….. 5/8/05 – With ten races in the books for 2005, we have only two repeat winners starting off the season, Greg Biffle, and Jeff Gordon. The point's leader at present is not a repeat winner; Jimmie Johnson has only won one event, but he's finished well in most of the other events. Johnson has begun the season with five top five finishes and eight top ten finishes, only slipping up at Phoenix and Talladega with 15th and 20th place finishes. Who's next? Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, and Kurt Busch are looking for their second win.

We all know that on down the line this season, that those multiple winners who are on top now will have their bad days at the track as well. Some of the participants in this season's Chase for the Championship seem to have already found their niche at the top of the heap. It will be hard to count out drivers like Biffle and Gordon, who have been regular winners and good finishers throughout their careers. It appears as if those two have already carved out their niche, and it would be stupid to think that Jimmie Johnson won't win at least a couple of more races to keep him in the hunt. I'd really be surprised if he didn't win one of the three upcoming events at Charlotte. It would be a cardinal sin if the Lowe's car didn't win at least one race per season (as per usual) at the track that carries the company's logo. Speaking of the Lowe's car, I guess it's safe to say that Jimmie Johnson is not the dog this week. It seems that there are other matters at hand stemming from the Darlington event. Talladega and Jimmie Johnson are old news compared to NASCAR's wrath for Kurt Busch. It seems that our 2004 Cup Champion didn't mind his p's and q's when dealing with the powers that be. He may end up in the punishment column this coming Tuesday when the sanctioning body usually hands down its edicts.

Another circumstance taking heat off of Johnson is the feud between Waltrip and Green. Green is known for being quick tempered, and so is Waltrip, who will be walking with a swagger as long as he drives for Dale Earnhardt Inc. As far as Green's tenure with Petty Enterprises, it's anyone's guess. As long as Green does as well or better than his boss, Kyle Petty, then chances are he'll last a few seasons in the #43 Petty Ent. Dodge.

The top five finishers this season:

Track	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
Daytona -	J. Gordon	Kt. Busch	Earnhardt	Riggs	Johnson
California -	Biffle	Johnson	Kt. Busch	McMurray	Edwards
Las Vegas -	Johnson	Ky. Busch	Kt. Busch	J. Gordon	Harvick
Atlanta -	Edwards	Johnson	Biffle	Martin	Kahne
Bristol -	Harvick	Sadler	Stewart	Earnhardt	Jarrett
Martinsville -	J. Gordon	Kahne	Martin	Newman	R. Wallace
Texas -	Biffle	McMurray	Johnson	Mears	Marlin
Phoenix -	Kt. Busch	Waltrip	J. Burton	Earnhardt	Vickers
Talladega -	J. Gordon	Stewart	Waltrip	Mayfield	McMurray
Darlington -	Biffle	J. Gordon	Kahne	Martin	Newman

5/15/05… If there is a fan out there who wasn't happy to see Kasey Kahne win his first race, then all I can say is that this individual isn't much of a race fan! I have to admit, after watching Kahne win a USAC Silver Crown event at Nazareth Speedway a couple of years ago, I've been waiting for him to break into the NASCAR win column with some home grown bias.

I thought it was fitting that Kahne took the win the same night that they featured him on NASCAR 360. I'm kind of glad they continued that program this season; it gives us race fans a lot of insight into the lives the people who make the sport of stock car racing tick. I was among those who were not aware that Kahne was going out with Texas Terry's daughter. That appears to be a match made within the sport, with the young lady being aware of the time impositions on her beau. She stated on the program that she had been going to races continually since day one, so she certainly ought to know what to expect.

While I'm on the subject, I have to comment on the segment about Kurt Busch. It was very informative and amusing, especially the part about the autograph signing. Kahne has thousands of fans swarming his souvenir hauler for autographs, while Busch's fans could be counted in a couple of seconds. It was a very sad revelation to see how disliked the 2004 Cup Champion has made himself. I also found it amusing as to how he claimed that he was cleaning up his act this season. The show happened to air right after he made the big gaff at Darlington, thumbing his nose at NASCAR and hitting a NASCAR official with a water bottle.

There are a lot of different personalities that make up the human contingent, and the 43 regular drivers on the Cup circuit seem to be a cross section of them. You have your good ol' boys, your shrinking violets, your aggressive natures, and last but certainly not least, your loose cannons.

Could you folks imagine a match race with Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Jimmy Spencer, and Robby Gordon? Of course, we all know that there are a few more we could add to the list, but people would whine and complain if I put Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson in the same category. We have all seen fits of rage and childish nature from both of them, although not near as much as the regular bad boys, so I'll just let it go at that.

5/22/05…. What? Could it be true? The Lowe's car failed to win the all-star event! Who'd have thought! Apparently neither Jimmie Gordon nor Jeff Johnson got the call this time – they gave it to Mark Martin!

Well – personally – I have no problem with that. I like the idea of Mark Martin getting a win in his farewell season, even though it wasn't a point's race and doesn't mean squat. At least he can go out knowing that he won a race in his final full season. That's a lot more than a lot of them can do!

Rusty Wallace is really whooping it up in his so called "Last call," but so far he's winless. Maybe if he minds his P's and Q's NASCAR will give him the nod and allow him the pleasure of another trophy for his mantle, but don't count on it, there are too many young guns with top flight sponsors that need to be appeased.

As per usual, the big run for the money and prestige ended up with drivers and teams squabbling over who was responsible for the big one. Joe Nemechek and Kevin Harvick have rekindled their hard feelings, with each verbally blasting the other. Most put the blame on Tony Stewart, who by the way doesn't have the foggiest idea what happened. He seems to be aware that he got into the back of Nemechek, but claims that all of a sudden Nemechek was there in front of him. Nemechek was going full tilt as was Stewart, and then he wasn't, so Stewart claims to have no choice but to punt him. That's racing, like it or not. Those cars don't have brake lights, if you whoa up in a race, you can expect to be run over, regardless of who's on your tail!