BACK FOR THE CHASE

If I remember

STOP (please?)

With the "public enemy #1" stuff. I've seen three national writers use the term over the last two days, so there's probably more that I haven't seen.

Where was the public outrage towards Kevin Harvick when he dumped Tony Stewart at Bristol?

That was a racing accident. The incident between Kyle Busch and Dale Junior was too. Let's get over it folks.

We get it, Junior's popular. But please, both drivers say it's a nonissue, and they recognize it for what it was. Why do we think "Junior Nation" can't understand that as well?

Driver Rankings

In preparation to defend what I have said on TBL, if I was going to be ranking the top 20 Sprint Cup drivers, this is how I'd see it shake out.

1. Kyle Busch-- Right now, it is foolish to take anyone else
2. Tony Stewart-- Was tops in my book until he got bumped off by a teammate
3. Jeff Gordon-- Could easily be top two
4. Jimmie Johnson-- Same with this guy
5. Carl Edwards-- And this guy too. I think that you can order the top five any way amongst these five and have a solid argument
6. Denny Hamlin-- Not even Kyle Busch had this much success right away in the Cup series
7. Matt Kenseth-- He's just having some bad luck right now
8. Clint Bowyer-- Have to remember that Bowyer hasn't spent much time on pavement compared to everyone else
9. Juan Pablo Montoya-- Basically the same way with Montoya. He's here because of the sheer amount of driving talent that he possesses.
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr.-- Yes, Junior at 10. I can see him as high as maybe seventh, but that's it. He's good, but he's not one of the sport's elite.
11. Kevin Harvick-- He could be higher too
12. Kurt Busch-- Sorry bud, you're not the best driver in the family by a longshot
13. Jeff Burton-- Almost forget about how good Burton is because of how sneaky he is
14. Kasey Kahne-- He probably could be higher, but we really don't know because of the inconsistency in equipment
15. Ryan Newman-- There was a reason he hadn't won in 80some races. Newman won't win again this year
16. Greg Biffle-- In regards to car control, he's one of the best. He's probably too low here
17. Martin Truex Jr.-- Martinsville haunts him
18. Casey Mears-- The dude's got talent; but it's inexplicable what's going on with him right now
19. David Ragan-- Beating expectations already
20. Brian Vickers-- Gotta remember, he's only 25.

While you weren't caring

Racing returned to the Rock.

Yes, it was an ARCA race, which are usually good for only a bunch of cautions and six or seven cars to quit after lap 1. But this time, if you were indeed watching, you got to see the hype that is Joey Logano.

And he did everything he could to live up to that hype. Logano led 257 of 312 laps in absolutely dominating fashion, coming within a few laps of lapping the field. (But again, were you expecting a bunch of long green runs? This is ARCA)

He was so good that at a track that puts a premium on tires, Logano drove right past Ken Schrader after Schrader had gotten new tires. No one had anything for Logano, who was aided by Denny Hamlin's Cup pit crew.

Logano will make his Busch* debut on May 31 at Dover. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I wouldn't be surprised if he won. That may be a little too lofty, but this kid has the potential to win five or more Sprint Cup titles.

Seriously.

Poor Denny Hamlin

Fan or not, if you can't even feel a bit of sympathy for Denny Hamlin after Saturday night, then I question your passion for auto racing.

It still boggles my mind how good Hamlin's car was. 381 of 382 laps! That's just phenomenal.

Of course, if this was the 1970s, that would have been a walk in the park for Richard Petty, and you'd be wondering why Petty couldn't have led that other lap. In a way, I think I feel the same way about Hamlin. I perfectly understand why AJ Allmendinger stayed out to lead a lap, but part of me wishes that Allmendinger hadn't done that, realizing the significance of what was about to happen.

But this is 2008. If a car is dominant, it usually happens in either the first or second stage of the race. Especially in a race that starts with sunlight and ends with darkness, a complete domination is almost impossible. The crew must have a great car for the sunnier track conditions, and an even better one for when the track tightens up. With the level of competition the way it is today, rarely does a team get an opportunity to just take control like that.

I don't think that we will ever see a performance like that again, at least not this year. A dominating race car, great pit stops, a home track... it seemed too perfect.

And it was.

I promise

that this will be updated from now on.

School sucks.

Random Texas Observations

--OMG! Hendrick hasn't won in 2008!

--OMG! Dale Jr. hasn't won since 2006!

--(sorry, gotta get those out of the way)

--Hey! I got the race winner correct for the first time all year! Not that it was an incredibly gutsy pick, but at least I'm right once in a while. (Note: I've already made up my mind about who I'm taking next week, and it's not a Hendrick car)

-Part of me was in disbelief reading Jeff Gordon's postrace quotes. Yeah, the fact that Gordon finished last for only the second time in his career is stunning, but more stunning to me is the way that his team has never gotten a handle on Texas. He's run well at Atlanta and Charlotte, and Texas isn't too far off from those racetracks. It's not like Texas is a Rockingham type place or anything. If Gordon's recent (and past) history is any indication, we may be waiting a while for a Texas victory. (of course, he could very easily go out and win in the fall)

--Carl Edwards should be considered the early Chase favorite. Atlanta, Texas, Charlotte and Kansas are all in the Chase, as is Homestead. Uh oh.

--And while it is stupid to anoint favorites just 20% of the way into a season, there's also a high probability that the rest of the field will catch up to Carl at the intermediate tracks at some point during the year.

--Joe Gibbs Racing gets the team of the race award. Three cars in the top 7 is downright impressive.