Monday Morning Crew Chief and the ratings of each race have moved to www.mondaymorningcrewchief.blogspot.com.

This move comes after many readers and other bloggers have already switched sites, but also following the change of scenery on this website. I tried to wait out the changes as long as possible but now a change will be made on my side.

Hopefully you will head over to the new site and check things out over there. It is different, but all of the content is still the same and that will be the place for the MMCC ratings from this point forward.

Thank you for all of your support and I really did enjoy blogging on this site for the nearly two years that MMCC was on here. See you at the new site!

The first right turns of the season were made this weekend and the first road course race of the season gets a very well deserved 4 Star Rating. Aside from the fuel mileage races that turn up some unexpected winners, this was one of the better road course races I have seen in a long time.

 Most of the time I do not look forward to watching road course racing, but this race had almost everything that could be hoped for in a road course event. There was plenty of strategy as at least three different groups of drivers pitted at different points during the first run. Marcos Ambrose did a great job of working up from the back and pitted on lap 13, a group came in on lap 22 and the final cars hit pit road on lap 28. On most tracks, six laps difference would not seem like so much, but on the long road course where fuel is stretched thin all the time, those six laps had the possibility to determine the winner of the race.

The other great thing about this week's race was that the drivers were able to really race out on the track. Many times there are road course races where it is follow the guy in front all race long. On Sunday, however, there were guys driving all over the curbs and putting their cars in places that they knew two cars would not fit. At that point, running into the side of cars going into the corner becomes accepted, and it's great to watch.

Finally, a huge congratulations first to Kasey Kahne for getting his first win in over a year and getting himself back into Chase contention, but also a big congratulations to the RPM organization as a whole. Three cars in the top 10 gets this group their best finish since Daytona and Richard Petty made his long awaited return to Victory Lane. A place he is very familiar with but hasn't visited in awhile. Try ten years. Anyway, it was great to see him so excited and the standings at the bubble positions just get closer and closer with each race. This should be a fun summer.

Next week is back up in the Northeast with racing from New Hampshire. This is one of the shorter races in terms of distance so there could be more radical strategies tried this week as well. Have a great week!

Monday Morning Crew Chief will be back with the rating on the Wednesday after the race next week instead of the normal Tuesday due to the maintenance and upgrades that are being done to the site.

The second fuel mileage race in a row brought along with it an amazing finish that saw three of the races six leaders trade places on the final lap, with Mark Martin prevailing for the improbable win. A great finish combined with a very boring 150 laps or so earns this race a 3 Star Rating.

Yes, the finish was terrific, but it was similar to the All-Star race where, in this case, less than 10% of the race had any drama to it at all. I am not saying that all of the green flag racing was a bad thing, but there can be green flag racing and also have at least a car or two within shouting distance of the leader. Thankfully, the finish came down the way it did because this was shaping up to be a lot like last fall's California race where Jimmie Johnson led 227 of the 250 laps run that day. Also, the final caution that set up the strategy at the end came naturally when Stremme wrecked, instead of for debris.

This was a classic Michigan-type race. Many times a certain aspect of the race is promoted heavily throughout the weekend and it ends up not playing a factor into the race at all. This time, however, fuel mileage is what was talked about all week and that's what made the difference in the end.

The thing that made this race a little different than most fuel mileage races is that not one, but two leaders on the last lap ran out of fuel, and then the winner ran out of fuel just as he crossed the finish line. Most of the time fuel mileage is talked about a lot during the final run but the leader usually makes it around to still win the race. Johnson did it at Pheonix last spring and Earnhardt Jr. was able to pull it off in this race one year ago. I feel that throughout a 36 race season there should be a certain percentage of races that do come down to fuel mileage. There are plenty of races that end up with a ten lap shootout, so a variety of racing finishes is nice.

Up next are the twists and turns of the road course at Sonoma. This is another track where unique things tend to happen. Of the two, Sonoma is my favorite road course. The way things have gone this year expect to see some different faces up front again this weekend. Road courses are known to come down to fuel mileage and this would just be another race in 2009 that ends up with an unexpected contender celebrating in victory lane.

The first week of the Summer Series took place in the beautiful Pocono mountains at the uniquely shaped roval that is Pocono Raceway. This was one of the cleanest races the Cup Series has seen in a long time. Lots of green flag racing but a long race nonetheless earns the first Pocono race of the season a 3 Star Rating.

