Hello Angels,

I was hoping to be able to tell you today that Jeff Gordon picked up his third win in a row from the pole, but instead I have to talk about how NASCAR took a turn towards the World Wrestling Federation during the fourth running of the Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway in Illinois today. If anyone has previously questioned NASCAR on penalties, there is no question that there will be suspensions handed down to crewmembers for both Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewarts’ teams this week.

The incident in question happened after Stewart and Kahne got together on lap 127, during a restart to the race. Kahne was leading the race with Stewart behind him.  In front of both of them were cars on the tail end of the lead lap. For what ever reason, Stewart got into the back of Kahne and sent him spinning into the wall and, in the process, he collected Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dave Blaney, Jeff Burton and John Andretti. 

If you remember in the not so distant past, Stewart has had a problem with knocking people out of the way, AND, Kahne is one of those he knocked out previously. So, this time his crew wasn’t taking it and Kahne’s crewchief Tony Baldwin confronted Stewart’s crewchief Greg Zipadelli. The two had words, and then the mayhem exploded when the remaining crewmembers got into a pushing and shoving match.  Security had to be brought in to break up the “steel-cage” match, and at least one crewmember was taken to the In-Field Care Center for medical attention.

I’m interested to see where NASCAR rules on this. I don’t think Stewart did anything wrong in this case, and that it was just racing. But, obviously you won’t be able to tell Kahne or his crew that. Especially when Kahne was out of the race and finished 36th, while, and here’s the kicker, Stewart went on to win the race.

So, what happened to Gordon, well he had a really badly handling car and even went down a lap at one point. But with a bunch of pit-stops and catching several brakes including getting back on the lead lap because of the “Lucky Dog” rule, he battled back. Gordon said he thinks a left rear jack screw got loose, which caused the car to be too loose to be a contender for the win today. Whatever the cause, it didn’t matter because with just 20-laps remaining, he got four fresh tires, and a much better race car. He skyrocketed from 17th place all the way to fourth overall when the checkers were flying.  I would definitely say he was the “Lucky Dog” of the day with that run.

So, how did today’s race affect our team standings, well, let me start by saying that everyone of us had full-teams with all of our drivers qualifying this week. But with all the crashes on the track today, our combined team average finish is a very low 19.92. That says a lot about how our day went today.

Bosley, unfortunately for you, and your drivers of course, accidents happen. Kahne’s was definitely unfortunate for you because the crashes started early for you when Ryan Newman took out Kurt Busch after loosing a tire on lap 18. All three drivers are on your team. As I’ve mentioned before Kahne finished 36th, while Busch finished 35th and Newman right in front of them in 34th. Elliott Sadler was having a good day, but faded in the end and finished 21st. Your top driver is Rusty Wallace, who finished 11th. Your GOLDEN CABOOSE AWARD winning average finish is a very disappointing 27.4.  I think all the Angels are wishing you much better luck next time.

Kris, you didn’t have too much better luck yourself. In fact, Kahne and Busch are on your team as well. Hurting you as well was Earnhardt, who not only was in that accident with Kahne and Stewart, but went down a lap early after speeding on pit road during a green-flag pit stop. He finished 22nd with Sadler finishing one better in 21st. Your best driver is Joe Nemachek and his sixth place finish. Your average finish is also disappointing at 24.4.

Jill, you took a chance this week by picking Bobby Hamilton Jr. I can see why you did it…he set the record for the Busch Series pole on Friday, and was the favorite to win that race yesterday before an engine failure on lap 5 took him out of that race. He did qualify for the NEXTEL Cup race well as well, but like the Busch Series race, an engine took him out of today’s race and handed you a 41st place driver on your team. Adding to your team’s problems today is the separate crashes collecting both Kahne and Newman. Saving you from total destruction is having Gordon and Jimmie Johnson on your team. They finished fourth and second respectfully. That said, you could only manage a 23.4 average finish this week. On top of that, I do believe that you will lose the top-spot in the Charlie’s Angels’ Fantasy League Segment Two championship challenge.  L

Natalie, unfortunately for you, Blaney and Kahne both crashed out of the race. They were both in the top-10 at the time of the wreck, with Kahne in the lead of course.  They finished however 37th and 36th respectively. Sadler finished 21st, while Wallace finished 11th. Your top driver today is Johnson and his second-place finish. Your average finish is 21.4.

Sabrina, last week Kevin Lapage didn’t race at Daytona. Well some could argue that he didn’t race at Chicagoland as well because he was the second car out of the race with engine problems. He finished 42nd this week. Blaney was doing well, but of course your top driver this week, Stewart, took him out when Stewart and Kahne got together on the restart. Your fifth driver, Johnson finished second this week. Your average finish is 20.8.

Mr. X, Kahne and Newman are your worst drivers this week, while Casey Mears and Brian Vickers finished 15th and 14th respectively. Your top driver this week is Gordon and his come-from behind fourth place finish. Your average finish is not much better than Sabrina’s at 20.6.

Dylan, unfortunately for you, Kahne and Burton were taken out on the same wreck. They finished 36th and 33rd respectively. Vickers and Kevin Harvick did you well by 14th and 10th place finishes respectively. Your top driver is Gordon and his fourth place finish. Your average finish is 19 even.

UnNamed One, Busch was your worst driver with his 35th place finish. Sadler and Greg Biffle teamed up to finish 21st and 20th together, while Matt Kenseth finished 12th. Your top driver is Dale Jarrett and the big brown truck finishing third. Your average finish is 18.2.

Kelly, you and I tie this week.

This is most likely because we share three of the same drivers. They are Blaney, Earnhardt and Gordon, who finished 37th, 22nd and fourth respectively. You have Bobby Labonte and Michael Waltrip on your team. They finished 18th and ninth, while my remaining two drivers, Scott Wimmer and Johnson finished 23rd and second. Our average finish is 18 even.

Thin Man, the Charlie’s Angels’ Fantasy League Segment Two championship challenge is yours for the taking, and I do believe that you took the lead this week by placing third overall in today’s Tropicana 400. Your worst driver is Newman and his 34th place finish. Sadler and Labonte finished 21st and 18th respectively today. Helping you the most was Nemachek and Gordon with their top-10-eighth and –fourth-place finishes today. Your average finish is 17 even.

Tiffany, your worst driver is Earnhardt and his 22nd place finish. Biffle and Mears helped with their 20th and 15th place finishes, but helping you the most to our No. 2 position today is Harvick and Jeremy Mayfield with their top-10 finishes of 10th and fifth respectively. Your average finish is 14.4.

That leaves you, Julie, to be our TOP ANGEL AWARD winner, once again. You did this with three drivers in the top-10, another in the top-20, and one crashed out. The crashed out driver is Blaney and his 37th place finish. Labonte finished 18th, while Waltrip, Gordon and Jarrett finished ninth, fourth and third respectively. You narrowly beat out Tiffany with your TOP ANGEL AWARD winning average finish of 14.2. Congratulations.

As I’ve already said, our combined team average finish is a very-low 19.92. 

Let’s hope we do much better in TWO WEEKS when the NEXTEL Cup series comes up to New England for the New England 300 in Louden, N.H.

Don’t forget to go to the RPM.ESPN Stockcar Challenge Web site to see where you stack up after the Tropicana 400.

Good luck Angels,