Martin and Michael were involved in the discussions about who would be crew chief of the #56. The process was very deep. They interviewed four different candidates. It was difficult for Martin to be part of the process because he has such a good relationship with Bono Manion and that's the only crew chief he's ever worked with on this level. However, it appeared to them (MWR) that it was time to go in a different direction for Martin. Sounds to me like Martin would have liked to have brought Bono with him to MWR but MWR had other ideas.

Pat owes it to Penske Racing and to Kurt Busch to try to win a Championship and that's where his focus will be for the rest of the year. They won't be talking to him about race cars. Same thing with Truex, he has races to win. They've been doing data analysis since last May about where they needed to be to get the cars in the Chase and since then they've been addressing their gaps and fixing their woes. When they all get together in December and January (with Pat and Truex) they'll be ready for next year.

MWR has reinvented themselves as an organization. They have a bright future under their roof.

They talked to Michael last year about his future and knew that Martin would be a free agent this year. They talked with NAPA in December and January about going after Truex.

Michael is at the shop every day. He works out there and his office is right there so they see him walking around in his underwear! He goes to all the competition meetings and is very involved. This is Michael's passion and it's all he has (compared to some owners who have dealerships or other business interests). Michael spends a tremendous amount of time there and has dedicated his life to racing.

Words can't describe David Reutimann. They've watched him grow since DW's truck team and it's like watching a child grow up even though he's just a few years younger than Ty. Watching him mature as a driver is remarkable. They've never run well at Atlanta but David finished top five and it put a smile on his face. JTG invested a lot in Marcos Ambrose and Marcos has been loyal. Tad G. just smiles when someone tells him how amazing it is how well Marcos is doing because he knew how good Marcos would be. It's a pleasure to have Marcos around because he smiles all the time and it just like he seems to be on TV.

However, as upset and unhappy as Michael has been I'm still surprised that he got a new crew chief. I figured that given that Michael isn't going to be back full-time next season and the results don't really matter that much beyond making sure the #55 is in the top 35 in owner's points for Martin Truex, Jr. that Michael Waltrip Racing wasn't going to be inclined to make too many changes or put too much resources into the #55 team since they would probably want to do those things after Martin joins the team. But perhaps they were worried that if the results continued to be as poor as they've been that there was some danger of the #55 dropping out of the top 35 or Michael just couldn't stand to struggle as much as he has been.

This win makes the way RBR is dragging their feet when it comes to re-signing Brian even more curious. Brian has done everything right for RBR - he's helped them develop into a successful Cup organization, he's won poles for them, he's raced competitively on a regular basis and now he's even won a race for them. What more could they be looking for? It make no sense to me that they haven't re-signed him and if they aren't careful another organization may lure him away - it's hard to win races on the Cup level and winning this race may make Brian very attractive to other teams. The excuse that RBR may be thinking about switching manufacturers doesn't hold water for me since it seems to me that they can re-sign Brian regardless of whether they'll be a Toyota or Chevy team. If they're thinking about signing Brad Keselowski I hope it's not in place of Brian - as good as Brad may be I doubt he'll put himself in a position to make the Chase as Brian has done this season.

David was the top finishing Michael Waltrip Racing driver. While it was great that he got another top ten, David remains 16th in the points and the chances of him making back into Chase contention don't look very good which is unfortunate. But at least he fared better than his teammates at Michigan. Michael Waltrip struggled all day with an ill-handling car and finished 27th. I'll always be a fan of Michael's and I'll always support and cheer for him whether he's racing up front or near the back but it's hard to listen to him during races these days. He's always unhappy with the cars he's given to race which based on his description are pretty bad and it leads to him being very frustrated, angry and miserable. Marcos Ambrose also had a difficult day - he finished 35th, one lap down but I'm not sure what happened to him.

Next weekend is Bristol, a track that drivers look forward to racing on and a race that fans very much look forward to watching. Hopefully we'll see some great racing!

The race may not be the only thing that Ryan wins at Dover - he's currently leading the points so he could very well win Michael Waltrip Racing their first ever Championship. When they signed him even though they knew he had talent I'm not sure anyone would have predicted that he would be in a position to win a Championship for them in his first season racing for them! In addition, Ryan is also leading the Rookie of the Year standings as well. Even if he doesn't win either - and I think there's a good chance he will - it will still be an outstanding season for Ryan!

