� Lack of an exciting race � A lot of �experts� are complaining about �aero-push� conditions resulting in no exciting finishes this season, in contrast to endings such as what we�ve seen in Atlanta the past two springs. Be patient, these type of things are purely cyclical.

There is not just one, but two race dates to review, we�ll start with the Richmond race�

RICHMOND RECAP

So much for my glowing endorsement of Richmond International Raceway, as a sealer problem turns the weekends proceeding, in both the Busch and Cup races, into absolute crashfests. For some reason, NASCAR was stubborn and hell-bent on getting this race underway on Saturday night. After a two hour rain delay, the track dried up just long enough for the cars to get out to start the race. Never mind that there was rain south of Richmond, north of Richmond, and most importantly, west of Richmond. But still, NASCAR took their chances of getting at least half of the event done to make it official. Both Joe Gibbs entries, Bobby LaBonte and Tony Stewart, have good qualifying runs but elect to change engines and start from the rear. The race begins with polesitter Ward Burton dominating and opening up a commanding lead. The first caution occurs on Lap 24 when field-filler Randy Renefrow stalls out on the backstretch. Only driver running near the rear elect to pit at this point. Ward Burton would pull away again on the restart. Another driver on the move towards the front was Jeff Green, who eventually moves up to second. Further back in the field, the #10 machine being driven by Joe Nemechek (in place of Benson) is also hauling. On the downside Matt Kenseth is being bounced all over the place, being punted by Steve Park, Jeff Gordon, and Dale Jr., the result would be some minor damage to the #17 car. Ricky Craven has also drifted to the back of the field with that cars setup simply not working. Rain would bring out the yellow on Lap 60 with most teams pitting. The rain intensifies, we lose the race track, the red flag comes out, and we fast-forward to Sunday afternoon with much warmer and drier conditions.

As the field comes back out, Kenseth heads to the pits as the DeWalt team works on his damage. By the time the #17 gets back, he is two laps down, so I guess he won�t be a factor. Michael Waltrip takes the lead on the restart, but quickly yields to Ward Burton and Jeff Green, still the two best cars on the track. A tire eventually goes down on the #15 and Waltrip tries to make it to pit road with a gaggle of cars checking up behind him, a sign of things to come. The debris from one of those cars would bring out the 2nd caution of the event. Burton and Green would run away again on the restart, the fastest car besides those two is Jimmy Spencer, who rears his ugly head about once a month. Kurt Busch manages to pancake the concrete, the first of several problems for the #97 on the day. Jeff Burton and perennial Richmond favorite Ricky Rudd are also running great and make their way into the top five, while the #22 and #30 start mowing down lapped cars. Meanwhile, Tony Stewart slowly but surely makes his way into the top 20. Bobby Hamilton makes an unscheduled pit stop thinking that he has a tire going down, the problem is really a broken sway bar effecting car balance. Dale Jr. ends the longest green-flag run of the day, hitting the wall hard on Lap 149 in front of the start/finish line, breaking an oil line and sending the #8 to the garage.

The Havoline Stars pull a 14.8 and Ricky Rudd wins the race off pit road. Other pit times include Jimmy Spencer 15.4, Ryan Newman 16.4, and Jeff Green 16.9. More potential contenders would be collected shortly thereafter when Dale Jarrett gets high, then bankshots into John Andretti. Behind that, Joe Nemechek would fail to check up and send the machine of Bobby LaBonte into Jarrett. Matt Kenseth, now running strong, beats the leader back to the line to get one of his laps back. On the ensuing pit stops under yellow, Tony Stewart�s run towards the top would be stopped as he was blocked in his pit, and thus lost five positions. Ricky Rudd now leads with Ward Burton in hot pursuit, not far behind Jeff Gordon and Rusty Wallace are fighting for position, bringing back memories of their controversial Richmond duel from a year ago. The sixth caution would come just before the halfway point as Robby Gordon gets into Kurt Busch. Kenseth is now on the lead of the lapped cars trying to get his other lap back. Other cars making a move at this juncture are Jimmy Johnson in 11th, Tony Stewart in 12th, and Ricky Craven in 13th. Rudd is on cruise-control and builds a 2+ second advantage until a Frank Kimmel (running semi-competitively for once) brings out the next caution. Jimmy Spencer with a 14.8 wins the race off pit road. Other times include Jeff Burton at 15.3, Ricky Rudd 15.9, and Tony Stewart at 17.0 (again losing five positions, down to 17th). Dave Blaney stays out and inherits the race lead.

