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Dale Jarrett’s last Sprint Cup Series race didn’t go as well as he and his fans hoped. His 37th place finish in the Food City 500 was disappointing.

But he did hand over his #44 UPS Camry with 34th place owner’s points - a critical accomplishment for his employer, Michael Waltrip Racing. DJ was the epitome of class to the end. Scene Daily had this quote…

“Well, it wasn’t the finish I would have liked,” Jarrett said. “I’m able to go out with the best sponsor in the business in UPS, and I would have liked to have had a better day for them, but I really can’t be too upset when you take into consideration the kind of career I have been fortunate to have.”

The win went to another of the classiest members of the NASCAR circus, Jeff Burton. Burton has been running around up front all year and the win at Bristol was no stunner. Maybe the fact that Jeff Burton was the driver to capture Chevrolet’s first 2008 victory was a surprise. Richard Childress Racing Impalas finished top three in a race led mostly by two Joe Gibbs’ Camrys.

Tony Stewart led the most laps - again at Bristol - only to get taken out by a Kevin Harvick bobble that will come to be seen as “one of those racin’ deals” after a couple days of cool-down. Stewart was sarcastic after the race. Scene Daily again…

“I thought I left him plenty of room, but I don’t know,” Stewart said. “I was far enough ahead of him that I didn’t see where he hit me or when he hit me. I’m sure somehow it was my fault. I’m just sorry I got in his way.”

Harvick wasn’t ducking culpability. He clearly got loose under Smoke, impatience maybe causing a mistake.

“I clipped the apron, just lost the thing. If I’d have had it to do over again, I wouldn’t want to spin out. But, you know, it’s just one of those deals where I was just trying to get all I could and just got a little too far.”

All-in-all a kinder, gentler Bristol. I’m writing this at midnight and can find no reports of cheating or tire tirades. The race went full term, without rain, snow or - luckily - tornado delay. No punches thrown, nor helmets either. Just classy drivers acting - well, classy.

I think Atlanta was more fun.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Welcome NASCAR fans. This is our second ever live blog and first during an actual race. May as well pick the biggest race of the year and one of the most significant in the annals of motorsport - the freakin’ 50th Daytona 500! Enjoy the race.

Boris Said is an ON PIT ROW favorite. He said yesterday that he’s either going to get his 7 Eleven - Spurpie - No Fear Racing Fusion into the Daytona 500 or it’s going home in a basket. Boris will be racing with six other go-or-go homers for two spots in NASCAR’s Super Bowl.

Warren Wallace’s other second cousin, Kenny Wallace,  Red Bull twins  Brian Vickers andA J Allmendinger, Awesome Bill Elliott, Daytona winner Sterling Marlin and Carl Long are the competition for Boris in race number one of the Gatorade Dual 150′s.

The wild card in that race is Kurt Busch.  Busch’s owner’s points were transferred to teammate Sam Hornish Jr meaning Kurt has to either qualify on time or use his champion’s provisional to race a Sunday.  In typical, stupid, Top 35 Rulefashion; if Busch is slow, he and two other drivers will transfer from this race.  If he’s quick enough, it will leave just one other spot for someone else.  I think Boris will edge the Toyotas and put another Ford in the big race.

Race two also has two starting spots up for grabs. Patrick Carpentier was the fastest of the bubble boys and he looked good in pole qualifying Sunday, using a driving line different from most everyone else. He’s up against fellow Canadian open wheel refugee Jacques Villenueve, veterans Dale Jarrett, Ken Shrader and John Andretti, Eric McClure and Stanton Barrett Jr.

Michael Waltrip said Sunday that Jarrett was getting all the best stuff from the MWR garage. If they had one car that was better or an engine that ran stronger, DJ was going to get it.  Then Wednesday, they found that DJ had one of the engines that needed to be replaced. He’ll start at the back of the field and that won’t help. Shrader’s telling anybody who’ll listen how slow his Dodge has been. Andretti, McClure and Barrett are big underdogs. This one looks like it’s all Mapleleafs to me but Jarrett is next in line to use the champion’s provisional should Kurt Busch race his way to a starting spot.

To quote Warren - or is it Lauren - Wallace “the schooling starts right now.”

It’s a good thing that the best brains in NASCAR discovered they had an engine issue before the races. Word is, a coating on a batch of lifters used by Hendrick Motorsports’ engine builders - and other motor shops too - is failing and the failure would have been fatal.

According to Lowes #48 team crew chief Chad Knaus, there’s no way the faulty power plants would have survived 150 miles. Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Casey Mears and Dale Earnhardt Jr all were forced to change engines, sending them to the back of the grid to start the Dual Daytona 500 qualifiying races.

The bad parts infected the Toyota of Dale Jarrett, Scott Riggs’ Haas CNC Chevy and probably others too.

As a blogger, I kind of wish they hadn’t found the problem. There would have been some great posting opportunities in the aftermath. Just think of the possibilities.

• Visions of hope in the eyes of Ford and Dodge teams as all of the HMS cars and their clients went up in smoke.

