Because the animals went in 2-by-2........

Well, that was one of the better races of the season so far, as measured by the How-Far-James'-Back-Was-From-The-Back-Of-The-Chair measurement system which came it at approximately 8-10 inches (and yes I am trying to adopt the same position as I write this and trying to wedge a ruler in the gap between me and the chair). However, the end still came up short compared to Air Edwards on the How-Many-Profanities-James-Used measurement scale, as it failed to even cause even one curse word.

Back on the measurement front you could have forgiven Tony Stewart for taking a tape measure to Dover to try and find out whether it was just the pit road they made wider. For as wide as Tony tried to make his car Jimmie Johnson appeared to be able to find some extra track, for any of you who have ever heard of Wallace and Gromit, think of Gromit with the model train set. For those of you who have so far missed out on what greatness can be made of plastecine - enjoy - the "Johnson Moment" can be found at 1:30, and yes, I believe there is a case that Tony Stewart looks like an evil Penguin.....

Meanwhile...........

Max Papis - A rare DNQ for Mad Max, coming out only above Derrike Cope (who's elderly person's mobility scooter couldn't cope with the banking) and David Starr (who drastically misunderstood the start-and-park philosophy by forgetting the start part..............10/10

Mike Bliss - Mike's (and Phoenix Racing's) slide into the S'n'P abyss continues with at 40th place after a mysterious Electrical problem gave him just enough juice to work out what the problem, make it down off the track, down pit road, and safely into the garage where the rest of the team was able to take a look. I don't know but if real cars had real problems that were obliging as that then the AAA wouldn't really have a purpose anymore..........9/10

David Gilliland - And the start and parks keep coming (for the first AFNK is decades seemingly with Dave Blaney the rest aren't letting the side down.) I am caught in two minds about David Gilliland (although don't tell anyone or they'll have me in a strait jacket). In previous weeks I'd have forgiven them a lot as they continue to make an effort to run full race lengths. However, the old stay-out-and-lead-a-lap trick before the Power Steering gave out (that turn to the garage is awful sharp) stopped DG after 38 laps - earning him another return ticket to AFNK next week......................10/10

Joe Nemechek - Introducing the longest sponsor set in the history of NASCAR as Joe took to the monster mile with support from G.P.'s Enterprises/Huckleberry's BBQ/Lubepros. However, even with all those letters on the car (I like to imagine that sponsors have to pay by the letter to get their names on cars, like you had to on Football shorts, which made players with surnames like "Roy" everyone's favourite) Joe couldn't make it beyond halfway, dropping aout after completing 67 laps after a drive shaft problem (probably the weight of all those sponsors)................................9/10

Mark Martin - The old man of NASCAR was again showing the sort of form that has made call time on calling time on his career for yet another year. He was bothering the top-5 most of the day, presumably asking younger drivers to pull his finger, telling stories recounting the good old days while the young 'uns would rather play on their Xstation and drinking copious amounts of tea (which presumably is Tony Eury Jr.'s new role and Hendrick, along with fetching Mark's slippers) all while relaxing in the rocking chair he gained under false pretences when he first thought about retiring, somewhere is the midsts of time..............3/10

Kasey Kahne - Dodge were putting a new engine to good use (which is good, because it might the last new engine Chrysler come up with for a while) with Kahne's outside pole and Reed Sorenson's nosebleed performance in qualifying showing exactly what was possible. However, as Reed Sorenson proved he really was Reed Sorenson (and not The Stig or anyone else who can actually drive) and dropped like a stone attached to an anchor Kahne stuck around in the top of lap charts, eventually coming in 6th..........2/10

Kevin Harvick - The man with the plastic complexion had a "nice" anonymous weekend at Dover. "Nice" because RCR and Harvick inparticular have had a pig of a season and need results to start coming in. And all being even (Harvick has only had 2 top-20 finishes in the previous 7 races) a 17th place finish is good news for the #29 car, but not for me as it means I have to try and be funny about Kevin Harvick again (which is very difficult when he's not picking a fight with someone)..............5/10

And the Brikkie goes too..................

It's a tough one this week. There were umpteen debris cautions, but without them the race would have been all over bar the shouting by half-way. Then there's David Stremme, he caused one caution, before crashing himself, taking out Robby Gordon and Paul Menard along the way, but that's Menard and Gordon, such actions should be rewarded with a medal, not punished with a foam brick.