Now the fun really begins, a tire starts to go down on Rusty Wallace who desperately tries for a lap and a half to get on pit road while motioning for Jeff Burton to move over as a pileup ensues behind them. Burton, Jerry Nadeau, Casey Atwood, Stacy Compton, and Kevin Harvick would end up wrecking, with Harvick ending up on the high side with fluids streaming down. One replay of the crash contains a hilarious scene of a neck who had a front row seat celebrating like he just nailed the Virginia lottery. Meanwhile, out of nowhere, contender Ward Burton would quietly head to the garage with a blown transmission. Then came the post-crash interviews. How�s this for a clue on Nadeau having one foot out the door in the Hendrick organization�

Radio interviewer: Are you going to get the car fixed and head back out to get some points???
Nadeau: I sure hope not�

Then came Harvick�s snippy TV and radio interviews�

Radio interviewer: Kevin, what happened???
Harvick: I wrecked (storms off)

Bergeren (TV): Kevin, can you explain your bad luck of wrecking every week???
Harvick: You�re the TV commentator, you tell me.

Harvick added that �they might as well be racing on dirt�, more indication of the drivers being unhappy with the deteriorating conditions. After a lengthy caution, the race resumes with 28 cars on the lead lap, and Jimmy Spencer in front and looking tough. Kyle Petty brings out the ninth caution as Spencer does not let Kurt Busch get a lap back. Meanwhile, Jeff Green was being kicked around by both Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, and let�s both know how he feels. Nemechek is still enjoying a strong run and is now in the top ten. Matt Kenseth has now also made it on the lead lap. Ricky Rudd catches Spencer and starts to dominate. Meanwhile Kenseth overtakes Sterling Marlin to move into ninth place, an unbelievable development. Ryan Newman moves into second and is closing in on Rudd. Jimmie Johnson is also making his move, passing teammate Jeff Gordon for fourth. Further back, Rusty Wallace�s tire goes down again, and cuts in front of a fast approaching Ricky Rudd. The #28 cannot quite avoid Rusty and heads into the wall, ruining a potential win. Rudd would let his feelings be known about Rusty in the post-crash interview, there is no love lost between Rusty and Rudd (remember Dover last September). Rusty, complete with a shredded front right limps to pit road. All of a sudden there is more fun as Robby Gordon decides that we are way too far into the race without him wrecking and he decides to slip on some peeling paint and smashes straight into the �inertia barrier� leading into pit road, with water barrels splattering in spectacular fashion. That would bring out a red flag.

The race restarts with Spencer back in first, he has been benefiting from great stops in part because the stall behind him his Randy Renefrow, who was first out of the event the night before. The next two positions belong to phenoms Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman. Johnson�s day would end though as he tries to pass Spencer on the inside, the #41 leans on JJ and spins him out. Guess Spencer wasn�t going to get f�d by two �young guns in the same year�. Newman would move ahead of Spencer on the restart before more fun erupts. Rusty Wallace gets out of line and he finally wrecks, along with Michael Waltrip, Rick Mast, Steve Park, and Terry LaBonte. Also involved and sustaining non-terminal damage is Jeff Green, Sterling Marlin, Kenny Schrader, and John Andretti. Kurt Busch has fought his way back on the lead lap while Tony Stewart moves into second with a car he�s been fighting all day. Stewart starts to chase down Newman on the restart. Steve Grissom and Ricky Craven have also fought their ways into the top ten. Jeff Burton, despite earlier damage is now in the top five. Mike Skinner and Ken Schrader would wreck to bring out yet another caution. Stewart and Newman break away on the restart, but Tony finally grabs the lead with 28 laps left to go with Jeff Burton in third and Mark Martin also fighting his way into the top five. Dave Blaney�s engine expires to bring out a 15th caution, a modern Richmond record. A tire goes down on Kurt Busch in the waning laps and he literally wobbles his way onto pit road while the outside liner smolders on the backstretch, but we stay green till the end. Stewart wins for his third career Richmond win, but rips the track on a Victory Lane interview, calling it �the worst track I�ve ever raced on�. Many others would agree. . Finishing just behind Stewart was Ryan Newman, Jeff Burton, Mark Martin, Jeremy Mayfield sneaking in for a quiet fifth place and Matt Kenseth fighting back from two laps down to finish sixth � remember that one come the end of the season. Rounding out the top ten was Jeff Gordon, Steve Grissom, Ricky Craven, and Jimmy Spencer. Other notables include Sterling Marlin (11th), Joe Nemechek (12th), Jeff Green (13th), Rusty Wallace (25th), Kurt Busch (27th), Ward Burton (30th), Jimmie Johnson (31st), Bobby LaBonte (32nd), Dale Jr. (36th), Dale Jarrett (38th), Ricky Rudd (39th), and Kevin Harvick (40th). Sterling Marlin still leads the point race followed by Matt Kenseth (-132), Kurt Busch (-191), Mark Martin (-193), Rusty Wallace (-203), Jeff Gordon (-216), and Jimmie Johnson (-223)

