That leads to the business of my top 20 rankings�

1. (1) Kenseth, 2. (2)Dale Jr. (+1) 3. J.(3)J. Gordon (+2), 4. (5)Busch (-2), 5. (4)Johnson (+2), 6. (7) Stewart (-2), 7. (10) Sadler (+6), 8. (11) B. LaBonte (-2), 9. (6) Harvick (+9), 10. (9) Craven, 11. (8) Waltrip (-2), 12. (15) Martin (+3), 13. (12) Marlin (+4), 14. (20) Newman (-6), 15. (13) Jarrett (-3), 16. (16) R. Wallace (-2), 17. (18) J. Burton (NR), 18. (22) Biffle (+1), 19. (14) R. Gordon (NR), 20. (17) Nemechek (NR)

What Jayski (whose page is sponsored by Ford) will not tell you about the Final Four round of the Motor Madness tournament, that it is an all-Chevrolet affair. But it is a monster foursome involving perhaps the four hottest and most popular drivers in the sport. The regional final round was a beauty, with all eight drivers placing in the top 20. Here are the results�

#1 Tony Stewart over #3 Dale Jarrett � I liked Stewart�s chances just because he was due for a good showing, and finishes sixth after being bumped around in the closing laps. Jarrett had a strong run as well, but got caught a lap down late and wound up 20th.

#1 Jeff Gordon over #3 Jimmie Johnson � Gordon, along with Dale Jr. had the car to beat all day. Johnson hung around in contention as well, before fading to ninth while Gordon would wind up as the eventual race winner.

##1 Dale Jr. over #2 Rusty Wallace � As was the case with JJ, Rusty contended all day and placed eighth, but like Johnson had the misfortune of going against a dominating driver, as Junior finishes third behind Gordon and Bobby LaBonte.

Which leaves up with two match-ups that could go either way. Although I expect Chevy�s to fair well this weekend, all four had at least some degree of trouble last year.

#1 Tony Stewart v. #1 Jeff Gordon � A pair of perennial championship contenders hooking up here. Gordon finished 16th in this race last year while Stewart cut down a tire and placed 29th. PICK: Gordon

Ryan Newman of course started near the front, and talked pre-race about how he should be able to handle the brakes at Martinsville much better this year. However, Newman was doomed soon after the start � as his spotter noticed that the rotors were the brightest on the track. The culprit as it turns out was a brand of breaks normally seen around Formula One, as opposed to the Raybestos/Brembo brakes used by most teams. Newman was finished 64 laps from the end.

I told you two weeks ago that there had been some friction on the car radio between Dale Jarrett and his crew chief/spotter. Sure enough no sooner that went to press and Brad Parrott was released from crew chief duties, while brother Todd Parrott also taking �an indefinite leave of absence� from the organization. Robin Pemberton (formerly with Rusty Wallace) and Jimmy Makar (whom Jarrett worked with at Gibbs racing) are mentioned as possible replacements.

For those of you playing Checkered Flag Challenge, your 250K pinch-hitter may be coming in a couple weeks as Jason Keller is being bandied as a possible Steve Park replacement perhaps as early as the Coke 600. One potential rumor has Kurt Busch moving to the #1 in 2004. I do not see that happening, especially with Busch reportedly inked up with Rosch through 2006 which is an eternity in this business.

And of course it would not be the Coke 600 without talking about drivers attempting to moonlight in the Indy 500. This time around it looks like all three of the usual suspects will be taking part. Robby Gordon was the lone Indy 500 driver last year and looks to do so again. John Andretti did not participate last year but would like to do so this time around since Michael Andretti retires after this year.

And then there is Tony Stewart. Some driver broke his back in a motorcycle accident, and Stewart is being recruited as a replacement. Stewart would vehemently deny the report, then another report would come out saying Stewart has accepted and will be testing at the Brickyard this week. The latest has Stewart telling an Indy newspaper "When I'm ready to say something, we'll send out a press release." Kind of sounds like a go to me.

