watching the race, from a normal restrictor plate position of the edge of whatever seat I've picked for the evening.

Thirdly I was thinking of ideas for post race articles.

Watching the race, at least before a certain point was an almost entirely positive experience. After all the doom and gloom writers had prophesied about over the off-season, the truth didn't seem nearly that bad.

The Thursday Duels had seen a pair of genuine feel good stories as Scott Riggs and Jeremy Mayfield showed their tiny, volunteer staffed teams had the ability to run with the big names of the sport. The start of the 500 saw 43 sponsored (even Riggs appeared to have picked up a deal) cars, resplendent in multi-coloured liveries, streaming around the high banked corners like a 190 mile-per-hour rainbow towards a pot of gold.

And it was the pot of gold I was concerned about. With a quarter-of-a-million dollars reportedly up for simply finishing 43rd, and a handful of teams for whom every cent is precious the possibility of a start and park effort was a very real possibility. Over the opening laps I concentrated on the tail end of the running order as it crossed the ticker. I half expected to see Riggs, Mayfield or Terry Labonte listed 43rd, before the director cut to a camera showing the offending car pulling behind the wall to a guaranteed pay day.

But it never happened. Labonte was at the back of the pack, but was still running. Mayfield's trips to the pits were almost definately mechanical and even he wasn't happy to call it a day as he struggled back out on the track to turn some more laps.

I couldn't help but think our little sport was in pretty good shape. We'd been told to expect a NASCAR armageddon, but it seemed the asteroid had missed us. I was looking forward to a year of NASCAR. Then 'it' happened. An incident already so infamous it can be reduced to a pronoun, and yet you all know exactly what I mean.

After the initial gasps, and after the dust had settled, the multi-camera angled blame game began. In my eyes it was pretty clear that Jr was at fault, but of course everybody sees it different, and I've seen everything short of death threats aimed at Brian Vickers.

The general opinion seemed to be that Dale jr should be pulled in for a penalty, especially after the precedent set by the five-lap penalty levied at Jason Leffler the night before during the Nationwide race. Even the talking heads seemed to agree. Words like 'wrong' and 'uncalled for' were used. In an event so unbelievable I can't believe it I actually agreed with Sky Sports' UK based studio team. Their tame 'US sports journalist', David Tuckman, said 'If Junior doesn't get a penalty, then I'm ashamed'.

And ashamed he was. No penalty came, other than the fact no free pass was given (if Dale had got the free pass I would have gone out, brought a can of beer, opened it and drunk half of it, simply so I had something to throw at my TV to show my displeasure).

Suddenly, the ugly side of NASCAR reared its head. The side that you only have look at very slightly to see a conspiracy theory. The side that constantly robs America's second biggest sport of the respect it needs if it is ever to move forward, domestically and internationally. I think the post crash interview with Brian Vickers says exactly what I'm thinking.

'......typically NASCAR penalises for that, I think the 38 was penalised five laps yesterday for doing the same thing. I guess they're not gonna penalise him for it'.

You only have to read slightly between the lines to see exactly what he means, and I happen to agree with it. Their incredibly flexible rulebook is holding NASCAR back. I felt physically sick when Jr complained about the tyre-on-the-line rule, practically ordering NASCAR to change the rule. It's fine for everyone else, it has never been a problem before, but it affects Jr and it's a problem. That rule will be changed before the 52nd 500.

I have seen complaints about the fact the race was shortened due to rain. I know it's frustrating when a race gets called early, especialy a race that has become known for wild finishes, but there was nothing that could be done. If the rain was truly due for another 90 minutes then by the time the track was dried the race would have gone on too late. NASCAR has major media obligations and when races go long they get messed around, remember the race that got pulled of a channel for the Funniest Home Videos last year.

Seeing a car in victory lane, no matter how or why they got there, is a major part of the media and sponsor priorities. If there is a constant risk that this won't be seen by large swathes of the population, then any money worries the teams have are likely to grow, which I'm sure we can all agree is bad.

The 2009 Daytona 500 truly was a tale of two NASCARs. The positive, resilient NASCAR that managed to get 43 cars on the grid for the race and still had 43 cars circulating until Joey Logano continued his introduction to many and varied walls of NASCAR.