As for the previously mentioned veteran East Series drivers, Lime Rock wasn't kind to either Matt or Steve. Both had engine woes to deal with and Matt's were particularly costly since it made him a non-factor at a track where he's had a lot of success previously and likely eliminated him from Championship contention. The end result was better for Steve - though he couldn't repeat his win from Adirondack he ended up finishing 11th. Not the finish he and his team were looking for but good enough to move him up to 4th in the points.

Even though it continues to be difficult to follow the action in the East Series due to the lack of live TV coverage of the races and general lack of media attention given to the series, I'm very excited for the last two races of the season because I'm really hoping that Ryan can continue to race as well as he had been and win the Championship. Just wish the next race was sooner than mid-September!

The win generated some good media attention for Steve and I was happy to hear him on The Morning Drive on Sirius this week. Steve sounded great in the interview and said that the win was a long time in coming - sure was!. He thought they would get a win last year but they struggled, then struggled to begin this season as well. I have to admit I had some doubts at the start of the season about whether Steve was going to be able to contend for wins since Steve really didn't seem to be able to race competitively. But as the results started to improve and Steve started to race up front more I got a lot more optimistic. As Steve said they got their act together - they sure did! and ended up in Victory Lane!

Steve said Adirondack reminds him of the old Clemson(?) track in NJ. It's unique to the cars they race. It's a challenge for any driver who races there. Hats off to the drivers who race there every week.

In the past Steve has occasionally in interviews and to fans seemed to question the talent level of some of those he races against in this series. But he's definitely singing a different tune now. Said that he can't even describe the amount of talent and competition in both the East and West Series. It amazes him the amount of talent that is being produced. Drivers in these series will more to the higher levels just like Joey Logano. I was very happy to hear him speak well about his fellow competitors because I've been less than impressed with his past comments as I don't think it's a wise idea to down those you're racing against even if there is some truth there about their lack of experience, ability or that he doesn't like their racing style. So it was great to hear him say such positive things in this interview.

As he's done previously Steve had very high praise for Ryan Truex and I suspect that one reason he's saying something different about those he's racing against is because he's impressed with Ryan and a couple of the other young drivers in the series this season. Steve said that Ryan has a good set-up at Michael Waltrip Racing that will help him further his career and that he's sure that Ryan will move up. Fans should make sure to get autographs from up-and-coming drivers like Ryan before they/he become superstars. With Ryan being so young he surprised a lot of people including him (Steve). He's got a good head on his shoulders and a lot of talent. He's a little shy (that's an understatement!). I agree with Steve about Ryan, that he's extremely talented and a driver on his way up. It's awesome to hear one of my long-time favorite drivers speak so highly of one of my newest favorite drivers!

Joey Lavendar is another that Steve said has a lot of talent. Said that there's not an untalented driver in the series. The list goes on and on. Good teams and good drivers.

Steve feels bad for the other drivers with Lime Rock coming up. He loves road course racing, his team is on a roll and morale is high. It's a beautiful place to race. Paul Newman who was one of his idols growing up raced there. Very obvious that Steve is very much looking forward to Lime Rock! I would guess we'll be seeing plenty of Steve racing up front at Lime Rock but I'm thinking Ryan will be right there with him!

The interview finished up with Steve saying that he listens to TMD every morning coffee in hand. Sure hope he's on again after he wins another one!

The speeding penalties are determined by a computer not by a person and there's no judgment call involved as to whether a driver was speeding or not. According to Dave Moody from Sirius on his Facebook page after the race the teams can even see a computer printout to see how much they were speeding by. So if NASCAR says that JPM was speeding than he was no matter how hard it is to believe that a driver who is that close to a win wouldn't be extra-careful on pit road to be sure they are within the speed limit set by NASCAR.

What may be fueling some of the conspiracy theorists other than that there are a disturbingly large amount of fans these days who seize on any opportunity to try to portray the sport in a negative light is that JPM was insistent when he was first busted for speeding that he wasn't. And given that he said that there were green lights on in his car which told him that he was within the parameters he had to be in, perhaps he truly though that he wasn't speeding - I think it was Felix Sabates who brought up the possibility that something was wrong with the car. But beyond that few drivers are going to admit to having done what they're accused of doing if they have as much to lose as JPM did and they're hoping to convince NASCAR to reconsider. What impressed me is that during his post-race interview JPM was surely still very upset but he handled himself extremely well and didn't rip into NASCAR. He acknowledged that if they said he was speeding he was and calmly talked about how he felt about it. Other team officials including his crew chief Brian Pattie accepted that he was speeding as well.

