By the end of the race at Lowe’s Motorspeedway the Chase will be half over. When the heck did that happen? I don’t know.

Last weekend’s race at Talladega provided Tony Stewart with his first win of the season, his first win there in a sprint cup car and ended his 43 race winless streak. And his win was not without controversy as Regan Smith was the first to cross the line- albeit below the yellow line.  Regan’s win was not a win as NASCAR penalized him to the end of the lead lap stating that you can not advance your position while under the yellow line.  Some believed Regan was robbed some believe he cheated.  Either way it was an exciting finish to the race. As said by our very own Revvin’Jim:

It really feels good when a favorite driver finally wins after being second six times at Talladega, and his first win of the season. There will be those who think Ragen Smith was cheated, but according to the rules, he did begin the pass below the yellow line while he had the option open to move to the outside, but that doesn’t justify him being penalized sixteen positions. A win is a win and it feels good. –Live On Type Delay: The Amp Energy 500

NASCAR.com tells us today that GEM has removed rookie and previous open-wheeler, Patrick Carpentier, and replaced him with the duo of Mike Wallace and AJ Allmendinger to drive for the number 10- effective immediately.  Mike Wallace will take the wheel at the race this Saturday night at Lowes.

RaceKitten reports that tomorrow there will be an announcement out of the StewartHaas Racing camp:

NASCAR reports that there will be an announcement tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon at Lowe’s Motor Speedway that the U.S. Army will be the primary sponsor for Ryan Newman’s #39 Chevy car with the newly formed Stewart-Haas racing next season. - Stewart-Haas Will Be Sponsored By The US Army.

Mike at OneBadWheel brings up the interesting point that had the format of the Budweiser shootout not changed we would be in for a very interesting field including Travis Kvapil, recently rideless Patrick Carpentier and Brian Vickers among others:

Last Saturday’s Talladega qualifying reinforced why it’s such a blunder. Travis Kvapil was the surprise winner of the pole. Sure, Yates Racing has put a car on the front row at Talladega in five of the last seven races, but Travis Kvapil was still a surprise. Under the old rules Kvapil would make the 2009 field for the Bud Shootout. He would join other surprise pole winners like Patrick Carpentier, Joe Nemechek, Paul Menard and Brian Vickers.– NASCAR IS BLOWING IT ON THE SHOOTOUT

I know personally I think Kvapil has a lot of talent that is just starting to show through and his pole and performance at Talladega (before being involved in the BIG ONE) exemplify his true talent.  I also agree that this is killing the Bud Shootout.

One of my favorite NASCAR blogs, TheNascarInsiders.com, have had several great posts this week alone. One of the importance of aerodynamics at super speedways like Talladega:

Another example of superspeedway dominance is Joe Gibbs Racing.  All three Nationwide Series superspeedway races this season have been won by a JGR Toyota, as have the last three Cup Series restrictor plate races.  Part of their success has been the strong Toyota engines, but I promise you they also have very good bodies on their Camrys.–Hey, Nice Body

But the best advice The Insiders give us this week comes from an article about drivers and fear:

So to all those aspiring to be the next Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart, let me offer some free advice.  Leave your fear at home.  In my book, its okay for a driver to run out of talent.  It’s not okay for him to run out of balls.- Want To Be A Driver? Check Your Fear At The Door.

And finally I will end with some words of my own…because I am not above shameless promotion. Not to mention I think it makes a good ending to this post:

However, after last weekend’s win at Talladega, the fact that my driver and crew chief will not be together anymore basically stood up and smacked me in the face! Between crew chief Zipadelli’s emotional post race interview and the videoconference where Tony stated that the final race of the season, Homestead-Miami, will be the hardest race for both he and Zippy no matter where they finish. That made me really sad to hear. It really makes a melancholy ending to the season…a season frankly I don’t want to end because then I have no reason NOT to face it.- Sad Thoughts On The Upcoming End of An Era

Don’t forget this weekend the race is on SATURDAY night. I am sure it won’t disappoint!