I was very excited about last week’s win by Tony.  Tony is right back in the hunt again.  It was nice to see him have a good run.  The Chase has been the most interesting Chases for me.  I am torn.  I really want Tony to win since there were those out there who didn’t give him a chance to even make the Chase.  I mean he went from Joe Gibbs Racing where he won 2 championships and had great success to venture off into the great unknown.  But for some reason everything Tony touches of late turns to gold.  Maybe he should play the lottery.  But the other part of me would love to see Mark Martin win his first championship.  He has had 7 poles and 5 wins, 11 Top 5s, and 17 Top 10s.  He has finished 1st, 2nd, 7th in the first three Chase races.  To me, he is the man to beat…but as we all know this is the time of the year Jimmie turns the heat up.  But of course there’s still Talladega which can sometimes make or break a team’s season.

There has been some discussion about rewarding the leader of the points after the first 26 races of the season.  I would like to see some kind of reward, but I would prefer more of a monetary reward instead of bonus points.  Isn’t that why they give bonus points for winning races?  Of course, if you are Kyle Busch, the bonus points don’t matter because in order to get them you have be in the Chase.  And I am not saying this because Tony was leading the points leader after 26 races, I just think you should get some kind of bonus.  I still wish they would have kept the Chase at the top 10 instead of the top 12 drivers.  I mean look at the drivers right now in the 11th and 12th spot, Kasey Kahne and Brian Vickers.  Do you really think they have a legitimate shot at winning the championship this year?  They both would have to run the table and those drivers ahead of them would have to all have horrible consecutive races.  But I don’t run NASCAR and I guess that’s why I sit in my chair every week watching the race.

I am currently reading The Great American Gamble: How the 1979 Daytona 500 Gave Birth to a NASCAR Nation by Joe Menzer.  I bought the book to read over summer vacation, but since it sometimes takes me awhile to read a book, I am still not done.  I have to say it is an interesting book.  I like how the author gives an insight into this history making event.  He also gives background on some of the drivers involved in the 1979 Daytona 500 as well as other players/broadcasters.  I also bought another book about NASCAR history  over the summer, Driving With The Devil: Southern Mooshine, Detroit Wheels, and the Birth of NASCAR by Neal Thompson.  This book was highly recommended to me by a professor I work with who teaches Sports History.  Once I finish the course readings for that course as well as the book about the 1979 Daytona 500, I will definitely start reading Driving with The Devil.