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| A couple of hours after posting a disappointing 13th-place finish in the Cup Chevy Rock & Roll 400, Carl Edwards found the stamina and speed to win the Emerson Radio 250. |
Our View: And most impressively, he had enough energy to do his signature back flip off the door post after 650 laps of competition.
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| In his return to the seat of the No. 00, Michael McDowell posted his best finish of the year in 20th and earned Rookie of the Race honors for the fifth time this year. |
Our View: Taking three weeks off so that Mike Skinner could help evaluate the program was apparently very useful.
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| It was a tough day for several drivers on the cusp of the top 35 in points, but with a 42nd-place finish Robby Gordon fell outside that mark and made room for Michael McDowell. |
Our View: In his first race back after a three-week absence, McDowell finished respectably in 20th.
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| Clint Bowyer finished 12th in the Chevy Rock & Roll 400, which was enough to give him the 12th and final spot in the Chase. |
Our View: For portions of the race, he was outside the top 12 but he made his own luck by running into Regan Smith and shoving the unsuspecting rookie into his rival David Ragan. The damage to the No. 6 was too much to overcome.
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| Jimmie Johnson held off a determined Tony Stewart to win the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 by less than 4/10ths of a second. |
Our View: Stewart caught Johnson in the final 10 laps and led several circuits, but Johnson found his momentum in the upper groove and retook the top spot.
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| NASCAR has announced a competition caution at lap 35, to allow teams to check tire wear. Kyle Busch leads the field to green. |
Our View: All of the rubber laid down in practice will be washed off the surface, but that shouldn't affect the drivers much.
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| Tropical Storm Hanna has canceled qualification for both the Nationwide and Cup series and the lineup will be set by the rule book. Kyle Busch will lead the field to green On Saturday night (or whenever the race gets underway). |
Our View: The much anticipated debut of Joey Logano will have to wait another week, but he at least has the pole for the Nationwide Series race.
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| Grand Am will be acquired by NASCAR holdings, making this part of the premiere racing family. Look for more crossovers from road race aces like Scott Pruett to Cup and Jimmie Johnson to Grand Am. |
Our View: Ultimately this will have little effect in the future, with the exception of some additional, strong road ringers at Watkins Glen and Infineon.
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| The 12th spot in the standings is much harder to predict. Clint Bowyer leads David Ragan by only 17 points and Kasey Kahne by 48. He could finish second in the race and still lose his spot. |
Our View: If Ragan wins the race after leading the most laps, nothing any other driver does will matter. Conversely, he could finish three or four positions ahead of Bowyer and clinch, so this battle could come down to the last lap.
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| Joey Logano posted the fastest average speed in the one and only practice session for the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at 118.451 during 39 circuits. |
Our View: Logano is required to qualify on time this week, but that shouldn't be much of a problem. His fastest single lap was 10th best and it was set early in the session.
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