Hello Angels,

Today’s race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., may be one of the most demanding on a race car and driver. The 1.99 mile road-course features 12 turns, eight of which are right turns that, is one of only two tracks that the drivers make right turns during NEXTEL Cup racing.

After today’s race, I have a feeling that NEXTEL Cup is going to reconsider renaming the race from the Dodge Savemart 350 to the “Jeff Gordon 350.”  That is because Gordon completely dominated the entire weekend, capturing the Bud Pole in a record-setting time of 1:15.968. He then led both practice periods, posting the fastest laps there as well.  Today he led 92 of 110 laps and with this win, reestablished himself as the king of road-courses for the NEXTEL Cup series. On a side note, Gordon now has eight road-course race wins, four at Infineon and the other four at Watkins Glen Raceway in New York.

Last year’s winner, Robbie Gordon, who at the time dethroned Jeff Gordon, had trouble from pretty much the very beginning today when he completely lost his left-front tire going through a turn.  He stayed on the lead lap, but cut a tire on debris later in the race and wasn’t able to make it into the pits before he crashed into the safety tires.  All in all, Robbie Gordon lost three tires, hit the wall twice and went down nine laps to finally finish the race in 34th position.

Other notes of interest were Scott Riggs who seemed to crash in pretty much every corner of the race, along with Dale Earnhardt doing everything in his power to crash his car. Riggs finished 42nd, while Earnhardt rebounded from his three spins and finished 11th. Infineon is probably the only racetrack that a driver can spin three times, stay on the lead lap and still come home with a decent finish. Tony Stewart spun and was spun today.  He caused more spinning then he did his own spinning, but he has everyone shaking their heads over his post-race altercation with Brian Vickers where he grabbed the rookie by his chest and tried to pull Vickers out of his car window while he was still strapped in his car. Of course Vickers crew broke it up and both Vickers and Stewart were sent to the “White House” for a talking to from NASCAR officials.  We’ll see what kind of fines are involved with this one.

So, how did we do after today’s road rage was over? 

Well, Sabrina, like Robbie Gordon, you didn’t start today’s race in very good shape.  Two of your drivers didn’t race this weekend. They are Dave Blaney and Kevin LaPage. Your remaining drivers did well considering. Your worst driver is Stewart and his 15th. Earnhardt got lucky today and finished 11th, while your top driver today is Jimmie Johnson, who started 34th and came back to finish fifth and maintain the lead in the NEXTEL Cup points. Your average finish for your three drivers is 10.33, but because you didn’t have five drivers in the field this week, you automatically get the least coveted GOLDEN CABOOSE AWARD.  Hopefully you’ll have all five drivers in next week’s race.

Dylan, with the exception of Sabrina not having five drivers in the field today, your luck pretty much ran out. Joe Nemachek was in the top-10 for more than half of the race before something broke and he finished in 39th. Jeremy Mayfield was having a great day, but spun when he got into a turn too hot.  He fell to the back of the pace and finished 30th. Kurt Busch broke something in his engine, but it wasn’t terminal. He finished 26th. Mayfield’s spin also affected another teammate of yours, Ken Schrader. Schrader was behind Mayfield when he spun. When Mayfield tried to get straightened out, he cut Schrader off and he lost his momentum and went from a top-15 finish to 23rd.  Your top driver is Earnhardt with his 11th place finish. Your average finish is a very disappointing 26 even.

Kris, both Busch and Nemachek’s problems really hurt your team today. Adding to the pain is that Kasey Kahne set himself up for a top-10 finish after a late-race caution and was in second place on the restart. Unfortunately for you and he, Kahne spun out on the restart going into turn two and went from second to 31st, which is where he finished the race. Earnhardt had one of his best finishes on a road course racetrack despite his problems with his 11th place finish. Your top driver today is Elliott Sadler and his 10th place finish overall.  Your average finish is also a disappointing 23.4.