So my question is, if JPM and his team can accept that he was speeding then why can't fans?

The question now becomes what does this mean for Kenseth and Roush? It's well-known that Roush has to eliminate a team at the end of this season. Odds are that even though Kenseth has lost his sponsor he's not going to lose his ride so it's likely that unless Roush finds an outside sponsor for the #17, sponsorship from one of the other Roush teams will move to Kenseth. While David Ragan's performance has been extremely poor this season, it doesn't seem likely to me that UPS would want to drop him after just one season particularly since they spent money on commercials with him. While UPS could shift with Ragan to Yates Racing, I have to wonder if Crown Royal is going to move over to the #17 and Jamie McMurray is going to find himself as the odd man out as has been heavily rumored.

Mayfield claims he has a major sponsor who is ready and willing to sponsor him and that it's only a matter of time before he's back racing, this after just last week saying that he knows his career in NASCAR is done. I find it very hard to believe that Mayfield actually has a big-money sponsor - or any sponsor at all - at a time when top organizations like Roush-Fenway Racing and successful drivers like Matt Kenseth who have never tested positive are losing sponsorship. Not to mention what team is going to give him a ride? And he has no team of his own anymore to bring to the track. In addition, his claims that NASCAR is discriminating against him because he has ADD are ridiculous since reportedly there are other drivers with ADD who race. He doesn't understand why NASCAR won't let him back to the track - hello, there's those positive drug tests that you're suing them over!

The media has a responsibility to report the news and they should do so fairly, giving each side an opportunity to tell their story. But how long can this continue? Mayfield gives interviews full of crazy talk on a seemingly daily basis and I'm starting to wonder about whether there's any ethical issues involved with giving a possible meth addict who may not be perceiving things as they really are a regular platform to speak. At the very least I think when they're interviewing him I think the media needs to be pressing him on the wild allegations he keeps making in terms of making him provide some proof of what he's saying. Because so far he hasn't presented one single shred of evidence to back up much of his accusations.

What's astonishing to me is how many fans are willing to believe every word that Mayfield says which may be why he continues to grant these interviews because he knows that he can make completely outlandish allegations about NASCAR and there are more than a few who will eat it all up. There is so much damage being done to the sport and the sad thing is that this circus could continue for months, if not years. Even after the court makes a ruling about whether to lift the injunction and in regards to the lawsuit as a whole, there's no guarantee that Mayfield will go away - in fact he may be even more determined to try to cause trouble. There are no winners in this situation and something tells me that there won't be any happy endings either.

NASCAR also filed an affidavit with the court from Lisa Mayfield, Jeremy's step-mother, in which she says she saw him making and using meth on numerous occasions dating back to 1998. While a witness stepping forward to state that she observed him using meth is damning, I don't give it as much weight as the test results since there's obvious ill will between herself and Mayfield. While some are still insistent that NASCAR is out to get Mayfield and that these are all false positives, the more often the tests show the same result, the less likely I think it is that the result is wrong.

It's not just Mayfield who's in denial. While Mayfield's supporters get fewer and fewer as time goes on and more evidence surfaces that the may indeed have an issue with drugs, there are still quite a few fans who believe that this is all one big conspiracy against him. Nonsense. NASCAR has nothing to gain by falsely accusing Mayfield of using meth. It's very hard for me to believe that they would bring this sort of negative publicity on the sport by falsifying test results.

At times in the past I've felt that the NASCAR media doesn't always ask enough hard questions but I think many members of the motorsports media have been doing an outstanding job covering this story even though it has to be difficult given the issues involved and that many have known Mayfield for years. Nate Ryan from USA Today, Jenna Fryer from the Associated Press, Bob Pockrass from scenedaily.com and David Newton and others at ESPN.com are just a few of those who have worked hard to report this story from all angles.

More than a few would like this story to just go away, but that's unlikely to happen unless Mayfield admits a few truths to himself and to those around him. Until then Mayfield is likely to continue to make this into as much of a circus as possible and this sad story is likely to only get sadder.

