Nascar and Racing Charlotte

The Coca-Cola 600 saw some unlikely names in the top 5:

1. Casey Mears
   
2. J.J. Yeley
   
3. Kyle Petty
   
4. Reed Sorenson
   
5. Brian Vickers
   

and some Nextel Cup milestones:

• Mears' first career win
• Yeley's best-ever finish
• Petty's first top 5 in 10 years
• Sorenson's best-ever finish
• Toyota's best-ever finish

I couldn't have been happier for Petty with his run. When he started running consistently in the top 10 with about 100 laps to go, I already knew I would be thrilled for him to get a top 10. A third-place finish for the member of the Coca-Cola Racing Family in the sponsor's title race with a Coca-Cola Zero paint scheme delivered an extra-caffeinated jolt to my happy meter.

In his post-race interview, the always gracious and articulate driver gave all the credit to his crew and praised Casey Mears for his win:

"We've really struggled with our pit crew and they stepped up huge today. They're the ones that put us in position to have the Lucky Dog. They're the ones that put us in position to have a good run there at the end. I can't say enough about that.

"I couldn't be more excited for Casey Mears if his name was Adam Petty. I can tell you that. I'm tickled to death for Casey Mears. That kid is a great racecar driver."

Yeley, Sorenson, Petty and Mears all gained five spots in the owner standings.

What Say You?
Who'll drive to victory lane first? Joe Gibbs Racing's J.J. Yeley (W-0, T5-1, T10-4) or Chip Ganassi Racing's Reed Sorenson (W-0, T5-2, T10-7)?

Despite having only started six races this season, Brian Vickers has given the manufacturer the most stats to write home to Japan about.

His old ride, the #25 HMS Chevrolet driven by Casey Mears, kept him out of victory lane, but Vickers had the "car to beat" Sunday.

His 5th place finish--with a new engine and a car that lost its power-steering at some point during the race--was a season best for the driver and Toyota. Their second best? Vickers' 10th place finish at California Speedway in February.

Vickers has also led more laps than all of the Toyota drivers put together. Prior to the Coca-Cola 600, Toyota had led a cumulative 14 laps, 8 of them Vickers'. He added a healthy buffer to that lead after tacking on another 76 laps at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

The red-headed Red Bull gained two spots in the owner points standings this weekend but still sits four positions and 200+ points out of the top 35.

In his fifth effort, Vickers' Red Rull teammate, A.J. Allmendinger, scored his best finish of 31st and is holding down the 47th position for his owner.

Toyota Teammates
Jeremy Mayfield ran in the top 15 for much of the day, even leading 3 laps. He said the new engine "made all the difference in the world." And so it did. Until it crapped out. Mayfield was relegated to a 25th place finish--he gained one spot for owner Bill Davis Racing and now sits in 45th.

Dave Blaney, who has failed to maintain a position in the top 35 despite being the only Toyota driver fortunate enough to start the season there based on last year's owner points, turned in another lackluster performance for BDR, leading no laps and finishing 18th. He remains 36th in the points.

Michael Waltrip Racing driver Dale Jarrett lost a spot. Ditto for David Reutimann, who failed to qualify. As for Mikey ... Do I really need to go there?

So much for getting by with a little help from a former champion.

When Wood Brothers/JTG Racing announced that they were putting Kenny Schrader and Jon Wood on the sidelines so Bill Elliott could attempt to drive the #21 car back into the top 35 in owner points, some scoffed at the "rent-a-champion" idea.

Is it fair to let teams take advantage of the championship provisional rule?

Damn right it is. They may be applying the rule "creatively" and not as originally intended, but why shouldn't they take advantage of it if they can?

So long as the team in question is a full-time team, I take no issue with the rule whatsoever. Those teams are fighting week after week to stay competitive in the sport. Why shouldn't they be able to put the best available driver in their car? It's a win-win-win for the team, all of the team's drivers and the sponsors ... when it pays off.