Mr. X, Ricky Rudd normally does well on road courses, but today his ride was the problem when he broke a track bar and finished 35th. Robbie Gordon definitely didn’t help you out this week like you were hoping either with his 34th place finish. Mayfield finished 30th, while Greg Biffle rallied to finish 13th. Your top driver today is Jeff Gordon and his fourth win at Infineon Raceway.  Your average finish today is 22.6.

Kelly you didn’t fare much better than Mr. X did.  In fact, there wasn’t much that separated you two this week. Robby Gordon and Bobby Labonte teamed up to be your worst two drivers. I’ve chronicled Robby Gordon’s problems already, but Labonte was quietly riding in the top-10 today when he broke his brakes. He finished 33rd. Your road-course specialist Jim Inglebright did much better by finishing 19th, while Stewart and Earnhardt were your best drivers today with their 15th and 11th place finishes respectively. Your average finish today is 22.4.

Bosley, I’m sure you’re disappointed with what happened to Kahne when he spun, but Rusty Wallace was probably the big disappointment for you because he was riding in fourth and had just taken the white flag for the last lap of the race when his car sputtered and he ran out of gas. Wallace was strong all day long and for the most part kept his nose clean. He went from a top-five finish to an agonizing 28th place finish, the last car on the lead lap.  Inglebright finished 19th, while Ryan Newman finished 14th. Sadler is your top driver with his 10th place finish. Your average finish is 20.4.

UnNamed One, Busch is your worst driver with his 36th place finish. Matt Kenseth spun early but still managed to finish 20th, while Dale Jarrett finished 18th overall. Biffle and Sadler were your top drivers with their 13th and 10th place finishes respectively.  Your average finish this week is 19.4.

Julie for you it was Labonte who brought your team’s average finish down.  He had help, of course, from Nemachek and his 29th place finish, in addition to Kenseth finishing 20th. Your top two drivers are Said in sixth and Jeff Gordon in first. Your average finish is 17.8.

Natalie, Kahne was your worst driver today with his 31st place finish. Sterlin Marlin was spun out early in the race and never really recovered. He finished 21st. Inglebright finished 19th, while your top two drivers, Sadler and Johnson finished 10th and fifth respectively. Your average finish is 17.8.

Tiffany, Mayfield’s spin and subsequent 30th place finish probably took you out of our top-spot today because your remaining four drivers all finished in the top-15. Three of them, Biffle, Kevin Harvick and Earnhardt, finished 13th, 12th and 11th respectively. Your top driver is Casey Mears and his seventh place finish. Your average finish today is 14.6

Thin Man, you and I tie for the runner-up position today.

Kurt Busch was your worst driver with his engine problems and 36th place finish. Stewart finished 15th, while Sadler and Said finished 10th and sixth. Your top driver is Jeff Gordon and his win today.

For me, Kahne and Scott Wimmer both really hurt me. Especially Kahne considering he was in the top-10 when he spun. Wimmer was never a factor and finished 25th. Mears finished seventh, while Johnson finished fifth. My top driver today is Jeff Gordon and his win.

Our average finish today Thin man is 14 even.

Well, Jill you did it again. I’m not sure how you do it changing your drivers week to week, but somehow you manage to do it. This week you have four drivers finish in the top-10. You would’ve had all five of your drivers in the top-10 had Kahne not spun on the restart. He finished 31st. Your remaining drivers, Said, Johnson, Jamie McMurray and Jeff Gordon finished sixth, fifth, second and first. I would’ve never picked McMurray, but you took a chance and it definitely paid off for you. Your TOP-ANGEL average finish this week is our only top-10 finish with 9 even. Congratulations.

Don’t forget to check the overall standings on Monday at the ESPN.RPM Stockcar Challenge Web site.

Next week’s race is the Pepsi 400 on Saturday night under the lights at Daytona.  This is a restrictor plate race so, who knows what is going to happen.

Good luck Angels,