ALL-STAR RACE RECAP

And there is a second event to recap. The Winston �Open� started things this Saturday night, with 23 drivers who have appeared in races since 2001 (who are not eligible for the Winston itself) participating. Polesitter Jeremy Mayfield bolts out to an early lead, with Ryan Newman, Jerry Nadeau (in the #10 car) and Jimmy Spencer in hot pursuit. Carl Long would bring out the hooligan-race�s only caution with a spin and crash on Lap 9, tearing up the only race car he has left. Spencer is the only driver of note who pits. Jeremy dominates the restart and darn near laps the field to win the 30 lap opener easily (to transfer into the main event), followed by Ken Schrader and Ryan Newman.

All drivers hold their positions, except for those who wish to pit, in preparation for the last-chance 16 lap sprint. Spencer starts that one on the pole but biffs the start, giving Jeff Green the lead, but relinquishes to Ryan Newman as Spencer gets �aero-pushed� by Hut Stricklin and falls near the back. So now Jimmy has now missed both of NASCAR�s marquee events. Newman wins the hooligan sprint easily and advances.

The main event features 27 drivers with Matt Kenseth on the pole. Qualifying for this is different than your traditional qualification run, consisting of a four-tire stop (no gas) followed by three timed laps. Kenseth�s pit crew turned in an unbelievable 13.2 and Matt cruised from there. Go to the sportsbooks, and make Matt your personal ATM machine as his run at the points title begins in earnest this week, you�ll still get good odds on it and he is Alan Kulwicki 1992 all over again. Just so his plane doesn�t fly into an ice-storm in Bristol next April Fool�s day. The first 40-lap segment begins with #2 starter Michael Waltrip getting booted back. Steve Park wastes no time spinning (just missing the #8) bringing out the caution. Kenseth is booted on the next restart with Mark Martin taking the lead. A right rear goes down on Jimmie Johnson�s machine and is forced to pit. Not a huge problem though, all cars are mandated to make a four-tire stop under green during the first segment. Meanwhile Sterling Marlin motions to Ward Burton that he is about to pit. Ward takes that as �move over to the left� and the result is a wreck involving Marlin, Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, and Bobby Hamilton. That cements four of the seven drivers to be booted out after segment one. Most cars make their green-flag stop right after the restart. Martin and Kenseth rub together on pit road. Jeff Burton has a huge lead, but hasn�t pitted yet. Many scratch their heads as Jeff takes the white flag without making the stop. Turns out that #99�s pit stop is before the start-finish line, so in a well-thought out move Burton pulls in the pits, takes four tires (no gas needed) and crawls across the start-finish line to finish the segment second behind Jimmie Johnson. Ward Burton, Steve Park, and Mike Wallace (how did he get in this???) are eliminated along with the four crashed cars.

Are Sadler and Harvick jealous of Newman???

After a 10-minute intermission we embark on a second 30-lap segment in which the top ten cars advance to the 20-lap final. It is revealed during the break that Jeff Burton has a clutch problem while Kenseth�s crew hammers out some sheet-metal damage. Burton can�t get it going on the restart, he is finished. Then Ryan Newman taps Elliot Sadler and the #21 crashes. In a hilarious post-crash scene an angry Sadler makes a direct hit with firing his helmet at the drivers side of the #12 as the field goes by under caution. After hitting the #12 the helmet rolls down the banking right back to Elliot. And he�s not the only one pissed at Newman, as Kevin Harvick bangs him as well during caution. Sadler, Newman, and Harvick would all be called to the trailer afterwards. Some cars running towards the rear pit, and Jeff Gordon manages to suffer his worse luck yet. The head of the windshield comes off and lands outside of the pit area (after Gordon goes away). The #24 is penalized to the rear for that. Tony Stewart makes a couple of trips back to repair some sheet-metal damage. On the restart Jeremy Mayfield and Bobby LaBonte would get together on the backstretch, both get away, but lose a ton of time and are hopelessly out of the picture. Jimmie Johnson would go on to win the second segment as well, followed by Bill Elliott, Dale Jr, Ricky Craven, Kenseth, Busch, Newman, Harvick, Robby Gordon, and Tony Stewart. Jeff Gordon finishes 11th and is eliminated, so his goatee will come off, he should grow a mullet while he�s at it.

Ryan Newman and Sheryl Crow soak up the sun...