This week it didn't. Elliott didn't even need the provisional--qualified without it, but with his accident and 38th place finish, the #21Air Force Ford actually gave up a spot to the Red Bull #83. I'm sure going backwards wasn't their ideal outcome. But that might still be one or more fewer lost spots than if they hadn't made the race at all.

"You're one year older than me. I like mature, older guys."
~ Actress Jessica Alba to NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne

Kasey Kahne has a new fan: her curvy hotness Jessica Alba.

I don't suppose I need to tell you that the rebellious actress was at the Coca-Cola 600 today promoting her upcoming film "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," in person and on the hood of Elliott Sadler's #38 #19 Fantasticar Dodge Charger.

Unlike her character, the Invisible Woman, Alba was anything but around the track today. She "turned more heads walking through the garage than Dale Earnhardt Jr."

I like to pretend I care about the IRL at least once a year, 'cause they do have this race that's like a pretty big deal or something. The television networks have even arranged it so that race fans can enjoy all the competition on the track without conflict.

However, the scheduling gods didn't allow enough time between races. To watch the Indianapolis 500 all the way to the end means missing most of Speed's "Raceday," which is the only NASCAR pre-race show worth watching. To skip it means to risk missing a breaking news item or the best anecdote of the week--or both.

Such is the dilemma facing race fans this Memorial Day Sunday.

I am genuinely interested in watching the 500 today. As most of my readers know, I follow A.J. Foyt IV, so I want to see how he does, and there are six previous winners racing, including Al Unser Jr. and last year's winner, Busch Series rookie Sam Hornish Jr., that also make it interesting.

Most* of my readers also know that I'm a female and I'm also supposed to care that three women will make history today when they take the green flag--but let's not get ahead of ourselves. For this tallglassofmilk, the estrogen factor only comes into play because McDreamy in on the scene.

Can the IRL drivers keep it interesting 'til the end? We'll see in a couple of hours.

Here is the sked for the day (all times PT cause that's my time zone):

IRL
9:00AM - 10:00AM - Indy Pre-race (ABC)
10:00AM -1:30 PM - The Indianapolis 500 (ABC)

NASCAR
12:00PM - 2:00PM NASCAR Raceday (Speed)
2:00PM - 7:00PM The Coca-Cola 600 (Fox)

* When I say most, I mean the ones that followed me from Answer this... to the Fanhouse. Some of the newer readers haven't quite caught on. But I gotta ask, how many men out there are that in touch with their femine side--their mammary glands in particular--that they'd call themselves a tallglassofmilk?

Ever wonder why NASCAR fans are so loyal to the sport's sponsors?

Because the sponsors are good to us--always finding new ways to engage the fans and reward us for our interest.

They've let us vote our favorite driver into races, they've held Sweepstakes to put our faces on racecars and name races after us ... the list goes on.

Some sponsors are so good that fans don't even have to go out of their way--the reward for being a fan is delivered right to their door.

Such was the case for an unsuspecting few this morning at Lowe's Motor Speedway fan campsites, who just happened to be in the right place at the right time--in their RVs and tents when Coca-Cola Racing driver Kyle Petty came knocking.

Don't fret. SpeedTV helps the fans sort everything out with this School House Rock-inspired video:

David Stremme slid three spots to 17th in the points standings this week after suffering his first DNF of the season in Richmond.

But the "fat and out of shape" driver is back on track already.

Stremme topped yesterday's practice sessions at Lowe's Motor Speedway with a top speed of 187.000 mph in the second session.

No other driver even came close--Jeremy Mayfield came in 2nd almost two seconds behind Stremme at 185.134mph.

Paul Menard, Ward Burton and Reed Sorenson rounded out the top 5.

If these guys are fastest in practice, how come we never see them running in the top spot -- or even the top 5? Of those five drivers, only Stremme and Sorenson have cracked the top 10 with an 8th and 9th place finish respectively.

So ... what's the difference between practice and racing?