What was so awesome about this past weekend's win at Thompson is that it was Steve Park who Ryan ended up battling for the win! Steve led the first 70 laps before giving up the lead to Ryan and the two raced each other for the remainder of the race. Steve ended up finishing second, his best finish of the season. It was really a dream top two for me - the driver who has been one of my favorites in NASCAR for the longest battling the driver who is one of my newest favorites! I would be in heaven if Steve and Ryan battled each other for the win in every race!

Ryan was on Sirius this morning and talked about how he'd like to race some Nationwide races next season.Although sponsorship is likely in short supply, if there's any way to make it happen MWR probably will try to get him some experience on higher levels as it's clear that Ryan is a driver on the rise with a very bright future. Sure hope that future includes winning a lot of races for MWR for many years to come!

Mayfield said,

“The main thing is to be able to go back and be able to do that. The truth came out, and now I can go back and say we’re clear of all this. I cleared my name, and now we can go racing again. That means more to me than anything.”

I'd like to know just exactly how Mayfield thinks he cleared his name. It seems to me he's still an accused meth user since there are multiple positive drug tests that show he used meth that weren't discredited today. And the fact of the matter is that even if it's shown that NASCAR's drug testing policy is flawed that doesn't mean that Mayfield didn't use meth. Nor does it mean that he's in the clear when it comes to the Adderall either.

The other issue raised by several members of the media is what happens when the next driver (or crew member) tests positive? This may set a precedent in which they can just go to court and get an injunction which would allow them to continue racing until various lawsuits are sorted through which could take a year or more. Seems to me that makes it very difficult for NASCAR to be able to administer their drug policy which isn't good because it's essential that they be able to test drivers and crew members for drug use.

It'll be very interesting to find out what the reaction of Mayfield's fellow competitors are, if any of them are willing to go on the record about this.

"It's total B.S. The demise of the truck series is the figment of one person's imagination. (Mulhern) has a history of fabricating false stories and this is another example of it. We're very aware that (the Camping World Truck Series) is affected the hardest during this economic recession. We're currently looking at options. We've never given up on a series and we're not going to start now."

My biggest problem with Mulhern besides how inaccurate a lot of what he writes often seems to be is that he usually doesn't have much sourcing or quotes in his stories. I give him credit in the story about the Truck Series because he actually included a quote from Ramsey Poston, NASCAR's spokesperson, who says that the series won't be cut next season. But he has nothing to support the idea that the amount of races will be reduced next season or that the series will disappear all together. Yes, it's often difficult for a reporter because they are often working with sources who won't speak on the record. But there are ways to handle anonymous sources so that readers can put things in context and feel like information is coming from somewhere legitimate instead of being pulled out of thin air.

What's most unfortunate about Mulhern is that I think fans don't trust what other media members who cover NASCAR write because they think a lot of the reporters are as unreliable as he is. But there are many reporters who regularly cover this sport who take great pains to get things right even if it means they aren't the first to report a story - Bob Pockrass from scenedaily.com, Jim Utter from thatsracin.com and The Charlotte Observer, Nate Ryan from USA Today, Marty Smith from espn.com and Jenna Fryer from the Associated Press are a few that come to mind. These are the journalists who fans can depend on for accurate information about the sport and the people who are in it.

As someone else wondered on Facebook, now that NASCAR has called Mulhern out publicly for reporting false stories whether they'll continue to let him have a hard card and media access especially now that he's an independent and isn't working for a newspaper.

As for the Michael Waltrip Racing teams, Marcos finished third which may be disappointing to him but is an excellent finish, particularly considering all the problems he had to deal with earlier in the weekend which included a blown engine which caused him to have to start from the back of the field for Sunday's race. Marcos has shown the ability to race well on every kind of track but he is particularly skilled on road course tracks and I have no doubt that he will contend for the win at Watkins Glen too - sure would be awesome to see him win! Patrick raced the #55 to a terrific 11th place finish - he did a good job with a car that he complained wasn't all that great - gee, wonder if it's really Michael that's the problem with the #55 if his replacement doesn't exactly rave about the car? At times he struggled at the back of the pack but the team as a whole did a good job with pit and fuel strategy and also on the pit stops to put Patrick in a position to get that top 15.

