Big news

    I have signed up over at the Bleacher Report, which for those of you unaware, is where amateur bloggers can post their views and opinions on anything in the world of sports.  Entries from here, starting with this one, will be automatically imported to my profile at the Bleacher Report.  This is a test entry to make sure my computer illiterate self set up everything correctly, but I have to get to 150 words.  So, I'll give a little bit of input on yesterday's race at Watkins Glen.  I remind you that I missed the race after being stuck in a traffic jam near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge yesterday for a whopping 7+ hours.   For those of you looking for the NFL preview, my updated win/loss projections are ready to go, so expect the first couple of divisions to be examined either tomorrow or Wednesday.

-David Newton wrote a story last week at ESPN.com wondering if the magic touch was wearing off for Rowdy Busch and the 18 team after subpar performances at Indy and Pocono.  I thought what Newton wrote was absolute hogwash, as is most of the crap written by ESPN.  After all, Kyle won 3 of the 4 events leading up to Indy and Pocono.  Indy wasn't even a race...it was about 12 or 13 ten-lap runs, so who knows what he would have done with a long run or two.  And Pocono, he used strategy to work his way into the top five before running out of fuel.  There's nothing wrong with using strategy to turn an okay day into a great one.  Yesterday, it was the Kyle Busch Show yet again, as he picked up his eighth win of the season in relatively convincing fashion.  Maybe Newton should watch the race and just not see where the car finishes in the Monday morning newspaper to get the whole story.  Young Shrub continues to prove the doubters wrong, and I commend him for that.  I certainly am no doubter.  He is the man to beat once the Chase rolls around, and is going to be working with a good-sized advantage to begin with due to the 8 wins (and the possibility of more to come over the next four weeks). 

-Sunday's race went 48 laps, past halfway, until the first caution.  I can't believe NASCAR didn't get the urge to find their imaginary French friend Jacques Debris on the track. 

-A.J. Allmendinger used a strong 11th place run to lock himself into the field for next week at Michigan, the first time he will not haveto qualify on time in his one and two-thirds years in Sprint Cup.  Allmendinger is really starting to come on here, and he will be contending for top 10s and eventually wins, just like his teammate Vickers, on a regular basis before the year is out.  Red Bull has yet to pick up his option for 2009, probably hoping to light a fire under his ass knowing that Scott Speed is in the wings (no pun intended seeing how Red Bull apparently "gives you wings").  I think it would be unwise to put Speed in a car full-time next year, and risk having him suffer the same struggles as Allmendinger has for nearly two full seasons, even though Scott is obviously a very talented young man and will be successful in Sprint Cup.   Take it slowly with another year in Trucks, and then expand to three cars in '10.  Letting Allmendinger walk could be a bad idea, because if word gets out that he is on the market, I'm sure everyone from RCR to Tony Stewart will be calling for his services.  His track record may not be great, but the potential for big things is certainly there. 

-Michael McDowell has stayed relatively clean for a rookie in his flagship season as a Sprint Cup driver, but has produced two spectacular wrecks.  Of course, we all remember the Texas qualifying nightmare.  And then yesterday, he got into Gilliland coming off 11 and produced the nastiest accident I have ever seen at a road course in NASCAR.  Thankfully, outside of a precautionary visit to the hospital for Bobby Labonte, everyone was okay.  McDowell is obviously on shaky ground at MWR with sponsorship up in the air for 2009, weak performances, and occasional catastrophic wrecks, so he may be in the free agent pool here before long.  Potential suitors appear to include GEM, the Wood Brothers, and Petty (GEM would be stupid to let Carpentier go after just one year).  Roger Penske's name was thrown around for a while, but it looks as if David Stremme is the frontrunner for the 12 car.

-Just looking at NASCAR.com's lap-by-lap, it appears as if Tony Eury Jr. really screwed up the pit strategy yet again on Sunday.  Why does Dale Junior continue to let Eury hold him back?  That man will likely cost the 88 team any shot at winning the championship with a stupid call down the stretch.  I can sense that Junior Nation is already frustrated, even with Junior sitting fourth in points and well on his way to a Chase berth.