Nope this week's Brikkie goes to all thing's Kyle Busch - and I mean all things. Firstly to Kyle himself, and a little to the team for not changing all the tyres when he had a vibration, secondly to the team and a little to Kyle for not considering the splitter - which has always seemed to be about the second thing you look for when this car gets a vibration. Thirdly to the crowd - that cheering was vile. We get that you don't like Kyle and prefer the guy embrassing his family name (and no, for once that's not John Andretti) and we know that he hasn't done anything worthwhile in ages, but have you got so desperate that you start cheering others' misfortune. Jr zealots, in case you haven't noticed there are 41 cars on the track besides Busch and Your Beloved that need to have a problem as well, so you're going to get awfully hoarse with cheering going down that route. Kyle Busch fans - you have my permission to cheer whenever you see a car with a Jr. merchandise item (and there are enough of them - this means you Cabbage Patch Dolls) broken down at the side of the road.

Next Week

There is no Dave Blaney again!! Instead we have the S'n'P collective of David Gilliland, Tony Raines and Mike Skinner, ably assisted by Scott Speed. Kevin Harvick returns, Elliott Sadler makes an all too infrequent visit and Carl Edwards tries not to wreck any of his Roush team mates. Oh, and we all try and stay awake through Pocono. Good Luck with that.

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.  

Good news everybody! Even though it was a night race I saw it (although this has nothing to do with staying up and everything to do with Sky repeating it on Sunday night - I hate them with a vengeance, but occasionally I love them).

And from what I saw it looked like NASCAR had taken a leaf out of a supermarket car park at times. I have never seen cars pitted at so many different angles, including A.J. Allmendinger's fabulous backwards service routine (that's not one you see on the Pit Crew Training video). I'm hoping for a reprise in the Pit Crew Challenge this week, I don't car if it's not fast - it's fun.

However, the piece-de-resistance came as Jimmie Johnson attempted to parallel park into his pit. Now, those of you who take notice of these intro rambles will remember my beloved lady's record behind the wheel. Parellel parking is one of her many downfalls (along with other stuff like steering left, steering right (I'm a bad, bad person),) so maybe there is hope she can start making her way up the NASCAR ladder in the next few years - perhaps she can join Patrick Dempsey in his entry for Le Mans next month.....

Scott Riggs - Scott and his Tommy Baldwin Racing employers are fast moving down from the group of plucky try-ers (the home of the Papis' Gillilands' and pre-narc Mayfield's) to the pit of the start and parkers (whose names I dare not type) whether this be financial, talent or actually mechanical (yea, right) is anyone's guess, but the weekend's 101 lap jaunt, before "brakes" parked the car in 39th position. How exactly do you park a car with no brakes, perhaps my beloved will know.................9/10

Sterling Marlin - Mike Bliss' place in AFNK moves, like his ride, to Sterling Marlin. And Sterling didn't do himself too proud. A 39 lap start-and-park is a thing of beauty, and a feat in itself. More seriously I'm starting to have the same problem with this year's Phoenix Racing as last year's Haas CNC. They just need to stuck with one driver. So BK is on contract with Hendrick, then pick Bliss or Marlin, or someone, hell I'm free. Just get some stability, for Pete's sake. Hire someone called Pete - anyone know a free Pete?....................10/10

Dave Blaney - Look at the back of your milk cartons. There are a missing 7 laps somewhere in the Darlington area. The TV announcers said on lap 49 that Blaney was in the pits. I know it was lap 49 because I looked and saw 49, and we all know what that means. However, look at NASCAR.com's results page and you will see that Blaney completed 56 laps. 56! Fifty-six. Where did the other 7 come from? When did they do 7 more laps? Why did they do 7 more laps? Is this the first sign that NASCAR is starting to challenge the start-and-parks? All these and other important questions answered next week on...................................10/10

Tony Raines - 25th. That's where Tony finished. That beats all but one of John Andretti's #34 finishes - a 19th which came at Daytona. Is that a damning indictment of John Andretti's current level of talent? No. How about the fact that he can apparently be awful with or without fenders, having wrecked in Indy 500 practice and he still needs to qualify for the field this weekend...................6/10