MWR has a technical alliance with Germain Racing which makes Max Papis part of the MWR family in a way. I really like him and I knew he'd likely have good race at Infineon which he did. Max was actually on the verge of his first career top ten in Cup when someone - reportedly Patrick - got into him and caused a flat which led to him losing a few spots on the last lap which is unfortunate. He finished 12th which is still a career best for Max in Cup and it's still a very solid finish. I would love to see him get more successful on all kinds of tracks as he gains more experience in Cup so it was good to see him do well on Sunday.

Two other drivers who were in line for strong finishes until misfortune struck were Robby Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. With Robby the same thing always seems to happen - a great run is ruined by mistake, poor decision-making or just bad luck. On Sunday Robby stayed out one lap too long, taking the lead on lap 76 only to see the caution flag come out just as he was about to pit. Word is that Robby's crew chief actually told him to pit the lap before but Robby didn't listen so he has no one to blame but himself for the outcome. Robby attempted to race his way through the field but a late race tangle with Jeff Burton and another driver resulted in a 36th place finish. Although Robby is perpetually still considered by many to be a favorite to win on road courses, he really hasn't done much of note on those kinds of tracks in Cup for a few years and in light of that I'm not really expecting much from him at Watkins Glen either. He clearly is very skilled at this kind of track but these days so are many other drivers and his team doesn't have anywhere near the kind of resources that some of the larger teams do. Robby Gordon Motorsports fielded a second car for P.J. Jones this weekend and it appears - though it's not confirmed - that it was a start and park since it dropped out of the race so early. While I understand that Robby may have seen it as a good opportunity to make some extra money, I never would have thought that start and parking one of his cars would be his style and especially with a road course racer as good as P.J. behind the wheel.

Junior was on his way to a much needed top ten finish until he got swept up in a wreck and ended up finishing 26th. One of his PR reps, Mike Davis said the following on Twitter after the race,

"Just disgusted, b/c next wk Jr will face same Qs about god-awful season. Solid run was 2 quiet 2 b noticed by results-driven expectations."

I'm getting disgusted too - disgusted by the idea that I'm supposed to feel sorry for Junior or Davis for that matter. There are any number of drivers who get next to no media attention no matter how good or bad their finishes are. Sure, it has to be a pain-in-the-rear to have to field the same questions every week and have to talk about how bad his season has been. But that's part of what a driver - and his PR rep - has to deal with. There could come a day - yes, even for Junior - where there won't be this kind of media attention, and they'll be wishing they were in a position to have to answer the same questions over and over.

In addition, even though I get sick of hearing about Junior, the fact is that the most popular driver in the sport having a poor season is a storyline worthy of media attention. That Junior was racing in the top ten was most definitely noticed but the reality is that people pay attention to the end result. Michael has had countless strong finishes ruined by flat tires, blown engines or getting swept up in other driver's messes, as has every other driver on the track. That's part of the sport as is results-based expectations - should we be patting Junior on the head for his effort? Things don't work that way and if he can't take the heat - and based on his comment to Jenna Fryer about not having the mental strength to put up with a season like this again, maybe he doesn't - then he needs to get out of the kitchen. No driver is guaranteed that they will race up front in every race, nor are they guaranteed that they will have successful, Chase contending seasons, not even the most popular driver in the sport. And when expectations aren't met there may very well be questions that need to be answered.

There were more than a few drivers who seemed to run over and spin just about every driver they raced around - Boris Said, Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson were just three of those who seemed to get into a lot of other cars on Sunday but they weren't alone. Even Patrick spun Casey Mears in an attempt to pass him. I think that just speaks to the aggressive style of racing that's necessary at Infineon and how competitive it is. What I was impressed by is that immediately after the race Jimmie approached Kurt Busch to apologize to him face-to-face for spinning him. So often these days drivers don't take the time to apologize in person and leave a voicemail, send a text message, wait until they see the other driver the following week, or in some cases don't bother to make an effort to talk to the other driver at all. So I liked that Jimmie went over to Kurt and spoke with him in person right away - that probably went a long way towards smoothing things over with Kurt.

This weekend the Cup Series will be racing in New Hampshire and while I don't think we'll end up seeing a race as good as we did at Sonoma, I'm looking forward to it because Michael will be back in the #55.