• Lists of the best trash talking lines used by Hendrick/Gordon/Johnson haters as they kicked the evil empire while it was down.

• Conspiracy theories - tons of them.

• How it’s obvious that the engine problems are Dale Earnhardt Jr‘s fault. I mean, look at what happened at DEI!

Now we’ll probably have to write about a brilliant, come-from-behind win or two instead.

Photo credit: Rusty Jarrett - Getty Images for NASCAR

“I want a billion dollars and a monkey.” I got what we all hope is just a bite-sized sample of the kind of race the 50th Daytona 500 will be a week from now.

That was one hell of a race, that there Bud Shootout. And it was won by one hell of a driver too - the best restrictor plate racer there ever was, according to second place Tony Stewart.

Smoke said that Dale Jr is probably better at this plate racin’ stuff than his daddy, Dale Earnhardt the Legend. All Senior did was win more times in Florida than the Marlins.

I don’t know about all of that. I do know that I had a big smile on my face at the end of that race. I mean even Tony Stewart seemed happy.

And NASCAR has a real race car in this Car of Today. To a man - announcers, ex-drivers, former crew chiefs - all praised the Car formerly known as the Ugly Little Freakin’ Toad.

Dale Earnhardt Jr, in mid-whoop as he ran his first victory lap in a couple years yelled “We got us a race car boys. Maybe a 500 winner!”

I’ll take that same finish right now. I’d take a whole bunch of different outcomes too. Just keep giving me races where the guys can pass each other and 25 or so of them are doing it.

But if I get the billion dollars and the monkey, I’ll make do.

Photo Credit: Chris Graythen / Getty Images

OK, Kurt Busch is on the pole for Saturday’s Budweiser Shootout but does that mean anything? It might. Check out our countdown of compelling Bud Shootout factoids and impress your friends at the 2008 NASCAR kickoff party.

70 - Total laps in the race, up from the 20 run the first year of the event in 1979

44 - No, not DJ’s UPS truck car number. It’s the most laps led in a single Bud Shootout, by Greg Biffle in 2005

22 - Largest field in event history in 2002 also the number of career starts by Awesome Bill from Dawsonville

19 - Dale Earnhardt Jr’s starting position in ‘03, the farthest back anybody has started and won also the number of consecutive starts by Mark Martin, most by any driver also the number of lead changes in 2001, the highest number since the race began

18 - Number of different pole winners in 2007

7 - Number of poles by Jeff Gordon in 2007, most of any driver

6 - The most career Budweiser Shootout victories held by the late Dale Earnhardt

5 - Number of drivers to win in their first Bud Shootout start (Buddy Baker 1979; Dale Sr 1980; Jeff Gordon 1994; Dale Jarrett 1996; Denny Hamlin 2006)

4.5 - Best average finish of any active driver owned by Tony Stewart

3 - Winners who started on pole (Darrell Waltrip 1981; Bill Elliott 1987; Ken Shrader 1989) also number of wins by Tony Stewart and Dale Jarrett, the most of any drivers in this years field

2.75 - Best average finish by a driver with multiple starts; Senior

2 - Most consecutive victories by Ken Shrader (1989-90), Neil Bonnett (1983-84) and Tony Stewart (2001-02)

1 - Laps led by Rusty Wallace (1998), Neil Bonnett (1982-84), Dale Earnhardt (1980) and Dale Jarrett (2004) in the Budweiser Shootouts they won

.08 - Earnhardt’s victory margin in seconds over Sterling Marlin in 1995, closest in Bud Shootout history

There ought to be something in there that can stump your family Schwab. Enjoy the race.

Oh and thanks to the NASCAR P R folks - they did the work.

With one week of testing in the books and the second week under way–what have we learned?  Anyone–anyone–anyone?

We have seen that the cars from Hendrick Motorsports are fast.  Is it learning if you already know the answer?   The Toyotas have been fast in all test sessions.  But, perhaps they have the most to prove and are just not part of the sandbag parade that has been so prevalent in years past.

It hasn’t really been much of a secret that many teams would come to Daytona testing without much to prove and would, therefore, go through the testing sessions without their best cars or intentions.

There have been exceptions to the rule.  Years past would see new car owners, new manufacturers or new drivers with a message to send and Daytona in January was a great place to send that message.

Could that be what Toyota is using the 2008 test for?

This week the Fast Lap asks:

1) With Morgan-McClure being the latest team to close their doors due to lack of sponsorship dollars, who might be next?

2) Are the speeds being turned by the Toyotas at testing, indicative of their 2008 performance?

3) Would Teresa have allowed Junior to open a nightclub in Charlotte and risk distraction?

4) Darrell Waltrip ran a poll to see if he should boogity-boogity-boogity, or not.  How do you vote?

Let us know how you feel about these questions, or anything else
that happened since last February in Daytona.  If we like your
comments, whether we agree or not, we may use them on the air during
Tuesday’s ON PIT ROW.  Leave us a comment on the blog or call the show–toll free at 1-877-502-8255 between 5-7pm ET on Tuesdays.

