It wasn�t just getting the free lap back that saved Newman, but the timing of it. Newman cuts a tire early on in the event and is forced to make an unscheduled pit stop, and does well to avoid going two laps down. Newman bides his time remaining a lap down before becoming the lead driver among those a lap down when a debris caution flew on Lap 287. Not only did Newman get his lap back, but also hit the lottery by being able to pack the fuel cell and make it the rest of the way while everyone else was forced to pit. Once Newman made it to the front and was out in the clean air, he could not be caught � although Jeremy Mayfield came very close. I also have to give it up to Crew Chief Matt Borland who insisted that the #12 would still be �way short� and making it on fuel. If Mike Shanahan needs any additional assistants with the Broncos I think I know someone he could call.

While Newman was his usual low-key self in collecting his seventh victory of the year, the second and third place finishers provided some nice PG-rated entertainment. Jeremy Mayfield actually had Newman at one point in the closing laps, but made contact with the #12 which caused more damage to the #19 than it did to Newman. Mayfield would drop an S-bomb on live TV to express his frustration at his recent string of close calls in regards to winning, then pleads for his job security with Ray Evernham saying �Whoever tears this team apart is crazy�. Mayfield�s been great lately but is it a case of too little, too late.

Meanwhile third place Tony Stewart was barking up another tree, lashing out at Goodyear for what he thought were faulty tires that cost him in the end. Stewart said that Goodyear sponsors all the teams so they get �hush money�, and that he is sick of covering their behinds. When asked if the tires were just different, Stewart said �Ask Goodyear, they�re the ones that built the pieces of shit�� With that Stewart was off to the trailer, and would then skip his post race interview. Crew Chief Greg Zipadelli said that the team got rid of 14-16 tires before the race, which they felt didn�t just match up.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was among the best drivers for most of the day, and had some great exchanges for the lead during the race with Stewart and Jeff Gordon (who finished fifth). However, like way too many other outings this year � Junior�s day turns bad when he takes a somewhat scary drivers side hit on Lap 364. Junior winds up with a �minor� concussion and a sprained ankle, eerily the same injuries that occurred in a crash at California last year whose after-effects would hinder Junior�s performance for much of the season. Fortunately, Junior has been cleared to race this weekend at Talladega � but then again would you want to be the doctor that tells Junior that he can�t race. Of course all of this re-opens the debate on whether drivers should undergo mandatory �baseline� testing after hard crashes.

A fascinating question right now is on who is having the more impressive season, Newman or Matt Kenseth. I have been saying Kenseth simply since you can�t seemingly argue against a 436 point lead, let alone 22 top-tens in 28 races (Junior and Newman are tied for second with just 16) and finishing all of two laps for the entire year. But then there is Newman and the seven wins, including five in his last 11 outings � which is incredible in today�s era of parity. The term unstoppable comes to mind, as the #12 is by far the most feared car in 30 of the 36 races (minus road-courses and plate tracks). But there is Kenseth and the +436. Even if my suggestion that race winners get 25 bonus points per win were in place this year, Newman would still be 430 points behind. Bump it up to 50 and Newman is still 280 points in arrears. You would have to award race winners 100 bonus points, in which case Newman would have a scant 20 point lead on Kenseth. Another system in which Newman would be winning would be if NASCAR awarded points like Formula 1 (10 points for first, then 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 for eighth) � in that system Newman would had taken over the points lead on Sunday with 92, followed by Kenseth with 83, Junior with 77, and Kevin Harvick with 75 � but that�s F1, this is NASCAR which rewards for consistency. Both seasons are equally impressive, lest not forget that Kenseth had a season much like Newman last year winning five races but finding plenty of trouble along the way. This year Newman is racking up the wins while Kenseth is content to just rack up points.

Here are profiles of other drivers at Dover�

Ryan Newman � Not only did he have enough fuel to finish, but enough for a cool-down lap and a burnout while trying to find Victory lane. Had it not been for the post-race traffic, Newman probably would had made it to the 7-11 down the street and back.

Kevin Harvick � Took the lead from polesitter Matt Kenseth on Lap 1 and wound up leading the most laps en route to his sixth top five in eight races.

Jamie McMurray/Greg Biffle � Rookie battle continues to heat up. Biffle overcomes an overheating problem to finish seventh but is trumped by McMurray sixth, which gives Dodge three of the top six spots in the race.

Jimmie Johnson � Follows up his win with an eighth place showing, giving the #48 four top-tens in five races.

Matt Kenseth � The Boy who keeps crying wolf. Described the car as being nothing short of god awful, but places ninth. If you want to see a driver with real problems, please contact Michael Waltrip.

Ricky Rudd � No top five this week, but keeps the momentum going with an 11th place showing.

Todd Bodine � He got the �free pass� twice, allowing the #54 to finish on the lead lap in 17th.

Jeff Green � Others trash becomes another�s jewel. Twice fired this year, Green steps in the #43 and gives Petty Enterprises one of their best finishes in recent memory with a 16th place showing.

Mark Martin � Like Newman cut a tire down early, but unlike the #12 Martin loses two laps which he was not able to make up on the way to a 22nd. Last year at this time Martin was in the points lead, this year Martin sits at 16th, more than 1100 points behind.

Kurt Busch � Was having another unspectacular day, but was on the lead lap until the engine turns sour with 50 laps to go, ending his day. Fans have clearly not forgotten about his antics from the last month, Busch was roundly booed in appearances at baseball games in Boston and Philadelphia (there�s a surprise!!!) during the week.

Michael Waltrip � Quickly becoming a candidate for being this year�s Sterling Marlin, or in other words falling out of sight. Fails to finish on the lead lap for the fifth straight week after blowing an engine and swallowing a 42nd.

Several years ago someone asked me if you could be able to punch out a rival driver on EA Sports NASCAR Thunder game. Well they are getting close as the 2004 release of Thunder comes out in conjunction with this race, with a new feature in season/career mode called �Grudges and Alliances�. It is exactly as the name suggests, expect retaliation at some point from the drivers you piss off along the way. But if you are nice to your computer opposition they will return the favor, and may even let you have a lap back since the game was thankfully completed before that stupid rule change. A stunt that I highly recommend for this game is to turn the yellow flag option �off� then to slow down your car, stop, then turn around in the opposite direction on your way to a suicide head-on collision with the field as they come back around. The carnage is spectacular and looks like something out of a bad NASCAR horror movie!!!!! Just ignore the crew chief asking �what the hell you doing� while you�re in the process of this.

Junior and Waltrip are the usual favorites, but Kevin Harvick has brought himself into the picture with three top-tens and a pair of top fives in this year�s previous restrictor-plate races. If you thought there was controversy last week, just imagine trying to figure out who's leading when the 'Big One' breaks out on the final lap. There will be a new package in this race, increasing the height of the spoilers along with opening up the plates more in hopes of splitting up the field some.