Jamie McMurray - And we're back on the Cupcake Wagon (which sounds like some sort of AA for people addicted to Betty Crocker). And we're back on the "why-do-crap-things-happen-to-me-all-the-time" wagon as well (which sounds far less fun). Jamie was, again, holding down a fine top-10 showing before Jamie, again, found himself in a car with a tempremental self-destruct function. This week he had a tyre blow out on lap 275, next week actual Gremlins are expected to tear the car apart as part of All Star Week.............4/10

Greg Biffle - I think the Roush cars need to be thoroughly checked after the next few races. We know from the Gibbs NW cars that teams are not averse to cheating with magnets and I think there are magnets in the Roush cars. Why else would they carry on crashing into each other so often? Biffle was half of this week's Roush accident troupe as he spun out Carl Edwards (before the NASCAR gods rewarded Greg with a spin of his own). Aside from that Greg was the class of the field, leading the most laps and finishing 8th, now if it wasn't for those meddling team mates.....................2/10

Dale Earnhardt Jr - Now you know when any AFNK gets introduced with pit stop shenanigans, and Dale Jr is on the list this paragraph writes itself. And so it was that on Tuesday NASCAR felt the need to, alongside confirming whatever Jeremy didn't take, deny rumours that they had greased pit road to try and bring everyone closer to Dale Jr.'s level of ineptitude. It worked, but Dale Jr. still managed to slide through his pit box (I thought Mike told them not to grease that bit!), before sliding into a wall (or two) and down to a 27th place finish..................6/10

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

David Ragan! Reinforcing and adding to my Roush crash magnet theory, David moved into the realms of Michael Waltrip as he tried to cause the most cautions in a single race. It was a good attempt, which included a rare hatrick of yellow flags between laps 160 and 193. However, his record attempt  fell falt when his third accident did a little more than cosmetic damage.

And the inaugural John Force Award for Retirement Greatness goes to.......

Who else but the master of the caution flag (sit down Sam Hornish!). Michael Waltrip. Michael was already headed to the Hall of Fame (or should that me a Wall of Fame) after his Camry did it's best impression of a Solara Funny Car by lighting up the Carolina sky. However, what sealed his greatness was his post retirement interview. If I here a mention of a primary sponsor smoother than that all season, I'll eat my hat.

Next Week

I'm awarding myself a week off for All Star Week, but I'll be back for the 600, and there won't be a Roush car in sight. Instead we have Dave Blaney, Sterling Marlin and David Gilliland, Clint Bowyer and A.J. Allmendinger (funny those two together again) and the boss and the boy pairing of Dale Earnhardt Jr and Brad Keselowski (who may of may not be entered).

P.S. We all sucked royally at excuse bingo, with no-one managing to match a single excuse to a position. It appears these start and parkers are more resourceful than we thought! 

I hate night races. With a vengence. Which is a pain, because I like Richmond, and Richmond only has night races, and does pretty well from it as well.

While I am the sole guinea pig in a small experiment to make the human race completely nocturnal, the night races start at 1am over here, which at this embrionic stage in the experiment is a little too far, too soon. So, while you (apparently) were settling in to watch NASCAR, and got Baseball, I was sitting down and trying to push the boundries of human endurance.

The bottom line is, I failed. Between starting behind the pace car and Dave Blaney's early wall-and-wallet assisted exit I lost interest very quickly, and it's very difficult to follow a race through the inside of your eye lids.

On with the show, try and stay awake, please.

Scott Riggs - I though a week without field fillers in AFNK was too much, and so it proved. Having been a proper racing team for every other they've got to Tommy Baldwin took to the tried and tested route of pulling off and posting a random mechanical reason for your retirement - it was electrical, in case anyone's playing excuse bingo. However, their technique clearly needs some work as a quick look reveals they completed 54 laps. 54, that's far more than 49, tut tut.......................10/10

John Andretti - Hands down John Andretti has been field filler of the season. You can't even be sarcastic about him, he's just plain old rubbish, although admitedly his brainfade with Dave Blaney at Bristol condemned him in my eyes. And after another typically Andretti performance John of 32nd he has bid his farewell from NASCAR (at least for the time being, although we can dream) as he's off to go and clog up another series at some tin pot race at, let's see if I can get this right, Indian-a-police, or something like that. It'll never catch on..................................9/10

