Friday � In an unprecedented move, Tony Stewart�s car was confiscated and impounded after the #20 failed to meet standard template requirements during tech inspection. The car could be clearly seen between two red Winston Cup trailers, complete with yellow tape to keep would-be curiosity seekers away. If one was not familiar with the sport, it could easily be assumed that there was a Nate Newton-like amount of wacky tobaccy or a funny powderly white substance found. Perhaps FOX could make an episode of COPS out of it�

CUP OFFICIAL: Your cawr does not meet the proper specifications�

TS: What do you mean, I don�t know what your talking about��

OFFICIAL: You know what we�re talking about, the rear decklid is at least 3/8 of an inch off. Don�t play stupid to me. You have the right to remain silent. GET YOUR HANDS UP AND AGAINST THE #20!!!!!

At this point you could have some sort of surreal, bizarre scuffle break out.

Saturday � Joe Nemechek wins a bizarre Busch race, featuring a black flag given to race leader Brian Vickers, followed by a 15-car melee on the restart. After the race, sure enough � Nemecheck fails inspection (bogus spring). Crew chief is suspended for two races, and Joe�s significant other is fined as she is listed as the car owner.

And that was not all, the crew chief of another driver was suspended two races, along with the loss of 25 owner/driver points. All in the name of an improperly modified hub.

Sunday � In a gaffe that has to rank up there with the Giants/49ers playoff officiating snafu, NASCAR head Mike Helton admits a mistake when Jeff Gordon decided not to have any of Matt Kenseth�s attempt at letting teammates Kurt Busch and Jeff Burton (along with the Rosch-affiliated car of Ricky Rudd) have their laps back as the caution waved mid-race. As the #17 slowed in an attempt to let the #97, #99, and #21 pass, Gordon sped past Kenseth, apparently preventing Busch and Rudd from getting laps back (Burton did not beat Kenseth or Gordon back to the line).

That was an apparent violation of a �gentleman�s agreement� in which drivers generally do not race each other back to the line, unless there is the possibility of the race ending under yellow. The pace car picks up the #24 as the race leader, but in sportsmanlike fashion falls back behind the #17 � believing that Busch/Rudd would not get their laps back.

However Helton ruled that Gordon was more interested in beating the lapped cars than racing the leader, in the process giving the #97 and #21 their laps back. Gordon would protest vehemently following the race - "There's a gentlemen's agreement not to pass for position, but if he chooses to let the guys have a lap back, the gentlemen's agreement is out the door," Two days after the fact Helton changed course and said Rudd/Busch should not had gotten the laps back, but obviously could not change the order of finish � with Busch rallying to finish ninth while Rudd placed 26th.

And then there was Ryan Newman, who did actually win the first race of his career that was not a gimmick non-points race nor rain shortened. But there were potential questions afterwards regarding his post race inspection. Allegedly (but unconfirmed) the #12 failed to meet up with minimum post-race weight requirements. But it was determined that the radiator was near bone-dry after a hose had failed. The crew was allowed to fill the car with water, and thus the #12 passed when going over the scales a second time. According to the Newman camp, the car would had been able to go five additional laps at the most with the radiator empty.

But one question remains. Newman was able to do his burnouts just fine. Had the car died at that point the argument would had carried (shall we dare say) much more water. I�m sure it won�t be until a winner does get busted that drivers would even consider curbing the post-race celebrations. Never has there been a rulebook with more gray.

In following the tradition of seeing competitors get busted, FOX decided to disqualify a competitor from one of it�s other highly rated shows this week � when learning about some violations concerning a would-be American Idol contestant. It was either battery against a sister or an unapproved microphone cover, I�m still trying to decipher which.


MOTOR MADNESS UPDATE

IT WAS ANOTHER DW WHO RUINED WALTRIP'S WEEKEND...