Voters on nascar.com had the opportunity to vote for inverting either four, six, eight, or all ten remaining cars. In the biggest internet poll lock since Jamie Sale v. Janet Reno, the winner is all ten cars. Country legend Martina McBride is trotted back out to make it official. On the final sprint Ryan Newman overtakes Tony Stewart and builds a monster lead of over two seconds. With six laps to go Robby Gordon overtakes Stewart but then gets punted by Kurt Busch and spins bringing out the yellow (caution laps do not count in the final segment). Racing back to the flag Dale Jr. picks up two additional positions and is now in third. Inverted Jimmie Johnson remains near the rear and is not a factor. Bill Elliott is down a cylinder and is also not a factor. DW points out on TV that Robby Gordon has the respect of absolutely no one. On the restart Newman gets going while other drivers are too busy trying to deke each other out. The yellow is thrown as a do-over is ordered. On the final restart Junior zooms past Stewart and sets sail on Newman, with the crowd going nuts, as a lead change with two laps to go appear inevitable. Newman hangs on as the white flag is thrown. Heading into Turn 2, Junior puts a quarter-panel on Newman and gets him loose. At this point Junior has a chance to punt the #12 halfway to Norfolk for 600,000 grrr but in an absolute class move backs off. Junior can�t get another move together and Ryan Newman wins, to become the second to emerge from the hooligan race to win the whole ball of wax, and is congratulated on the frontstretch by crewmen, Dale Jr. and Krissie Boyle (who is not bad). In a great quote by in the Charlotte Observer, David Poole points out that had it been Dale Sr. and not Dale Jr. that they would still be pulling pieces of Ryan Newman�s Ford out of the Turn 2 wall.

One final note from the racing weekend. A vicious, savage crash occurred in the latter stages of a Busch race in Nazareth, PA when veteran Jeff Purvis spins (after blowing a motor) and is nailed driver side by Greg Biffle (who spun in Purvis' oil), injuring both drivers, and for a while the worst was feared for as the race was red-flagged while an unconscious Purvis was cut out of his car. Apparently Purvis suffered a brain contusion, and two broken vertebrae and was airlifted to a local hospital in serious condition while Biffle was also knocked out with a possible concussion. One last thing about the Busch series, is it just me or does the #10 Nesquik car win every race???

CHARLOTTE (WORLD 600) PREVIEW

This week it is the 600-mile race from the racetrack in Concord, NC. Wonder if speedway president Humpy Wheeler will try taking down my server for that generic reference. As some may recall, Wheeler made waves last fall when he actually dispatched wreckers to tow NBC�s equipment away while ordering other workers to disconnect some cables. All of this was because the network was refusing to call the track by its corporate name since said entity had not bought broadcast time on the network. The standoff ended late that Saturday night when the corporation bought commercial time on the network for the rest of the season. Ironically, NBC�s broadcast would be pre-empted the next day as American servicemen commenced going Humpy on Al-Qaida forces, forcing the race coverage over to cable.

NASCAR has changed course in the last couple of weeks and has decided to go with the one-engine rule this weekend. Thus, look for several cars to change engines before the race. But as Tony Stewart proved in Richmond, along with two other drivers this year, that is far from being a death sentence. Speaking of Stewart, do not worry about him attempting an Indy/Charlotte double this Sunday. A potential million dollar bonus has proved to be enough motivation to dedicate the entire weekend to only the 600. Besides Stewart, Sterling Marlin, Jeremy Mayfield, Mark Martin, and Ryan Newman are also eligible for million dollar bonuses if they were to win (based on the top five in Las Vegas). The top five this week become eligible for a million dollar bonus in Daytona come July. Another note, qualifying is Thursday, not Friday, which may affect roster submission deadlines. The names to watch for begins, but certainly does not end with the following�

Tony Stewart � Was the best driver at Charlotte overall last season. Stewart started the 600 from the rear after arriving from Indy and spun on the first lap, but had the best car running by the end of the evening and finished third. That was followed in the fall by a second place finish in which Stewart led 130 laps.

Sterling Marlin � The down side is that the car that won last fall�s race was torn up last weekend. The plus side is that there are so many quality cars in reserve that Ganassi Racing is considering adding a third team. Another note of interest is that a conditioning coach has been whipping Marlin�s pit crew into shape, getting them on the free weights etc. This is the same guy who got Tony Stewart ready for his Indy/Charlotte double last year. All-in-all, a great pick this or any week.

Jimmie Johnson � If you believe in conspiracies, JJ�s sponsor is the same as the track. Notice that he now is listed among the favorites, not among the dark horses. Having the best car on the track last weekend also bodes very well.