Matt Kenseth - Matt had a typical mid field Richmond race, the only thing that made him unusual this week is that he didn't end up facing the wrong way at somebody else's expense. He was down a lap, got it back, got into the wall, and still managed to walk away with a decent finish in 13th. I suppose that's the same logic as why you never seem to see a scratch on a pin ball..................5/10

Greg Biffle - Greg had a similar weekend to Matt, finish in the teens, lap down, free pass etc etc. They even had run ins with the same unguided missile, a certain Joey Logano. The only difference is that Greg ended up facing the wrong way and making a little bit more contact with the wall. However, in a race when making contact with the wall only seemed to make you faster that was never going to be an obstacle, perhaps after having cars held together with tape last week the teams have decided to make thier cars a little stronger.........5/10

Jamie McMurray - Jamie is desperate to stay at Roush. So he wants to show he's part of the team. He wins with the team, he loses with the team. He spins with team. And so it was in lap 167 that seeing a opportunity for some inter team bonding with Carl Edwards, Cupcake dutifuly spun down to meet Carl for some team brain-storming. However, Jamie overstepped the mark, hitting on Carl in a way that would land you in a sexual harrasment suit in the office. Carl declined Jamie's advances and drove off, probably glad that this week spin down the front stretch wasn't tracked by radar at the local ATC..................4/10 

Mark Martin - Is anyone else getting fed up with Mark Martin? I've actually forgotten what year was meant to be his last - when he went round the country on some grand tour. However, since then he's had more races "retired" than many driver do in a whole Cup career, and apparently he's not done yet. Just friggin' retire already! On the bright side there must me companies queueing up to be on the hood - denture creams, hip replacement clinics, cat rescue homes, erectile dysfunction tablets - what, you mean, he already did that?...............4/10

Jeff Gordon - There was no return to dram of the battle for 37th with Kevin Harvick we saw last week - Kevin was trying his hardest, Jeff was no where to be seen. He was too busy being, arguably, the class of field. He led laps at just about every juncture, didn't get spun by Joey Logano (or Sam Hornish, I'm getting warmed up for him), and didn't even end up backwards, once. Unfortunately, the only thing that stood between him and a victory was a birthday boy, and everyone know's you have to be nice to someone on their birthday.............2/10

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

It's Sam Hornish Jr.. After a promising couple of weeks, bearing in mid his pre-wreck and pre-swine flu performance at 'dega Sam has come on leaps and bounds with the PR suits at Chrysler (yes, they still employ someone). As part of his new role as one of the flagship drivers Sam was asked to showcase Chrysler's diversifying brand image to the public (they've got to get out bankruptcy somehow). However, I'm not sure how well they judged their audience as Sam demonstration of bulldozers and wrecking equipment seemed to annoy potential customers, especially Marcos Ambrose fans. And those PR suits probably don't work for Chrysler anymore.

Next week

It's back into daylight!! The NASCAR circus and the AFNK minivan (it's a metaphorical minivan, I'm not really there) head to Darlington (or whatever nickname it's got this week). And some resemblence of normality return to AFNK. We have a trio of field fillers in Dave Blaney, Scott Riggs and Tony Raines (who is entered in the #34 car while Andretti goes and embarrases the family name). Mike Bliss falls into the sometimes-crap-sometimes-great category. There's the seemingly obligatory Roush visit to Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray. Oh, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. I'll start the car now..... 

P.S. Having stumbled across the rather brilliant idea of "Excuse Bingo" I invite you to take part in an alternative trifecta - name the excuses for the retirements of the 43rd, 42nd and 41st placed cars - it doesn't matter who they are, just why they are.

It's not often that the woman in my life is present to see me at my ranting, NASCAR-watching best, as she's normally watching recorded episodes of Grey's Anatomy (or whatever rubbish Patrick Dempsey is pedelling this week). However, this week (due to a lack of truly appalling TV) she was with me watching Talladega.

Now, there is only so much about motorsport you can explain to someone who has failed their driving test a number of times I feel it's my duty as a man not to mention, let alone who all the drivers are. And so it was surprise and potential horror she exclaimed as she believed she'd heard one of the commentary team say how one driver had "picked up Tourettes". It took me a few seconds, flashing past the mental image of someone unexpectedly swearing down the radio (although that would explain some of Dale Jr.'s pit problems this year), to realise what had actually been said - that a driver had "picked up Truex" in the draft.