All #1 and #2 seeds survived in the opening round of Jayski/Fantasy Cup Motor Madness. The five �upsets� that did occur consisted of three #5�s and a pair of #6�s prevailing. For other upsets this weekend. you would had to look at the horror of Darrell Waltrip�s UK Wildcats getting bounced. Oh wait, Bogans was hurt � OK they get a pass but they should still ship the coach back to Georgia.

However, many a bracket was busted plenty as pole-sitters Bobby LaBonte and Elliott Sadler crapped out � severely hurting the masses who had either or both going deep into the competition. The results are as follows�

#1 Tony Stewart over #8 Kyle Petty � Hopefully you heeded my advice last week of making sure of Kyle�s status before daring to pick him in an upset. Further examination after qualifying disclosed two cracked ribs on Petty, and Christian Fittipaldi was quickly summoned to fill in. Fittipaldi crashed as well, completed with his now trademark �Did I Do That???� look afterwards upon leaving the scene. Working at the Petty Enterprises Fab shop must be a real joy these days. Since team substitute drivers are not allowed in the contest, Stewart advances by default despite a 34th place finish.

#5 Johnny Benson over #4 Elliott Sadler � Sadler looked like a serious threat to win during much of the early going � but came out so loose after a bad pit that the #38 wound up wrecking by itself. Benson advances despite finishing 32nd and going out with a motor.

#3 Dale Jarrett over #6 Robby Gordon � This appeared to be going Robby�s way for much of the afternoon, as the #31 scores one of his better showings of the year with an 18th place showing . However Jarrett somehow manages to get his mangled Ford on the lead lap, and moves on by finishing 13th.

#2 Ryan Newman over #7 Bill Elliott � Early on, this had upset potential as the #9 was clearly the strongest car early on. But Elliott�s car went poof without warning on a restart, making Newman a lock long before going on to win the race.

#1 Jeff Gordon over #8 Jamie McMurray � Gordon�s best effort (third) was needed as McMurray came through with a fine tenth place showing himself. A bullet dodged for those having the #24 going far.

#5 Joe Nemechek over #4 Dave Blaney � Nemechek wrecks and finishes 35th, but squeaks by Blaney who places 36th with an engine.

#3 Jimmie Johnson over #6 Steve Park � JJ has a strong eighth place run to easily advance over Park, who wrecked and placed 39th.

#2 Kurt Busch over #7 Terry LaBonte � This is where the Kenseth/Gordon racing back to stripe tiff comes into play. The Ice Man has a tremendous run and appeared headed for an upset, but is one of several to be done in by a caution in the middle of green-flag stops. Terry would finish 16th, third among those finishing a lap down. It would had been very close as far as KB being able to place better had he not gotten his lap back earlier. On another note Terry�s misfortune caused him not to finish on the lead lap for the first time ever at Texas Motor Speedway. The #5 has now only completed 2,337 of a possible 2,338 laps at this venue � still an impressive lap completion percentage.

#1 Dale Jr. over #8 Jeremy Mayfield � Junior moves on to Talladega easily with his second place showing. His neck-and-neck battle with Jeff Gordon on the final lap captured the fans attention much more than Newman taking the checkers seconds earlier.

#4 Michael Waltrip over #5 Jeff Burton � In a battle of lap-down cars, Mikie rebounds from a horrible start to place 17th, besting Burton�s 20th place showing.

#6 Jimmy Spencer over #3 Bobby LaBonte � Never have fans been more interested in two drivers running many laps down. Spencer was the first car to develop problems and quickly fell a lap down. However LaBonte did not have the horsepower from the opening laps, and would eventually develop a cracked tailpipe, which led to further problems later on. LaBonte�s final crash wrecked the radiatior, but it appeared that the #18 would still finish ahead of Spencer. That�s until we heard the dreaded words out of McReynolds � �We need to document that Jimmy Spencer has returned to the racetrack�. By the time LaBonte did likewise he was exactly one lap behind Spencer. And that even became mute as the #18 was unable to maintain minimum speed.

