Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500

The NBC/TNT bunch has been taking a bit of a beating in recent weeks, but they deserve a lot of credit for their coverage of one of the weirder events NASCAR has seen in quite some time.

Just before the halfway point of last Sunday's Subway 500 at Martinsville, the crews of Kurt Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. expressed concern that pit road was opened too soon following a caution flag, not allowing Busch and Earnhardt to pit when they needed to. According to them, NASCAR had told them they would wait one lap following a caution before opening pit road.

Pit reporters Bill Weber and Marty Snider were on the case almost immediately, getting heated comments from Busch's crew chief Jimmy Fennig and Earnhardt's crew chief Tony Eury that illustrated the importance of the controversy.

Shortly afterward, fans saw replays which showed that the green flag was out in plenty of time for both teams to pit, followed by emotional radio transmission between Kurt Busch and his spotter.

VIDEO CLIPS NBC nails the coverage of Sunday's pit road controversy Play video

NASCAR president Mike Helton then visited the booth, telling viewers that after the first "Lucky Dog" race at Dover last month, NASCAR began opening pit road on the first lap following a caution, but that the positioning of pit road at Talladega, Kansas and Charlotte (Turn 4) made it seem like a longer period of time before pit road was open. At Martinsville, a half-mile track, the opportunity came much quicker.

The crew covered all possible angles on what could have been a race-deciding controversy, leaving the viewer with few questions about the rule, or how it was enforced.

You can bet teams will be looking closer this weekend at Atlanta.

Ask The Producer: A couple of weeks back, our own Marty Smith wrote a column documenting Jimmie Johnson's day as a New York City cab driver. In the column, Smith says that an NBC camera crew was on hand to capture all the action.

MARTY SMITH  As part of NBC's ongoing effort to delve deeper into the true personalities of NASCAR's Winston Cup stars, Johnson is driving a New York taxi for a day, transporting passengers from Times Square to Soho and back again.  •  Complete story, click here

Response to the column was tremendous and many fans have been writing in to our "Ask The Producer" feature wondering when NBC is going to run the piece.

Wait no more.

Johnson's day in the cab, which featured rides with comedian Jack Black and actress Jamie-Lynn DiScala, will be featured on Sunday's pre-race show from Atlanta Motor Speedway.

If Smith's column is any indication, this'll be a hoot.

EMAIL Send Mark a note or a question for "Ask The Producer"

Let your voice be heard: Each week, we'll pick one question to ask the producer of the NBC/TNT telecast. Why did they do things this way? Why did they talk to that driver? Any question that eats at you could be answered right here in the Viewer's Guide.

Send your questions to the e-mail box in this piece.

Looking ahead: Defending Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart is scheduled to be Bill Weber's guest on the NBC/TNT "War Wagon" during the pre-race coverage. Stewart was originally scheduled to be on the wagon last week at Martinsville, but producers decided to go with Subway 500 polesitter Jeff Gordon, who was going for a Martinsville sweep.

	"Bowlin'" Benny Parsons

It turned out to be a good call.

Benny Parsons will be out of his element during this weekend's "Benny and the Pits" segment. Parsons went bowling with Ryan Newman's No. 12 team last weekend in Martinsville and will strike up a report on it for Sunday.

Quote of the week: "This might be adults-only television" -- Weber just before sticking a microphone in the face of Fennig during the pit-road controversy.

Thankfully, it wasn't.

On to this weekend's schedule...

Winston Cup Series: Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500

Site: Hampton, Ga.

Track: Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.54-mile oval, 24-degree banking in turns, 5-degree banking in straightaways, Frontstretch: 1,415 feet, Backstretch: 1,320 feet.)

Race distance: 325 laps, 500.5 miles

TV: Bud Pole Qualifying: SPEED, 7 p.m. ET Friday. Happy Hour: TNT, Noon ET Saturday (tape). Race: NBC, Noon ET Sunday.

Last year Rain doesn't keep Kurt Busch from Victory Lane Play video Nemechek and Stewart battle for the lead Play video John Andretti brings out the first caution of the day Play video

Last year: One year after his short NASCAR Winston Cup career hit "my lowest point," Kurt Busch won his second straight race when rain cut the NAPA 500 77 laps short

Last race: Jeff Gordon got his fourth Martinsville win Sunday when he took the checkers in the Subway 500. Gordon, who led 311 of 500 laps, is the first driver since Fred Lorenzen in 1964 to win both Martinsville races from the pole in the same year.

Potential storyline: Sunday's race is expected to be Ricky Rudd's 800th career NASCAR Winston Cup start. Rudd's first NASCAR Winston Cup start? At Rockingham, in March, 1975. Only three other drivers have started 800 or more races: Richard Petty (1177), Dave Marcis (882) and Darrell Waltrip (809).

Point to ponder: Move over, Carrot Top. The comedian, whose elastic facial features and bushy orange hair adorn the hood of Kenny Schrader's No. 49 1-800-CALL-ATT Dodge at selected races throughout the season, will be replaced at Atlanta this weekend by the facial image of Robert Underwood, a fan from South Elgin, Ill., who won a nationwide consumer promotion by the sponsor.

Next race: Checker Auto Parts 500, Phoenix International Raceway, Nov. 2.

Busch Series: Aaron's 312

Site: Hampton, Ga.

Track: Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.54-mile oval, 24-degree banking in turns, 5-degree banking in straightaways, Frontstretch: 1,415 feet, Backstretch: 1,320 feet.)

VIDEO CLIPS Jamie McMurray scores his first Busch Series win Play video Nemechek runs out of fuel as the white flag approaches Play video Jimmy Spencer has trouble on and off the track Play video

Race distance: 203 laps, 312.62 miles

TV: Bud Pole Qualifying: SPEED, 1:40 p.m. ET Friday. Race: TNT, 1 p.m. ET Saturday.

Last year: Jamie McMurray used superior fuel mileage to win his first NASCAR Busch Series race, in his 66th start. McMurray was 10.796 seconds ahead of Michael Waltrip's dominant No. 99 Aaron's Chevrolet at the finish. McMurray's car ran out of fuel while he did a victory burnout on the frontstretch.

Last race: Bobby Hamilton Jr., ran down Johnny Sauter with three laps to go for the win at Memphis, but the big story was Brian Vickers, who regained the points lead with a solid fifth-place run.

Potential storyline: With just four races to go in the season, Busch Series points leader Brian Vickers and fifth-place Scott Riggs are separated by just 44 points. The next-closest first to fifth-place battle in the history of the series at this point was Tommy Ellis' 129-point cushion over fifth-place Rob Moroso in 1989.

Point to ponder: Michael Waltrip has led 206 laps at Atlanta in NASCAR Busch Series competition, second-most to Mark Martin's 637 circuits.

Next race: Bashas' Supermarkets 200, Phoenix International Raceway, Nov. 1.

Mark Spoor is an associate producer of NASCAR.com. The Domino's Viewer's Guide appears each Thursday.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.