The Flee From Attrition (TM) Continues

First, thoughts and prayers go to the Hendrick Motorsports folks and the racing community on the tragic loss yesterday.

With four races remaining, Kurt Busch is 95 points ahead of his next closest competitor Jeff Gordon and 125 point ahead of third place bandwagon navigator Dale Earnhardt Junior.

If Kurt Busch has one more good race, and based on his experience at places like Atlanta he probably will, Jr and Gordon will see their chances fade a lot more. One hundred points is hard to overcome in three races

Other items
Robbie Gordon is really stinking the place up. It seemed like he was involved in every other wreck this weekend. That's not a good way to end your tenure at RCR when you're looking for another ride. I used to be a big supporter of Robbie, but he's lost a lot of my support lately.

The unfortunate plane crash this weekend overshadowed this WWE moment. (Registration required). Here's the snippet.

Rusty Wallace bumped teammate Ryan Newman after the race to show his displeasure over a lap 493 incident between the two that dropped Wallace from second place to 10th while Newman took third.

"I told [Newman] to stay out of my way and I could win the race, but he didn't do it," Wallace said.

Newman's reply: "I don't guess Rusty and I are on speaking terms right now. I was underneath him, and I know he came down on me. I wasn't going to give him anything, so he got loose and lost a bunch of spots.

"Our car was faster than his at the end. I'm not sure he's aware of that, but he will be."

Nice!

The CHASE is an exercise in avoiding attrition *YAWN*

Of the 10 drivers in this "Chase" it appears only 3 of them have legitimate shots at winning. Not surprisingly, those three are the only ones who haven't had major trouble since the chase started.

1 -- Kurt Busch 5850 Leader
2 -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. 5826 -24
3 -- Jeff Gordon 5776 -74
4 -- Elliott Sadler 5693 -157
5 -- Mark Martin 5664 -186
6 -- Tony Stewart 5646 -204
7 -- Matt Kenseth 5635 -215
8 +1 Jimmie Johnson 5623 -227
9 -1 Ryan Newman 5579 -271
10 -- Jeremy Mayfield 5501 -349

New Hampshire - Thanks to Robbie Gordon and Greg Biffle playing grabass, Tony Stewart and Jeremy Mayfield have horrible finishes. Ryan Newman also blows an engine.

Dover - Matt Kenseth screws up and hits the tire barrier at the entrance to pit lane. Jeremy Mayfield has radio trouble. Elliot Sadler loses a tire and gets a penalty for speeding on pit lane.

Talladega - Jimmie Johnson's motor overheats. Mayfield gets caught in a wreck that's not his fault.

Kansas - Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman crash.

Charlotte - Mark Martin and Ryan Newman get collected by Brendan Gaughan and Jimmy Spencer.

[NASCAR] F***ing A, Dale Jr. has a "Potty Mouth"

Given that everybody is an author these days, DW has already taken the wind out of my sails here. The reason for this blog is to pour water on Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fans who haven't been around long enough to remember a bit of NASCAR history. This is not the first time NASCAR has levied a penalty that cost a driver the championship. A similar incident happened in 1990 to Mark Martin. Although Jr. is appealing the 25 point deduction, I wouldn't hold my breath for NASCAR to reverse it's decision. I personally think the entire FCC thing has gone a bit overboard. Give me a break, $550,000 dollars for seeing Janet (or is that Michael) Jackson's Nipple-thinga-ma-jiggie. I didn't find the incident to be very titillating, and certainly wasn't worth $550,000! Given NASCAR's repeated warnings, and NASCAR fining other drivers and crew chiefs for using "inappropriate language", the only option was to levy a similar penalty to Jr. I say kudos to NASCAR for the rare case of being consistent.

Since many Jr fans aren't as rational or have no sense of history, I hope that whomever wins the championship (Assuming it isn't Dale Jr.) wins by more than 25 points.