#2 Rusty Wallace over #7 Kenny Wallace � Both cars finish a lap down, with Rusty placing 14th to Kenny�s 23rd. However this outcome was never really in doubt.

#1 Matt Kenseth over #8 Greg Biffle � So much for my bold upset pick. Kenseth actually peaks too early (for the first time in recent memory and was one of the drivers caught on pit road just prior to the caution. The #17 was not able to dominate the same back in the dirty air and settled for a sixth place finish. However that was much more than enough to dispatch Biffle, who finished four laps in arrears due to sheet metal issues among other things.

#5 Kevin Harvick over #4 Ricky Craven � Harvick was another one of the drivers stuck in jail by pitting before the yellow, but places a solid 14th (and is 11th in points) to best Craven�s 21st.

#6 Ricky Rudd over #3 Sterling Marlin � Despite a 26th place finish, Rudd still advances over Marlin � whose stock has fallen more than anyone over the past 7-8 months.

#2 Mark Martin over #7 Ward Burton � Both produced their best results in recent memory, Ward finishes on the lead lap in 12th but Martin gets a top-five to advance.

It�s about time that Jerry Nadeau be recognized as a force. He has proven his worth as a great qualifier on a number of occasions this year, and in Texas was fifth quickest. And this time Jerry followed it up in the race with a fourth place showing. Nadeau could be especially dangerous a couple months down the road at the Infineon road course, where he came within a few laps of winning last year pinch-hitting for Petty Enterprises.

Other good performances of drivers who did not make the Motor Madness field include Todd Bodine who placed 11th and Jack Sprague who finished 22nd.

ROUND TWO PREVIEW

The round of 16 takes place in Talladega which means look out for the plate specialists. Here are the eight matchups�

#1 Tony Stewart v. #5 Johnny Benson � If this was Martinsville (Week 9) Benson would definitely have a chance. But here you have to take the #20.

#2 Ryan Newman v. #3 Dale Jarrett � Newman literally wound up eating Daytona dirt in his last plate race while Jarrett seems tentative and lags near the back at these venues. This could go either way.

#1 Jeff Gordon v. #5 Joe Nemechek � Joe a pretty good plate runner but the smart money goes on the #24.

#2 Kurt Busch v. #3 Jimmie Johnson � Simply a fantastic battle here. Give Busch the slightest of nods.

#1 Dale Jr. v. #4 Michael Waltrip � Enough said. But whereas Waltrip has scored all three Cup victories at Daytona, Junior will be going for his fourth straight Talladega win, where Mikie tends to struggle a tad more. Give Junior the edge.

#2 Rusty Wallace v. #6 Jimmy Spencer � Don�t discount Mongo in this. Spencer�s lone two career wins are on plate tracks and also scored a top ten in the July Daytona race. Spencer could be the Cinderella who finds his way into the Elite Eight.

#1 Matt Kenseth v. #5 Kevin Harvick � Kenseth has improved substantially in plate races but Harvick is a specialist here. I�m picking Harvick here, although that might just motivate the #17 into another strong run.

#2 Mark Martin v. #6 Ricky Rudd � Never like the Rosch cars in the plate races, give Rudd a slight nod.


TALLADEGA RANKINGS

First things first, the car has to qualify in the top 36. But the #09 car of Mike Wallace will have to reckoned with should he indeed qualify. Wallace managed top tens in the Truck, Busch, and Cup races during Daytona Speed Week. This is also the same car Geoff Bodine rode to three top tens in as many attempts in plate races last year. And then there was the dominance of DEI/RCR cars during Daytona week. Steve Park, Jeff Green and Robby Gordon are all candidates to come up big this week, along with Kevin Harvick. Park and Green were among the top six in the Talladega fall race. Other surprise good finishers at Daytona included Jeremy Mayfield (8th) and Jack Sprague (14th). Kyle Petty placed 13th but is again questionable for this week.

BUSTED!!!!!