Alright NASCAR, we wouldn’t want you to get too big a head or anything. As I sit here preparing the tactics I will employ in the twin tasks of stalking roasted turkey and dealing with the likely disappointment the Detroit Lions will leave me with tomorrow - I thought I would remind the France family that 2007 wasn’t perfect.

• 
  It all started in Daytona. The much anticipated debut of Toyota in the Nextel Cup Series along with the masterfully assembled and promoted flagship team of Michael Waltrip Racing crashed before it ever got started due to a stupid attempt by someone at MWR to doctor the fuel in Waltrip’s own NAPA Camry. The resulting penalty was devastating to Mikey, his sponsors and the team.

• Has there ever been a rule - in any sport - so universally reviled as the obsolete “Top thirty five” qualifying deal?

• There just should have been some way for the surviving Earnhardts to work things out. In the perfect NASCAR world, Dale Junior fans and everyone else involved from sanctioning body to media to sponsors would want to have Junior driving that #8 Budweiser Chevy. The story was a huge distraction throughout the first half of 2007.

• After signing a high profile, big ticket contract with Waltrip’s startup Toyota team, classy ex-champ Dale Jarrett suffered through a wasted year as he struggled to make races and showed poorly when he did qualify. Jarrett’s last full season in cup should have been better.

• Maybe DJ and sponsor UPS knew something when he left Robert Yates Racing for the joys of Toyota racing. The slide of RYR has been fast and steep. The one-time Ford super team is just a shadow of itself and will now operate as Roush - East.

• Craftsman Truck driver Aaron Fike’s arrest for alleged heroin possession in the parking lot of an Ohio amusement park. Nuf’ said.

• Robby Gordon’s meltdown in Montreal.

• ESPN’s coverage of the Nextel Cup. The early season Busch Series broadcasts gave me hope. The fact that they never fixed the pathetic NASCAR Now with the awful Eric Kuselius should have been warning enough. The race broadcasts went steadily downhill.

I’m probably forgetting something significant. But my stomach is growling and I better go dig out my Honolulu Blue and Silver turkey hunting gear.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jimmy Johnson makes another late race push to the front and moves to a commanding points lead.

Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart all made late race runs at JJ but none seriously threatened to take the lead.  Johnson and Chad Knaus seem to have it figured out and nothing short of a disaster at Homestead next week can derail this train.

The best finishing Toyota was Brian Vickers in 21st.  The desert wasn’t a kind place for the Toyota group as none of Michael Waltrip Racing’s entries made the field.

With Dale Jarrett not making the race and Mark Martin and Ken Shrader not entered - there has now not been a driver who has participated in all the Phoenix Cup events.

The Buzz ON PIT ROW is:

Is America’s love of the underdog strong enough to make Gordon haters root for him to win the Championship?

The Fast Lap this week asks:

1)  Will the 48 team continue their "race to win strategy" at Homestead or will they race for 18th?

2) Is Homestead the best place to finish the season?

3) Should Petty Enterprises merge/partner with Gillett-Evernham?

4) Will any of the three 2008 open wheel rookies not make it to the end of the season?

Let us know how you feel about these questions, or anything else that happened at in the desert.  If we like your comments, whether we agree or not, we may use them on the air during Tuesday’s ON PIT ROW.  Leave us a comment on the blog or call the show–toll free at 1-877-502-8255 between 5-7pm edt on Tuesdays.

photo: Jason Smith/Getty images/NASCAR

Not since early in the season has Michel Waltrip had such a disappointing qualifying performance.

All three of Mikey’s Toyotas failed to make the field at Phoenix International Raceway.The #00 of David Reuttiman had engine problems and didn’t get a lap in.  The #44 with Dale Jarrett behind the wheel was way off the pace and didn’t have a chance to make the field.  But, Waltrip’s  NAPA sponsored Toyota was better than a handful of other qualifiers and should have made the race, if indeed NASCAR saw fit to let the BEST cars race.

The Top 35 Rule has claimed another MWR victim.

Brian France said earlier this weekend that there are no changes planned for The Chase for 2008.  Let’s only hope the same is not true for the lame Top 35 Rule.  Brian–its time to let the best race and send the rest home.  Lets make NASCAR’s weekly test a true test of only the best.  If you’re not good enough to make the field on a given week–then you don’t deserve to race against the best of the week.

The Top 35 Rule no longer protects the big names of NASCAR against the "two laps and gone" Morgan Shepherds of the world.  If you remember, that was the intent.  At one time NASCAR had to pay, yes pay, guys like Shepherd, or Stanton Barrett to haul a decrepit old dinosaur of a race car to the coast to make sure the field was full.  They would run their 2, 3, 5 or ten laps and take it to the garage to collect their payday.

That problem no longer exists.  We are now in an era of more quality cars showing up to the track every week and some of those cars having to go home.   Add to that the inherent inequality of top 35ers getting to work on race setup while the Outsiders have to put all their efforts into getting into the race then switch over to race mode.  Its another case of the rich getting richer.  Lets even the playing field a bit –okay Brian?

photo: msnbc

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