However, this wouldn't be the last we heard of Tourettes for the weekend, for as Air Edwards set it course fot the fence there was a brief salvo of four letter words your children shouldn't hear, and they weren't just from me. It seems that in a few hours of NASCAR she'd learnt that flying cars weren't good (perhaps those driving tests have taught her something). Of course whether she watches any of Richmond is unclear, but I haven't told her that flying cars aren't an every week occurance.

Anyway, after the longest intro ramble in the AFNK canon........

Tony Raines - Tony successfully avoided being caught in The Big One - assuming there wasn't a highway pile-up on his way home from Phoenix last weekend.........10/10

Michael McDowell - Hooray!! It's not every week that I manage to get a prediction right, but I saw Mike's DNQ coming and come it did. On the other hand I suppose it's good - can you imagine Phil Parsons' reaction if the #66 was caught in the lap 7 wreck? The poor moths, they wouldn't have stood a chance. However, Mike escapes the 10/10 rating thanks to the moronic trio of UK broadcasters Sky Sports, who listed him as actually being in that early crash.........................9/10

Joe Nemechek - Joe, chequered flag, chequered flag, Joe. I felt it best to re-introduce you two as it's been a while since you saw each other. Firstly, a rant (I know, who'd have thought it) unlike what was suggested during the race the presence of a sponsor on Joe's hood is in no way connected to Joe finishing a race - I should know - there have been more lines of Joe Nemechek analysis from my fingertips than anyone else. After the lap 7 crash Joe must have thought that pulling in would be looking a point-laden gift horse in the mouth so he stayed out all the way to the finish. And now let us enter the parallel universe where out of 7 NASCAR drivers, Joe Nemechek has the highest finish, coming home on 14th.............................4/10

Michael Waltrip - Let's get formalities out of the way first, Waltrip finished 21st, from a 31st start, after being caught in the second big one, where some idiot in #48 smudged himself across Michael's bumper. Right, now join me in standing and applauding Michael's save earlier in the race. It would have been all too often that the car ended up hard in the inside wall (and we can ask Robby Gordon what that feels like). However, in a week when the safety zealots have been crying for no blood, let us consider that the car didn't get airbourne (thanks to the design of the car) nor roll (thanks to the tarmac where grass used to be). While everyone is worrying about what could have been, let's just remember what wasn't................5/10

Matt Kenseth - OK, so one way or another Matt was integral to the first wreck, but who's apportioning blame - not me - I have a foam brick for that. Other than that Matt actually had a quiet race, running up front for a fair chunk of race before falling back to finish 17th, three spots behind Nemechek (I know I already did him, but the more often I type it the more likely it is not to be a clerical error).....................4/10

Martin Truex Jr - My predictions were back to their rubbish best as the driver I pencilled in for the win ended the race with a rather shorter car than he began it with. However, for a time I looked like I wasn't mad as he was around the sharp end of the field for much of the race, and managed to get a co-star role in the fantasic sychronised fish-tailing that broke out between him and Kyle Busch....................5/10

Kyle Busch - And so we move from Torville to Dean in the other half of the fishtailing duet, and the one who did it better and more spectacularly. Even so I can't decide if the move to get back on the track while sideways was either an attempt at brilliant driving, or outragously careless and dangerous. I suspect that what side of that debate you fall is directly proportional to the number of things you own with the number #88 on them. Kyle's crew were also back on form, with the return of colour-coordinated yellow Barebond, which seemed to be integral to the car, to the point where if the section on the right wheelarch came off I invisaged the front and rear of the car going in two seperate directions...................5/10

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

Step forward, or rather jog forward, Carl Edwards. Of course I can never fault a man for jogging away from a car that's recently been airbourne causing me to swear uncontrollably for 15 seconds. Or can I? In these tough times (I'm talking about the economy, not whatever livestock-derived-disease is going to wipe us out) it has been well published what NASCAR drivers and teams are doing to save money. However, it seems that Carl is impurvious to all of this as he continues to fly short distances privately.

Next Week

It's rather a different look AFNK next week after the 'Dega shuffle as Mark Martin, Jamie McMurray and Scott Riggs take the test courtesy of Matt Kenseth (opps, there I go with the blame). Greg Biffle completes a Roush threesome with John Andretti making up the numbers. While they will all be humbled to be in the comapny of the victor of the incredibly tense and important battle for 37th - Jeff Gordon.