Before we move on, a big congratulations should go out to Tony Stewart and the entire Stewart-Hass organization. To come to one of the tracks that is the toughest on cars of any track on the schedule and put both cars in the top 5 is definitely something they can hang their hats on. Fuel mileage strategy at the end of any race is intriguing and this week was no different. However, the coverage of this fuel mileage situation and the race as a whole could have been better.

While watching the race, it was hard to ever get settled in and really be involved during the race. Part of this, I think, was due to TNT's coverage of the event. I recently watched a fuel mileage race from 1992 at Michigan and it was handled better than this past weekend because they followed the battles other than for the lead after the winner crossed the line. I guess I was just expecting a bit more. The Race Buddy feature is way cool but the on-air coverage left me wanting more.

I know people loved to beat up FOX because of Digger and said they got tired of DW, but personally, I would take that any day over what TNT brought this past Sunday. Overall, it felt like TNT treated the race like it was just one part of a bigger broadcast that included the ridiculously long prerace shows. I do like Dallenbach and Petty in the booth but it felt like they spent the whole race ooing and ahhing every time somebody got loose coming off a corner.

My final gripe about the coverage Sunday was how the end of the race was handled. Yes, it was important that Stewart got his first win as an owner/driver, but there were guys running out of fuel and wrecking as they came off of turn three. I'm still not sure who was wrecking and how the final results ended up like they did. From about fifth on back, there was no way to tell how the drivers crossed the line in that order. Johnson was third coming into the final turn while running out of fuel.However, the results showed that he finished seventh without any mention in the booth. Hopefully, this was all just because it was their first week of the season because it will be a long six weeks if things continue like this.

The verdict is still out on the double-file restarts in my opinion. There were not enough of them in this race and the track was too huge for it to have a lot of impact. But, the rules regarding the lapped cars and the waved around cars is definitely confusing and something that will take probably several weeks to get a handle on for both the fans and competitors. Overall, the race as a whole was run pretty well. This was the first time this year that three green flag stops were made in a row, and hopefully that is something that will continue to happen more often. It was about this time last year that there were a bunch of fuel mileage races all in a row.

Next week is back to the site of Dale Jr.'s last victory. He will head back there now with a different crew chief and he needs a win a lot worse this year than he did at this time last year. Before then, have a great week and get ready for some more long green flag runs and maybe some more fuel strategy at Michigan.

Heading into Pocono this weekend NASCAR has made a rule change that will change the look of stock car racing in a major way. On every restart the cars will now be lined up double-file instead of the traditional single-file restarts. This change is just another in the long line of changes that NASCAR, and specifically Brian France, have made during this past decade.

Since Mr. France took over as Chairman and CEO of NASCAR in 2003, there have been more changes made to the most basic parts of the sport than during any other period throughout NASCAR's history. We have seen two versions of the Chase, first with 10 drivers and now with 12; Rockingham no longer exists, Labor Day at Darlington no longer exists, the "Lucky Dog" rule was invented, and now every restart will look like they are starting the race.

As a traditionalist, I have to say that I am not thrilled with this idea. Sure, the racing may be more exciting, but do the rules of the actual competition on the track have to be changed? This would be like a baseball team receiving three runs in the seventh inning just to make an otherwise lopsided game closer and therefore more "exciting". I understand that there is an argument out there that this is done at the local short tracks. But this is Cup racing, not the local short track. It's done on Sunday afternoons on pavement, not Saturday nights on dirt.

I used to feel that the lap down rules were made with common sense in mind. If a car was lapped , they could not get back around the leader for free, but they had their own lane on a restart to try and earn a lead lap spot by passing the leader back.

Now, the cars on the track are artificially moved around to try and keep as many cars in the game as possible. I mean, a car doesn't even have to wreck or blow an engine for a caution to come out. Does this really make the race more exciting, or is this an example of a sport becoming somebody's money-driven ideal of entertainment?

In time I am sure that the double file restart will become commonplace and fans won't even think twice about watching races this way, but it's a little sad to see sports continually change their rules in order to try and please a certain segment of the population that the heads of the sport feel they "need" to capture in order for their product to prosper.