Ryan Newman � Won the pole for last year�s 600, although he was first out of the event. Which has been part of the Newman story this year. If the motor doesn�t go, he will have a chance again on Sunday.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. � Has been kind of frustrating in recent weeks, but now is not the time to give up on the #8. Junior has two top-fives in six career races here, and you saw how close he came to pulling it out last week. If you need more reason, Junior has the extra motivation to finish in the top five here, which puts him in the catbirds seat for the bonus to be handed out at Daytona come July.

Jeff Burton � Defending champion who followed up his May win with a fifth in the fall. Obviously his favorite track this side of Vegas.

Mark Martin � Nascarodds.com third choice for this week, mainly since Martin has six top fives in his last eight Charlotte outings. Another quite top-five in the offing here.

Matt Kenseth � This should be a huge Rosch weekend (Jack has been visiting the shop this week), and a few 13.2 pitstops will pay huge dividends over 600 miles.

Jeff Gordon � Well, it was a two-dollar head of a windshield that kicked this team in the ass last week. Still, he�s a two-time winner of the 600 who will have everything turn right at some point.

Jimmy Spencer � Was not even a huge factor in last week�s hooligan race, but was deadly solid in both races last year, qualifying fifth and first and finishing sixth and eleventh. Also, like teammate Marlin, the #41�s pit crew has been shining as of late.

Kurt Busch � Four top tens out of the Rosch stable would not come as a shock.

LONG SHOTS

Ricky Rudd � History will be made on Sunday as Rudd will surpass Terry LaBonte as NASCAR�s Iron Man with a consecutive race streak dating back to 1981. Anyone remember the vicious wreck (at over 200 mph) that he survived in the Busch Clash back in 1984??? He raced the following week in the 500 with his eyes taped open and finished seventh, and went on to win the following week. I�m not nuts about the Yates cars this week but look out for him at Dover and Pocono, a couple of perennial Rudd favorites.

Jeremy Mayfield � He is one of the five bonus drivers, and looked very good at times in qualifying and in the hooligan race.

Dave Blaney � Like Robert Pressley (his predecessor in the #77), Blaney is getting more and more competitive each week, sneaking up for a top ten would not be a shock.

Rusty Wallace � Another one to pass on this week but to consider in Dover.

Jeff Green � Contended for most of the Richmond race and is probably the best of the RCR drivers right now. Do not expect as much on the larger tracks though.

DON�T COUNT ON

Kevin Harvick � Hung around and made it to the final segment last week, but the temper reared up again. Once you drop as far as he has, it is going to take a couple of top-five to regain my trust.

Robby Gordon � Usually goes without saying, but there�s an additional reason this week. Robby will be the lone driver doing the Indy/Charlotte double, usually a killer when it comes to the nightcap. Not to mention all the variables (injury, rain in Indy, flight delays, etc) that could cause Robby to miss the green flag. In most fantasy leagues missing the start means zero points.

Steve Grissom � Stellar eighth place finish in Richmond which I�m sure was a long time coming. But during the course of an entire season, nearly every regular driver manages to squeeze out a top ten. Won�t endorse until I see a longer run of success.

Michael Waltrip � Been showing he�s more than a one-track wonder lately, with a 13th and a 10th in two of his last three non-plate outings. Still hard to fathom any better than a top-20 overall driver though.

Steve Park � A wreck machine, continue to steer clear, even if he can't.

When the dust settles sometime Sunday night, look for the following finish: 1. Stewart, 2. Marlin, 3. Johnson, 4. Newman, 5. Dale Jr., 6. J. Burton, 7. Martin, 8. Kenseth, 9. J. Gordon, 10. Spencer

Nascarodds has it like this � Stewart 3-1, Marlin 4-1, Johnson 9-2, Martin 5-1, Newman 6-1, Dale Jr. 7-1, J. Gordon 8-1, Rudd 9-1, J. Burton 10-1, Jarrett 11-1, Harvick 12-1, Spencer 13-1, Elliott 14-1, Mayfield 15-1, Kenseth 16-1, Busch 17-1, R. Wallace 18-1, B. LaBonte 19-1, W. Burton 20-1, Craven 22-1, Schrader 24-1, Petty 26-1, Blaney 28-1, Nemechek 30-1, Park 32-1, Nadeau 34-1, Hamilton 36-1, R. Gordon 38-1, J. Green 40-1, Waltrip 42-1, Andretti 44-1, T. LaBonte 46-1, Sadler 48-1, Skinner 50-1, Atwood 55-1, Grissom 60-1, Stricklin 65-1, Compton 70-1, Bodine 75-1, Mast 80-1