Then there was the negative NASCAR, the NASCAR that often gets labelled the 'WWE of racing'. The NASCAR that rubs racing fans up the wrong way and creates more haters than it does fans.

Ladies and Gentlemen. NASCAR is back!  

After a not entirely unsuccessful predicting debut last year, I've decided to stick my neck out again and predict the winner of a few more notable sporting occasions and series throughout 2009. along with a few other bits of information we might be seeing on the back pages.

Formula One

This all comes down to who's come out best with their new cars. Providing all are created equal then it's going to be another Lewis Hamilton year. If the new aero regs truly help overtaking then Hamilton's race craft is going to be a major factor in a number of races this year.

We saw glimmers of it last year - Hockenheim springs to mind - and anyone who watched him during his F3 and GP2 years is more than familiar with it.

It should hopefully be a very open year. Toyota and BMW will be stronger challengers for wins week in, week out, which could include maiden wins for Hiedfeld and Glock (Glock, not Trulli). KERS will only be here for one year.

NASCAR

The educated money is on a three-way race between Kyle, Jimmie and Carl. So I'm going to go out on a limb and predict a Roush title for Greg Biffle. Greg just needs to get his ducks in a row, it so nearly came off for him in the chase in '08 as he peaked at the right time. He just needs to do the same again. Only better.

There will be very few surprises around in NASCAR-land this year, with perhaps only Juan Montoya and Brian Vickers breaking into the big four for The Chase.

Right, here's a big one. Joey Logano won't race the entire season, and I don't just mean that Gibbs with stick a ringer in the No. 20 for the road courses, there will be weeks at a time when Sliced Bread is benched for the good of the team.

I will get sick and tired of writing things along the lines of "I hate Start-and-Park teams"

Indycar

Indycar needs a close season, but that isn't going to happen. At best it's going to be a three horse race, between Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti and Ryan Briscoe, with Scott Dixon again coming out on top.

The world will continue to get more and more fed up with the Danica Patrick PR machine, and Andretti-Green will struggle to get anywhere near the win column.

Le Mans

Taking, only Sebring and the Le Mans 24 hours here, as the continental Le Mans Series are currently all over the place in regards to predicting next month, let alone November.

It all depends on how the new Audi R15 comes out of the box. If it comes out fast (and perhaps more importantly, reliable), then Audi could sweep the board. If there are even the slightest problems then this is everyone else's best chance at grabbing the spoils for years.

As it is, I believe the new Audi won't come out fast, handing the overall Sebring win to the Lowe's Fernandex P2 Acura, after both the brand new P1 models suffer the sort of problems that handed Penske the win last year.

Le Mans is Peugeot's for the taking. They have two years head start on their 2009 cars compared to Audi, and knowing your car is crucial in endurance racing. 

Some smaller categories....

 World Touring Car Championship - no-one can beat the diesel Seats right now, so I'll take the world's fastest Swede, Rickard Rydell, to take the title.

V8 Supercars- Last year I predicted a Holden title, and Ford promptly won the thing, so whatever I say the opposite is going to happen. So it'll be another Holden title, by which of course I mean Ford will win, probably with Whincup again.

 World Rally Championship- Loeb (yawn)

Following the Philidelphia Eagles 25-32 defeat to Arizona, long time Eagles Head Coach thundered to the press that he was disappointed about the League's handling of the game that eventually led to the Cardinal's looking to break their 61 year championship drought.

"Look at the guys in NASCAR!" screamed Ried, turning approximately the color of a Cardinals jersey. "They knew they had a problem of their biggest guys not being on show on the big day [The Bud Shootout, Feb 7] so they moved the goalposts and got them in. It doesn't take much thought to see that we're better better the team going through today. There's a reason they haven't won jack for 61 years, and that's, well, they're not very good. The League has made an error that is going to spoil the Superbowl for millions. We're far more marketable than this desert team. Hell, we're even good!"

Ried's outburst comes after NASCAR officials "moved the goalposts" to allow 'wild-card' entries, including superstar Tony Stewart, to the season opening exhibition Bud Shootout.

The Eagles coach continued to suggest that the NFL should retrospectively widen the goalposts at all NFL stadiums by 6 feet thus ruling David Akers' failed extra point kick good, a mistake that Reid felt lost the game for his side.

"Nevermind," Ried added. "We'll merge with the Pittsburgh Steelers this week and continue on to greater success."