In 2001 Stewart went sixth at Indy before following up with a third in Charlotte. We won�t mention that he spun in the first lap of the nightcap. Robby Gordon also had a respectable 16th place run in Charlotte last year. However I�m not a big fan of the Indy-Charlotte double. Although the Indy race is much safer than a decade ago, there is still enough Stan Fox-like scenarios that could land a driver at Methodist instead of heading down to Charlotte. Gordon suffered burns in the Indy race once that would hamper the rest of his Cup season. And then there is the matter of weather delays, which Stewart had to deal with at Indy two years ago. And then there�s the matter of actually winning the race. Of course that�s remote with Helio and the rest of the Penske guys dominating like Kenyans at the Boston Marathon. But if Robby or Stewart were to win, it is very possible that they just might not make the second leg at that point. �Hey, I just won the Indy 500, what�s my Cup team going to do, fire me??? Drivers moonlighting at Indy are a huge headache from a fantasy perspective.

For those of you who want more short tracks, it looks like someone in New Jersey is listening � who has plans for a .92 mile track on the board. The facility could be expanded to 144,000 seats. With Pocono as the only existing venue within shouting distance to NYC, NASCAR would probably find a date to squeeze for such a locale.

And then there is the TRAC circuit, a possible competitor (although they will deny it at every turn) to NASCAR perhaps as soon as next year. TRAC has signed a deal with ESPN to carry their races, which is a good deal there. Even though FOX/NBC/TNT has done a commendable job, NASCAR should had kept some ties to the network that had covered the sport when it�s popularity was far from what it is today.

TRAC�s downfall will be that instead of an individual winner in each race, there will be a �team winner�. There will be 24 cars in the circuit, consisting of six four-car teams �located in American cities with motorsports venues in the area. So instead of Racer X v. Driver A, it will be the Colorado Clash, the Texas Tornados, and the Chicago Breeze. Races will be held at the Speedway Motorsports tracks (Texas, Bristol, Atlanta, Las Vegas, etc.), giving those venues an additional two dates a year. Cars to be used include Chevy Corvettes, Dodge Vipers, and Ford Mustangs. In early tests these cars run significantly slower than their NASCAR counterparts.

I see the idea, and no doubt it is modeled after Formula 1 � which has 12 two-car teams, with the �manufacturers title� carrying near the weight of the �drivers title�. But are you expecting a victory party at Bristol Motor Speedway after the Bristol Stompers win the league championship??? Or perhaps it is the team apparel that is supposed to take off. NASCAR is in effect already a team sport with 43 teams. The only difference between that and the �ball and stick� sports is that the teams represent sponsors and racing organizations, as opposed to that of a city or geographic region.

Six of the top nine finishers last year were Fords. Although Jimmie Johnson ultimately won the race, it was Kurt Busch who dominated most of the event. Bill Elliott also placed fourth while Michael Waltrip placed tenth. In 2001 Rusty Wallace won, followed by Jeff Gordon, Dale Jr., and Tony Stewart. Rusty also placed eighth last year. The best recent track record over the past three years belongs to Ricky Rudd, who has placed fourth, sixth, and third. That could bode well for Rudd, but more likely should mean a huge day for Elliott Sadler who looks ready to win real soon. Look for yet another pole out of Ryan Newman, and perhaps even a good run to go along with it. Potential darkhorses include Dave Blaney (9th last year), Jeff Green (11th), Robby Gordon (12th), and Greg Biffle (13th in Cup debut). Sounds like a huge RCR and ROSCH day upcoming.

ACES: Busch, Junior, Johnson, J. Gordon KINGS: Kenseth, Stewart, Sadler, Newman QUEENS: B. Labonte, Rusty, Waltrip, Harvick JACKS: Jarrett, Martin, Rudd, Marlin TENS: Craven, J. Burton, Biffle, R. Gordon NINES: Blaney, Spencer, Nemechek, Nadeau EIGHTS: McMurray, Elliott, T. LaBonte, K. Wallace SEVENS: W. Burton, Benson, Mayfield, J. Green SIXS: Mears, Schrader, Park, Andretti FIVES: Petty, Sprague, T. Bodine, Skinner FOURS: Raines, B. Bodine, K. Earnhardt, Foyt THREES: Cope, H. Sadler, Fukuyama, Fittipaldi TWOS: M. Wallace, C. Long, M. Shepherd, F. Kimmel JOKERS: D. Trickle, D. Waltrip